Who will I vote for?

So who am I going to vote for?  Obviously I can vote for the arguably most popular candidate among Mormons to appear in this years presidential election, Mitt Romney, and unfortunately for me, he was the only candidate from both major parties that I personally could stand to stomach.  Mitt certainly wasn’t my perfect candidate, but then who is?  Probably nobody, until I miraculously get enough experience to feel qualified for the position myself.

So who will I vote for.  Certainly not Barack Hussein Obama as I don’t believe the federal government is the right place for all the socialistic ideas he has in mind (maybe he’d be better for Governor of a highly socialized state on the East cost or California).  Does that leave me with John McCain as my only alternative, despite his disregard for truly conservative values?

What about everyone else?  My congressmen voted against the $700 Billion bailout, but I’ve found myself disappointed with his leadership in so many other ways. Most of the Senators voted for it too. To make a long story short, I don’t feel like the current government functionality, nor the two major parities, truly represent me or the kind of government I would like to see (i.e. a much more conservative federal government that does a better job of controlling spending and inflation, while putting the responsibility for social and welfare programs onto the States and local governments with minimal over-sight).  I also see a lot of parallels between our country today, and the Roman Empire before it started it’s decline.

The only cure I see for this problem is to let Obama win.  Not because he gets a huge majority of the vote, but rather because McCain looses the conservative vote to alternative parties, proving the distaste the true conservatives now have for the way the Republican party has conducted itself over the last seven years.  This will either destroy the Republican party, making way for a new and truly conservative party, or force the Republican party to come back to it’s roots within the truly conservative base.

I feel left having to vote for an alternative party.  The Libertarians will be on the ballot in my area, but I don’t feel they really represent my views either.  The Constitution party has been my alternate for many years now, but they were not able to get enough signatures to get on the ballot this year in my state.  Chuck Baldwin will have to be done as a write in, but how does that work in this electronic voting age?  Last time I used the new electronic machines, it didn’t give me a place to do a write in, nor did I even have a simple piece of paper to write on.

The only thing I know for sure is that I refuse to vote for any incumbents, that includes Senators McCain and Obama.  I might vote for Sarah Palin, but doing so will not allow my voice to truly be heard as it will actually show up as a vote for McCain.  In other races, I’ll have democrats to vote for, giving me an excellent way to vote against the incumbent, but I’ve never voted for a democrat before, and I don’t feel like this is the best time to start.

What I’ll probably do is ask them when I show up at the polls how to do a write in.  I’m sure they give me some rhetoric about write-ins having to be registered, so that they show up on the machine anyway (what’s the point to doing a write in at that point? – I guess we’ll see).  Next, it’ll be up to the Libertarians, and possibly writing myself in somewhere if possible.  What’s left I might leave blank or perhaps I’ll swallow the harsh pill and vote for a democrat in this highly republican controlled state.  Finally I’m voting no on all proposals (especially if it increases my taxes) and no on all judges to make my protest complete.

Am I throwing my vote away?  I don’t think so.  I’m trying to get my voice heard, and that is the most important thing we can do when we vote.  Voting for the lesser of two evils will not accomplish this, but rather cause your vice to be drowned out. Both of the major parties will try to scare you out of voting for anyone else.  “A ‘third party’ or independent vote will only cause the worst of the choices to get elected,” is what they will tell you.  I’m sure you’ve heard it all yourself; I know I have. The truth is that making a decision based on fear is never a good way to make up your mind. Jesus himself said to “Fear not, believe only” (Luke 8: 50). If you believe in having your voice heard, you MUST vote for the person who best represents you; not necessarily the one who has the best chance at winning. To truly “throw you vote away”, means you have not had your voice heard the best way it can be.

Near the end of the 1700’s being dedicated to a party was equated to loyalty to a private selfish faction that stood in conflict with the public good. These Parties today continue to drive division between Americans, and the last time a major party was replaced by a newer one was when Abraham Lincoln was elected to President as the First Republican Party President. Civil war followed. George Washing himself warned of such loyalties has he voluntarily left office after his second term as President. He easily would have won another term, but he knew of one other truth; absolute power in the hands of imperfect men will certainly corrupt them.

Today we have two parties that hold the vast majority of the political power in the USA, a notion contrary to the principle of separation of powers that the US constitution was designed to prevent. This countries loyalty to these factions has undermined this very principle, and that is the real problem with this country today.  Its time to vote against them, and clean out the corruption in Washington.