(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Why Should I Vote? [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-01 Hey! My vote is only one part in a hundred million! What difference does it really make! Well, if someone puts a big bag of dark chocolate in front of me and tells me I only get one, guess what! I’m taking one. It’s not as much as I’d like, but what’s the point of refusing the one I’m offered just because I’d like more? Who wins with that choice? But here’s the real issue. Your vote is not an expression of your values! At least that is not it's primary purpose. It's not really an expression of anything. It's done in secret. If you want to express your political, or any other values for that matter, write something, get a bull horn, become a blogger. You can do all that and still vote in secret anyway you choose to vote. The real, first and foremost purpose of voting is to confirm,in writing, to the electors and ballot counters, who it is that you want in a particular office, or what measures you'd like to see passed or failed. In 2024, for example, if you wish to express to your neighbors, or community that you're not happy with Joe Biden, or you think he's too old, and don't want him re-elected,buy a poster, or make your own poster, or bumper sticker, that expresses that opinion. By the same token, take the same stance if you think Trump is behaving too badly, or too old, or if you think he would be a poor choice to lead a democratic nation. So as small as your impact might be, this is how it plays out. If you're not sure which on you want, or if for some reason don't want either of them, I understand that, but don't use that as an excuse to not vote at all or to pick a third or fourth party running some “no chance” candidate, or to vote for Darth Vader, or Gandalf. Doing that won't get you what you want. It won't even tell poeple that you are an independent thinker. I mean, no one by you knows how you voted. And besides, one of those candidates you don't like will still win. Cast your votes so they have an impact. Then tell people what you really think, if that's important to you. If you firmly believe Kennedy should be elected, go out and try to garner support for him. Buy the bumper sticker. Post the yard sign. Ring doorbells. Make phone calls. Volunteer at his local campaign office. Donate. Do what you can. But pay attention to what you get for responses from the voting public. If you find that he's got really no chance of being elected,voting for him just ensures that one of the other candidates, whom you don't want in office, will win, and you'll have no say in who that winner is. In the presidential elections for 2024 your vote needs to help select the person whom you'd really like to be in office for the next 4 years, or at least for the person you'd rather have in office for four years, given the choices presented. And please remember this. The person who wins in 2024 will be in charge for 4 years. But more importantly, the impact of that persons decisions will be with us for a decade or more. One of those candidates has already laid out plans to suspend or cancel democracy and significant portions of our constitution. That candidate has already selected justices for courts across the land that essentially practice medicine without a license by restricting the medical choices an individual has, choices that should be made by that individual with the consultation of qualified physicians, not by someone perhaps trained in law, but not a clue about medicine. Those decisions should never be made by people who don’t have to live with the consequences. If you choose to vote for RFK, for instance, I hope it's because you really believe, down deep in your heart of hearts, that RFK is really the person you'd like to see running the country, negotiating with other world leaders, signing laws into effect, making economic, environmental and political decisions that effect the entire world and will continue to do so for many years to come. If you choose to vote for Biden, and I'll be honest with you here, I wish Biden had chosen to not run and had helped the DNC find a suitable candidate. But to me that's not really about his policies, or supposed mental health, From what I can tell, (I'm not a professional in this regard, by the way), he's fine. I truly admire him for what he has done in the past four years, and his role as VP with Pres. Obama, and his work as Senator for thirty plus years before that. I would just like to see him go out on top. The next few decades are going to be harsh for the United States as well as the rest of the world. The strain and stress are going to be unbelievable. I'd like to see Joe Biden, who has worked tirelessly as a public servant for decades, take some time for himself and his family. But he has chosen to run, and without a doubt, I trust Biden more that any other of the candidates to do the right things for this country and to the degree that he has the clout, to also help the rest of the world move to a safer, more peaceful future. So if you agree with me, go out and work for him. Do the phone call thing, help out in your local Democrat headquarters, talk to your neighbors, and not just the ones with whom you agree. In any case - be sure to vote! If you decide to vote for Trump, make sure you're honest with yourself and fully understand what his“leadership” will mean for this country. Be sure that a twice impeached , a Thirty-four times convicted felon , a serial groper , a routine liar , a failure in many business ventures , a man who is facing many, many more felony indictments, one who continually threatens the jurists and judges who oppose him, one who has appointed some of the most unethical court justices we've ever seen; a person who is openly requesting bribes from big corporations, claiming he'll be repaying them by changing laws and regulations when he's elected. Here is a man who is already proclaiming a suspension of constitutional law and freedom of speech and claiming, that as a president, Trump, and apparently only Donald Trump has the right to act as he pleases with no regard for laws and ethics. Regardless of their claim, this is not the party that supports Law and Order! Is that really the person you want to run this country? As to down ballot votes, they're just as important. Remember this – The GOP touts themselves as the Law and Order party . These are the people who claimed, without a shred of evidence that the election was stolen. They took their case to over 60 different courts; by the way, court challenges were the proper way to handle this, but they were found wrong in each and every case. They selected and tried to present fraudulent electors to distract and disable the finalization of the election process. This is not a legitimate procedure. Failing that they then took it upon themselves to take the election and the White House back through violence. Now that Trump has been found guilty of fraud with regards to his campaign spending, the Republicans who have backed him want to disregard that lawful conviction that was carried out according to due process, all legal and above board. They want to re-live the 2020 election process, denying the outcome, promoting violence if needed. Jurors, judges and lawyers involved in the case have been threatened. Other Republicans who’ve had the nerve to suggest it’s over and we should just move on are threatened with being cut off from party funds and support. If you decide to vote for Biden, be sure to vote down ballot for congressional members who will support him and actually get stuff done. We need a congress that will act on measures when they're needed to. My suggestion is to vote the way you ndrive your car. If you want to move forward, select “D”. If you want to go backward, select “R”. Just be sure to carefully and thoughtfully check your mirrors. It really wasn't that nice in2016 – 2020. And my final request is that you monitor what happens over the next four years. The last few months have been exciting, not always in a good way to be sure, but exciting. The next four years will, hopefully, seem quite dull. But pay attention! Are the elected congress persons and president doing their jobs? If they are write and tell them so. If they're not, write and tell them so! In any case, at the next election cycle, tell them whether you approve of them or not. That's how we do it here. We don't invade the Senate Chambers! We don't make up false claims about elections, or people, or the courts! We don't threaten people and their families for taking actions that we don't agree with! That kind of response is only for the supposed Law and Order Party. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/1/2244195/-Why-Should-I-Vote?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/