One Person, One Vote....

I have been thinking a lot about this upcoming election, and I am still not impressed with my two choices (as far as the mainstream press goes, there are only two parties and two candidates). I keep thinking I should vote my conscience (Libertarian), but I also am thinking that may be a wasted vote. In the last election, Kerry received my vote, but it wasn't so much for him as it was against Bush. I thought my one vote just might make a difference - it didn't.

So, how much does one vote really matter? I am one person (one vote), and does my one vote really count toward anything? If we look at popular vote, my vote doesn't really matter at all. We are talking about one vote here, not bunches of one votes like bunches of one raindrops creating a flood. As a matter of fact, when it comes to popular vote, nobody's vote matters. In 2004, Bush (the victor) received some 50,455,156 votes, while Gore (the vanquished) received 50,992,335. Thinkers might wonder, "What's wrong with this picture," but they don't matter either, but that's not the point here.

Back in 1974, we in New Hampshire experienced the closest election ever in Senate history; it was between John Durkin (D) and Louis Wyman (R), and among its various recounts, at its closest, it was two votes apart, so my one vote still wouldn't have mattered. As it turned out, a special election was ultimately held, and Wyman emerged some 27,000 votes ahead.

So, I am left with a question: what's a voter to do? I think I really already answered it above. My only other question now is what if in some Putney Swope (quite an esoteric allusion) quirk of fate a Libertarian even got elected? How would the Libertariam platform ever be put into actual practice? The philosophy of freedom with responsibility sounds great, but my view of humanity is that pretty much everyone wants freedom, but few will accept the connected responsibility. If you have an answer, let me know.

Later.