thecoloredsky
Member
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2011
- Messages
- 45
I've been thinking a lot lately on who I will vote for this November. Co-workers, friends, and family are all asking me what am I going to do. What am I going to do? What are you going to do? Now here's the deal. I keep seeing that RP supporters are going to vote for Obama in what seems to be a protest vote among a myriad of other reasons. I also have seen RP supporters pledge the Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson. Others are thinking about writing in Ron Paul or even just not voting.
I'm going to try and break down each case the way it rolled through my head.
Write in Ron Paul: From what I understand, write in votes don't count unless the name is somehow registered with the election committee in each State. I see a scenario of a million votes going virtually uncounted and the media not skipping a beat. I don't see any real action from this except for self gratification of the disenfranchised voter, which is entirely acceptable given all the hard work from supporters. But will this amount to anything? It doesn't seem so unfortunately.
Not voting: Now this is an interesting idea. Not voting is essentially a protest vote against all candidates. Unfortunately, I don't believe this will be a viable option either. Sure, voter turnout would be lower but the media narrative can easily spin that on weather, high gas prices, too busy looking for work, etc. Voter turnout has been going down decades after decades, it's nothing new. The connection won't be made to a protest vote, so I don't believe this being effective.
Vote Obama: Forgive me if I get a little pissed but this is the worst idea I've heard. I hear that if Obama gets another 4 years it will make the next election easier to put forward a candidate. I've heard this EVERY 4 years since I could vote. It won't work. Period. In addition, I don't think the founding fathers risked their lives so you can play your little politics game with red team vs blue team. No self respecting, liberty loving individual can pull that lever for Obama (or Mitt for sake of discussion) just so you can take down the economy faster.
This is what I wrote when I first joined these forums:
I said that I was voting for Paul regardless of his chances. This was slightly in jest, since I didn't know much about the Liberty movement. I didn't hear about Gary Johnson until the debates started as well. But I must say that I did vote for Ron Paul in the primaries. Enough of this though, you get the point I think.
Which brings me to the last option I see, vote Gary Johnson. That answer satisfies the most in my mind. Millions voting for a candidate who is on all ballots in the country. A valid number of votes counted that directly can be attributed to a protest vote. Media will have a VERY hard time spinning this. Voting Gary Johnson will support the liberty movement and his ideals closely resemble Ron Paul's. This vote also isn't playing the red team vs blue team game. And most importantly, I think Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and all the rest of those kickass people who fought for our freedoms will be ok with that. Unless someone can point out a good answer to not voting for Gary Johnson this election other than the things I covered, I think we have an answer this November.
Give me liberty, or give me death!
I'm going to try and break down each case the way it rolled through my head.
Write in Ron Paul: From what I understand, write in votes don't count unless the name is somehow registered with the election committee in each State. I see a scenario of a million votes going virtually uncounted and the media not skipping a beat. I don't see any real action from this except for self gratification of the disenfranchised voter, which is entirely acceptable given all the hard work from supporters. But will this amount to anything? It doesn't seem so unfortunately.
Not voting: Now this is an interesting idea. Not voting is essentially a protest vote against all candidates. Unfortunately, I don't believe this will be a viable option either. Sure, voter turnout would be lower but the media narrative can easily spin that on weather, high gas prices, too busy looking for work, etc. Voter turnout has been going down decades after decades, it's nothing new. The connection won't be made to a protest vote, so I don't believe this being effective.
Vote Obama: Forgive me if I get a little pissed but this is the worst idea I've heard. I hear that if Obama gets another 4 years it will make the next election easier to put forward a candidate. I've heard this EVERY 4 years since I could vote. It won't work. Period. In addition, I don't think the founding fathers risked their lives so you can play your little politics game with red team vs blue team. No self respecting, liberty loving individual can pull that lever for Obama (or Mitt for sake of discussion) just so you can take down the economy faster.
This is what I wrote when I first joined these forums:
I said that I was voting for Paul regardless of his chances. This was slightly in jest, since I didn't know much about the Liberty movement. I didn't hear about Gary Johnson until the debates started as well. But I must say that I did vote for Ron Paul in the primaries. Enough of this though, you get the point I think.
Which brings me to the last option I see, vote Gary Johnson. That answer satisfies the most in my mind. Millions voting for a candidate who is on all ballots in the country. A valid number of votes counted that directly can be attributed to a protest vote. Media will have a VERY hard time spinning this. Voting Gary Johnson will support the liberty movement and his ideals closely resemble Ron Paul's. This vote also isn't playing the red team vs blue team game. And most importantly, I think Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and all the rest of those kickass people who fought for our freedoms will be ok with that. Unless someone can point out a good answer to not voting for Gary Johnson this election other than the things I covered, I think we have an answer this November.
Give me liberty, or give me death!
