Xblog

I glanced over at Corey’s get out the vote campaign, so I have to throw in a counter sentiment.

Thanks to a) the Primaries not being over by the time they come to California and b) the wonders of proportional representation, this is the first election I’m in where my vote might actually be meaningful on the larger stage. No longer are my votes largely meaningless outside the realm of state propositions, city measures, and the detestable judicial elections. I’m in a position to mess up the entire country, perhaps the entire planet.

Here’s the thing: the more of the rest of you hipsters decide to maintain a Zen-like aloofness and remain above such pedestrian things like politics and democracy, the more influential my vote will be. Past evidence suggests that you are more likely to vote against me than with me, so please, don’t vote.

Think about how difficult it is to vote. First, you’ll have to navigate the treacherous Internet(which, btw, provided a map which leads to a place at least a mile away from where my polling station is… thank Google for Maps!). You have to walk (either that or you contribute to global warming) through the desert for who knows how many feet to your nearest polling station. Not only will you have to brave the elements, but also violent militants trying to undermine the legitimacy of the election. Even if you make it to the polling place, you know it will be manned by partisans either from a union or some religious cult, who will be standing in the voting booth with you and making sure you vote correctly. Even if you manage to deceive them, you know that they or some partisans at the Secretary of State’s office will discard your vote if they don’t agree with it. Even if your vote does get through that gauntlet, what kind of choices do we really have? I mean, at the national level, we’ve got two Democrats with barely any experience on the national stage and who are virtually indistinguishable from the each other (just look at them!). Then, on the other side you have four guys to choose from who only differ on taxes, government spending, use of the military, religion, immigration and environmental policy. That’s practically no choice at all!

Really, when you think about it, you’re better off sitting at home and reading blogs and leaving the voting to me.