"I am
not going to vote for a candidate who can not win, because if I did, I would
be wasting my vote."
There are a great number
of American citizens who register to vote, but who do not vote. There are
even more citizens who do not register to vote at all.
Why don't people vote?
Can we really get them to change their ways?
There have always been
"voter registration" drives and every candidate for every office
reminds the electorate to "register" during the campaign and to
"vote on Tuesday" as the election nears. But, can you imagine if
someone really touched a nerve in the "lever pulling" arms of the
non-voting citizens of the United States and got them to register and to vote
in any kind of meaningful numbers. The results would be staggering.
If only half of the people
who do vote were matched in the voting booths by a similar number of people
who never vote, the voter registration people would be overwhelmed. The polls
would have lines around the block on Election Day. The political pollsters
would be unable to figure out just what was going on. And the party system
in our country would probably experience what would be seen as an electoral
earthquake that is if the vast majority of those new voters remained as independent
as they had been before they voted.
Could it happen? It would
be a miracle if it did. And that would be about the only way for the party
system to be beaten. People who have been choosing not to register and choosing
not to vote in the past would have to take time out to do so; first to register
and then to vote. It is our hope that the right individual who chooses to
run for the Office of President of the United States with the right appeal
and the right way of getting his or her message to the great numbers of used-to-be-non-voters
will provide the necessary impetuous to motivate them to become voters, and
to cast their votes for that person.
If the word spreads fast
enough that a truly dynamic and worthy person who has a unique blend of charisma
and leadership abilities and whose positive energy draws others out of their
shells and into the service of our country for everyone's betterment, lots
of things could happen.
-
New
candidates for other offices at every level of government could emerge.
-
The
stranglehold that the media seems to have over the electorate would be
loosened.
-
The
millions of dollars spent on elections would be channeled elsewhere; hopefully
for better purposes than for the power that parties and party members
hope to secure by getting their "guys and gals" elected.
-
Power
politics with decisions made in "smoke filled rooms" by the
power elite would end in favor of "sunshine" rules that make
fairness and the rule of law as meaningful as they are supposed to be.
There are
lots of other things that would develop from the votes of former non-voters.
It can be done, and we believe it is the current political atmosphere that
can set it in motion. Now, while the Internet remains as open and as available
as it is, the message and knowledge of a National Campaign such as we are
waging here can be shared with all those who care to consider it as an alternative
to the same old party politics ways; the ways of money for power; the ways
of TV spots; and full page ads, and media moments that are meant to hypnotize
and sway people into supporting and voting for the same-old candidates in
the same old ways.
The "used-to-be-non-voters"
may be able to retain their independence enough to resist becoming part of
the same-old-same-old ways. They may be willing to take time to register one
day and time to vote a few months or weeks later in favor of a person and
a government as independent as they are themselves. And, if the word gets
spread, and if the people, the "used-to-be-non-voters", are willing
to "waste" their votes on a candidate who could never win, and if
the number of "new" voters are as great as they could be, then this
National Campaign for Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness could really
work; it could bring about a victory such as has never been experienced before
in this country; really in this world.
We intend to do just that;
to win. We believe that ours is the campaign that can present to the American
people, those who vote and those who are "used-to-be-non-voters",
that the way to win is if everyone wins; that the way to power is to do what
is right for the country and "our" people rather than for what is
best for "the party and its members".
Here is how
you can help:
-
Register
to vote.
-
Make
sure you know where and when you are going to vote.
-
Make
sure you will be in town to be able to vote on election day, or
-
-
-
-
Let
others know about the National Campaign.
-
Vote
for the National Campaign.
- Run for a Public Office
as an Independent Candidate and keep on running until you win.
- Encourage others to
run for Public Office
More on Wasted
Votes: Here are some links to other discussions or writings about wasted votes.
I wrote the above and then I let it sit for a while. Then I searched the web
for some other such articles and thought they may be of help to include here.
I am including just a very few which focus on voting within the current system
for those you feel are right but doomed to loose the election. I came across
many articles about changing the electoral system in ways that would make
wasted votes still count, but I feel that the system can work as it is if
people will take the responsibility to vote at all if they have not been voting
and if they think "out of the box" and seriously consider alternatives
to the candidates nominated by the Political Parties. There are ,no doubt,
many more articles out there. I share these as interesting examples, but encourage
each person to do their own searching and reading and to think it through
for themselves. If you find an article that you feel might help expand the
offerings here, please send it along and I will be pleased to consider adding
to the sampling as long as you will allow us to credit you with having contributed
it:
Your
View by Christian Robichaud for CBC
If
Not Now... by Christopher Hitchens July 13, 2000 for The Nation
Ralph
Nader-Not a Wasted Vote by Nat Hentoff, October 4 - 10, 2000
Wasted
Votes?
