Election 2008: "Wasting a Vote?"

Vote for Obama? Nope, I can't do that. Ah, that leaves McCain.... Nope, I can't vote for him either. Hmmmm.

Neither candidate possesses what I want in a President; neither is remotely close. So, what to do? One of my college classmates, not jokingly, says, "Hold your nose and cast your ballot for McCain." I don't think I can do that.

What about a write-in or a third party candidate? Of course, a third party candidate worth a vote must first be found. But that's another matter.

Some have suggested that a write-in or third party vote is "throwing away a vote." Is it? Is it wasting the precious vote (and I'm not being facetious)? Right now, I think voting for Obama or McCain is "wasting," "throwing away" my vote. Neither is worth my vote for President. I think a vote for Gore or W was also a "wasted" vote; same for Kerry or W.

Perhaps if enough people thought a write-in or third party vote didn't think it was "wasted" or "thrown away" a difference could be made. Elect a third party candidate? Not likely. It's never happened, at least not for President. But a minor party candidacy has influenced the outcomes of a number of elections from 1824 right up to 1992 (and maybe 2000). T Roosevelt, running not as a Rep, but as a Bull Mooser in 1912, finished second, ahead of Big Bill Taft. I guess there's a first for everything. Maybe soon? More likely, if enough folks voted write-in or for a minor candidate, maybe (I know, a big stretch), just maybe a major party would give us a candidate worth voting for, worth the Presidency.

Others may be right. I might be wasting, throwing away my vote by not choosing BO or McC. I have thought about it often and hard. I still think voting for either of them is a waste.