It happens every election, but it becomes most noticeable during presidential elections, especially close races like the one this year: Americans are poor voters. They are either uninformed or irresponsible.
Of course, that is not all Americans, but it appears to be a large majority.
It is laughable, then, when talking heads and editorial writers implore people to vote. Voting ignorantly or voting irresponsibly is worse than failing to exercise your right to vote.
For example, if you are a woman and voting for Sen. Hillary Clinton because she is a woman, please stay home.
If you are black and voting for Sen. Barack Obama simply because he is black, stay home.
If you are voting for Sen. John McCain just because he is the likely winner, stay home.
Voting is the one opportunity people have to express their views. It is not simply a vote to choose a candidate; it is a vote for what you believe in.
One of the worst phrases ever uttered is, “You are wasting your vote,” or some derivative of that. The only wasted vote is the one irresponsibly or ignorantly cast.
While McCain has the Republican Party nomination wrapped up, that is still not going to prevent me from voting for U.S. Rep. Ron Paul in my state primary. When you vote your conscience, your vote is never wasted. If more Americans cast informed votes for the best candidate rather than for a candidate they think has a chance of winning, this country would be a far better place.
A large part of the problem is the media. In every presidential election, there are a slew of candidates on the ballot in enough states to be able to garner enough delegates in the primary or electoral votes in the general election to win the race. Unfortunately, media outlets only give us information about the candidates they think are most likely to win.
Such lopsided coverage is patently unfair and on some levels a violation of journalistic ethics. However, what do you expect from a news culture that thinks all things Britney Spears is news?
Let’s take Ron Paul as an example. Paul raised more money during the last three months of 2007 than any other GOP candidate. That included a record-breaking single day on Nov. 5 when, during a 16-hour period, the campaign brought in more than $2.7 million in online contributions, making it the largest single-day online primary fundraising effort by a presidential candidate in U.S. election history. Yet, there was nary a word from U.S. media.
Why is that?
Such an oversight by the national media is inexcusable.
While I am on the topic of the election, I have to say the whining by the conservatives concerning the all-but-certain nomination of McCain is humorous. The problem is the conservatives are having an identity crisis. War-mongering evangelicals have hijacked the conservative movement to the point that it is unrecognizable.
These co-called conservatives lambast McCain for not being conservative. Yet, they ridicule the only true conservative on the ballot: Ron Paul.
Paul is the only candidate that holds true to the conservative values of our founders and of Ronald Reagan, the man the pseudo-conservatives like to claim as their own.
Yet, only Paul is truly fiscally conservative. He is the only candidate that understands the danger of the inflationary policy of printing money not backed by gold. Only Paul is opposed to Social Security. Only Paul wants to cut government spending as well as taxes.
Only Paul advocates a strong national defense by pulling our troops, not only out of Iraq, but also out of most of the 130 countries in which our troops are stationed. Only Paul wants to close some of our more than 700 overseas bases. This position has garnered him more donations from military personnel than all the other candidates combined, another fact the media is hiding from the people.
In short, Paul is the only candidate who believes in the Constitution.
Therefore, a vote for Ron Paul, even if he can’t win, is not a wasted vote. It is an informed and well-considered vote and that is all that matters.
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