On Thursday 19 June 2008, Shane Hathaway wrote: > Von Fugal wrote: > > Voting for the candidate you agree with most *period* is the only thing > > that makes any sense. > > In general, people who do the work determine what happens in life. > Which is more work, voting or campaigning? By the time the public goes > to the poll booth, the outcome of the election has been mostly > determined by people who did the work of campaigning. > > So rather than debate the details of the poll booth, why don't you get > involved in campaigns and encourage others to do so as well?
Isn't persuading people to vote for who they really believe in part of campaigning? Doesn't the outcome of the poll booths represent the "score card" at the end of the "campaigning game"? The way things typically go makes it look like the entire campaign effort for someone that didn't get on the ballot was _wasted_. They gain nothing for their efforts--everyone who might have been persuaded at the poll or in the next four years to join this 'non viable' candidate's side then continues to just pass over the idea because there was _nothing_ to show for the efforts put forth. The idea is perpetuated that these other candidates don't even matter and can't possibly make a difference now or ever. If everyone who believed in their candidate voted for their candidate (write-in if necessary), the results become apparent--momentum can continue to gather. The last thing I want to do is give other people the idea that someone I don't like has more support than is real. Voting for someone I don't like, simply because he's one of two people that will actually win, is lying. Yes, I'm free to do it, but why would I want my fellow countrymen to think this guy has an additional vote when I'd rather an entirely different person in office? Your vote does count, even when not going to one of the only two possible winners in the current election. It goes to the score card that everyone sees--and that goes to either solidify or change opinions down the road--the seeds of change. /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
