Vote Nobody in 2008?
After Florida, I hear a lot of people saying that in a Clinton-McCain race they’ll be staying home in November in order to send a message that they don’t like their choices.
Folks, staying home doesn’t send a message. Most people stay home anyway. A few more won’t be noticed. If you want to be noticed, and you would otherwise have stayed home because of the choices, vote for a third party or simply hand in a ballot without voting on the Presidential ticket.
If you want to send a message, you have to vote. You have to show that you are someone who votes and that you will vote based on the issues and not on fear. Find someone to vote for and vote for them. If the final tally means that the winner was unable to get a majority, future candidates will take note. When voters show that they’re in play, politicians will look to see what issues swing these voters—because those voters will have shown that they can be swung by supporting their issues. Remember that in a close race, even a few percentage points are important.
If there’s nobody to support in the elections, Vote Nobody.
More Nobody For President
- Don’t wait—capitulate
- The ACLU’s doomed campaign against telecom immunity is a classic example of why you have to be willing to vote for Nobody if you want to be taken seriously in politics.
- Term limits
- Term limit proposals avoid real problems. They’re a superficial solution at best. Efforts directed towards enacting term limits waste time and money that could be spent solving the underlying problems: a lack of new ideas and an ability to hide legislative bribery.
- How not to convince your reps
- Copyright reform is likely to go the way of medical marijuana unless its supporters are willing to vote for candidates that do something about it.
- Nobody wants immigration reform
- “Immigration is not a problem to be solved.” A confident and successful electorate could understand that issues are more important than who you hate. Unreasoning partisanship, however, is a problem that often seems as if it has no solution.
- Nobody Isn’t Partisan
- Partisanship always trumps principle, but this year is worse than any I can recall. If Nobody were on the ballot, he’d have a good chance of winning. With the election as close as any in recent years, Nobody might still garner a majority.
- Three more pages with the topic Nobody For President, and other related pages
Update: and if you want to send a message, make sure you send that message. If you aren’t going to vote for one candidate because of their stand on an issue, you need to vote for someone who does not have the same stand.