Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Don't Throw Away Your Vote

I live in an area with a lot of independent thinkers. Lots of folks don't want to label themselves as Democrat or Republican because they don't totally agree with either platform. They want to vote for the Independent or the Green Party. I understand the sentiment, but please, before doing this, consider the ramifications. We know that ultimately, a Republican or a Democrat will win all of the major races - especially the race for President. That is simply the world we live in right now. Consider which of the major parties most represents your views, and vote that way. To do otherwise is to throw away your vote, no, actually, it is worse. It is helping the party that may be the furthest from what you believe in. For instance, a vote for Ralph Nader is not going to cause him to win, but could put McCain closer to the top since otherwise a Nader vote would likely be a vote for Obama.

I've heard some folks at my school say they will vote for the Green Party. Please reconsider. Cynthia McKinney, The Green Party's presidential candidate, is not going to win. Maybe there are local races that the Green Party has a good chance to win, but not the Presidential race. In 2004 there was quite the stir as Republicans helped fund Nadar's campaign in an effort to split the Democratic vote. Look what happened. Don't let it happen again. Make your vote count.

(Thank you for the prompting from Wife to blog about this. Were I not loaded up on a ton of cold medicines, this posting might have even made more sense.)

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