Voting Shouldn't be a Love Affair

Claudia Ricci
English and Journalism, University at Albany, SUNY
Posted: September 26, 2010 09:52 Am


Voting Shouldn't be a Love Affair
Will you vote in November? If not, why not?

Millions of Americans will stay home on Election Day. Some say it makes no difference who gets elected. Some say it's their way of protesting. Some are so disgusted with the state of the nation that they just can't be bothered getting involved.

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It seems a little bit like a love affair; a couple has that six months of absolute bliss, and then inevitably, reality sets in. Each person realizes that the other is, well, only human. So at that moment do they go forward or throw in the towel?

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No, he isn't perfect. But does it make any sense to take our disappointment and turn it back into apathy? Discouraged as we are about the political process, does that mean we should decide, oh what the hell, I won't vote.

I don't see the logic. I also see the increasingly likely possibility that with the Democrats staying home, the populist right-wing tea party types will make their votes count.

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more:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/claudia-ricci/voting-shouldnt-be-a-love_b_739515.html

ie they should get a politician who fits exactly in with their beliefs and priorities

because they can give you the things you want, then you later find them in bed together - it might be time for a divorce.

has always helped the Republican Party because they've been able to use such tactics as the Southern Strategy to get their loyalists out, while depressing the vote for the rest of us.

If this country really wants the Teabaggers to take over this country, then they should stay home, by all means.

Just please do not come back complaining about the state of our nation when that happens.

Agreed. Voting should not be a love contest!

to make dems stay home and insure a republican victory. They tried to do it in the primary with the PUMA crap and they are still trying.

get a shitload of gifts, but don't get one thing that they wanted, so they throw a little tantrum and act like a spoiled brat for the rest of the day.

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And then if you call them on it, suddenly you're abusing and mistreating them, acting like a fascist, or you're not a REAL Democrat because you're not having a tantrum too.

And keep at it and not get discouraged too easily. That is true of all endeavors in life.

Just because our first or second top issue didn't get accomplished or go as we hoped, we need to look at the big picture & compare that to the alternative.

I also agree with the post above, we cannot become single issues voters, we are voting for an overreaching arc of progressive legislation, we need to have an act local, think national stance towards this, if you don't vote because no one supports gay marriage, the the democrat who is pro-choice loses, how do you explain your gay-marriage stance to a woman seeking to protect her reproductive rights?... Big tent people...Big Tent..

You just have to hold your nose and do it every couple of years whether you like it or not

for Democrats in November are the Crist promoters here, who announce that they will vote against the Democratic Nominee, in favor of a Palin supporter who chanted drill baby drill in '08. Even they are not staying home, they are going out there and voting against the Democrats, while claiming to be Democrats.
The rest of us will be voting for Democrats as usual. The 'centrists' with the Crist trip, I can not explain that irrational need to vote to the right, to elect one Republican out of fear of another. Rubio is a Republican, we always run against Republicans, and we never ever say 'oh, we better not vote Democratic because a Republican is running. They do in Florida, apparently.

I'll settle for someone who will simply refrain from kicking me in the gonads for shits and giggles. Unfortunately, there are precious few of those people running for office these days.

It's pure BS to suggest that Dems staying home in November will do so because they aren't in love with the candidates (e.g., not getting a pony). Folks who stay home are simply fed up with having to vote for a "lesser evil" who still aggressively works against their interests. Until we've got a better choice than just Tweedledee and Tweedledum, it's likely to stay that way for the foreseeable future.