A vote for someone is not the same as a vote against someone. You have heard the Republican argument: A vote for anyone other than Trump is a vote for Hillary. The Democrats make the same argument on the other side of the coin: A vote for anyone other than Hillary is a vote for Trump.
Can your single vote even make a difference?
The argument is a fairly straight forward. When was the last time you saw an election decided by just one vote? Most Americans actually stay home if they don’t feel like their vote can make a difference. As reported in the New York Times, close to 30 million people voted in the Republican primary and another 30 million people voted in the Democrat primary. It is anticipated that close to 133 million people will vote in the general election. That leaves approximately 88 million eligible adults who will not participate in our elections this year. Including the entire population of the United States (Adults, Children, Illegal Immigrants, etc.), only about 4.5% of the population chose Trump and 4.5% of the population chose Clinton. (4.5% of the entire population equates to 7% of eligible adults).
These numbers are pretty hard to swallow. Our country has 88 million disenchanted voters who are not even showing up to vote! And, if you accept the premise that the next president of the United States will be the Republican or Democrat nominee, you begin to see that our next President needed only 4.5% of our countries support in the primaries! Is it any wonder that we are scratching our heads about our nominees? A full 91% made no choice at all.
People turn out to vote when they can vote FOR a candidate or for something they believe in. Why vote for something when both somethings are not what you want in the first place? People will be staying home this election unless they can vote for someone or something.
Voting shouldn’t be a “hold your nose” process. It shouldn’t be painful. By the way, if you vote your conscience, your mind is free of all guilt. Go the extra mile and do your best to convince others to vote their conscience too, and you will feel great because you are helping them find guilt free voting.
Another issue is the interpretation of the for vote. Even though 90% of votes for either Clinton or Trump is a vote against the other candidate, the media and the population as a whole interpret those for votes as support for the candidate. When was the last time you heard the news guy say, “The least evil winner is _____?” When the voting actually happens, it is not a contest of the lesser evil, it is portrayed as a contest of support. Future politicians will base future decisions on the “support” candidates receive. To be clear, if you are choosing the lesser of two evils, you are supporting evil and that vote of will be counted in future decisions made by politicians.
Nine percent say I am with her or I’m with him. That means we have a huge opportunity to change things. A full 91% percent of America can be engaged to make better choices at election time. What would be the results of the election this November if everyone voted, and all voted their conscience? America becomes truly great again when it finds its conscience at the ballot box. As a nation, we are the sum of its people. Every vote adds into that equation. Every single one.
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