Wasting my vote

This is probably more disjointed than it should be...sorry, written in bursts when I should've been doing something else, and I'm probably a bit more angry/annoyed than I should be before I put pen to paper/fingers to keyboard. But, meh...take it for what it is.

According to several people--including some I'd call friends--I wasted my vote for President of these United States today. Because I didn't vote for a Republican or Democrat (or, more and more commonly, I didn't vote against a Democrat or Republican--btw, I enjoyed Nathan Eshelman's post "A Vote Is Affirmation, Not Against Someone You Do Not Like"--even if it could've used an edit or five for length). See, your vote is wasted, we're told, if you don't vote for a major party candidate--'cuz the other guys can't win. Not sure why a vote for a losing candidate isn't considered wasting it--in Idaho for example, Sen. Obama doesn't stand a proverbial snowball's proverbial chance of winning our electoral votes. Did all those who voted for him waste their votes?

Thankfully, I was able to vote for some people who have a chance of winning (and some others who don't), so I guess I redeemed parts of my ballot.

Here's the thing--I know I didn't waste a single vote. I cast my vote for a Presidential candidate who shares most of my political beliefs, who would do what he said he would do if he got into office. Not a lesser of two evils, but someone I can believe in. That's the job of the voter, right? Not to vote for the guy you think has the best chance of winning--not once you get past voting for Student Body Presidents anyway. If the man I voted for shocked the world and was elected, I wouldn't have to worry about what he was going to do now--which campaign promise would he renege on first? How many more troops would he send into harm's way unnecessarily? What further damage would he do to civil liberties? What new taxes would he suggest/sign into law? How would he sell out his own party again? What socialistic impulse would he give into first--universal education, health care, something else?

I don't think any vote is wasted except the one not cast. But if I were to consider one a waste, it'd be vote cast for maintaining the status quo (unless you really like the status quo). Oh yeah, I should add, the status is not quo. A wasted vote is one cast that will simply perpetuate a system that the voter finds distasteful/immoral. One cast out of fear of the other guy. A vote you have to "hold your nose" to cast (metaphorically or not).


In short, no matter what--for the next four years I can look at myself in the mirror while listening to the news. My conscience is clean. How many people who voted for whoever wins tonight will be able to say the same thing in 2012? How many people who voted for the "conservative" in the White House right now can say that? Sure you won...but at what cost?