I knew what you were specifically refering to. When reading your post however I was lead to believe you did not vote at all. You did not vote at all because you knew Bush carry Texas. Which was a BAD decision since there are other races just as important. Or did you actually get out and vote and simply not fill in the box for president? If this is the case I have to ask, "Why?"

I just don't buy the excuse to not get out and vote because one is disgruntled with the electoral college. The decisions and policies made in this country are not made by the President alone. Local, state, and federal politics all matter. They all impact our lives. Vote, make informed decisions about your votes,join clubs and special interests who share your views, make yourself heard, and be a part of the process.

 

Think about how many other people who didn't cast their vote because they "JUST KNEW" bush would win. Here in Florida, that would have been a BIG mistake. But regardless it counts in the popular vote, and GORE is ahead because of Bush supporters exactly like YOU. Thanks for NOTHING.

 

CT250R...."thanks for nothing" Regarding the presidential election my vote is good ONLY for the state. Who cares who wins the popular vote. That does NOT determine the presidency, the electoral vote does. Bush took Texas (the state I reside in). So my vote for the popular vote means nothing in the big scheme of things.

Jaxberg,
You are so correct in your assumption. I did NOT vote. The ONLY election I was concerned with was for the presidency. I'm not a Democrat, not a Republic, not an Independent, etc. When I do vote, I vote for whom I deem the best candidate. As far as the rest of the elections go none of them concerned me therefore I did not vote. As far as the rest of the elections going on you could say I'm pretty much split and am ok with whomever wins.

 

If you think for one minute, that your vote doesn't count, then look at the 1784 vote lead Bush has/had in Florida. No one knew before the election that their state would end up like this. 1784 might as well be equal to 5 or 100, the point is, if you don't want to take the chance, then vote.

Way too many people are short sighted about voting. They need to look at the big picture. By themselves, they are only one voice, but with others, their voices can be thunderous. Do you realize that if all of the people that think they wouldn't make a difference got out and voted, then they would make a difference? Is this too difficult to comprehend? Get involved.

If everyone thought their vote didn't count and didn't vote, great! I will still vote, and I will run their lives since they don't want to. They just better like what I like. They can't complain one bit either, since they chose not to voice their opinion on paper in the first place.

If you choose not to decide, you have just let some one else decide your future. Personally, I won't sit on my butt and let others run my life. Voting is just one of many ways to achieve desired results. The last thing I want is for a bunch of idiots to choose another idiot to run the country, just because I was too lazy to get off my butt and vote. That's asinine.

Lastly, learn about the candidates and the issues. Think for yourself. Items such as Social Security, Medicare, Tax Cuts, etc., are commonly misused. Does anyone really believe that Republicans are stupid enough to starve children, blow up the deficit, only give tax breaks to the very rich, increase the military, destroy social security and the environment? HELLO??? That would be political suicide! Those are all lies and scare tactics. But, there are people that believe these things, because they are told they are true by people that are losing their power to rule and will do ANYTHING to keep from losing it.

What bothers me is that there are people stupid enough to believe these lies, and they VOTE. We really need to educate as many people as possible about this kind of stuff. That's the second part of voting. Knowing what is going on and making an educated decision. If you care about your future, you'll do your part.

Or you can sit on your couch and I'll run your life, so go bring me an iced tea - NOW!

 

You know what I love about this, the fact that everyone in California is b**ching about how the gov't is taking Glamis and then Gore goes and takes California by a landslide. These people need to get off of their lazy butts and vote, but to all those in Cali that did vote and voted Bush I say nice try. And in Pa where I live Gore won despite the fact that 63% of the people in my county and in the surrounding counties voted Bush.

 

SandmanBlue,
I happen to keep informed on what's occurring in the state that I reside in, TEXAS. Comparing my vote to a vote cast in Florida is a mute point. I DO NOT RESIDE IN THAT STATE. And yes, I "just knew" Bush was going to carry Texas. And with Bush getting 3,796,249 votes in Texas and Gore 2,427,785 with a 1,368,464 (over 1.25 million) difference between the two looks like I my assumption was right on the money. There have been other presidential elections that I could not tell who would carry the state of Texas, therefore I made sure my vote was cast.

As far as the other elections going on I have already said it doesn't matter one way or the other who is elected. They are all good candidates and I can live with any of those candidates being elected. And you don't see me complaining.

 

Thank you for saving the trouble, Scott.

 

Hindsight is 20/20. I'm sure there were some in Tenessee that felt the same way about Gore. Sure glad they didn't vote either.

 

FYI- It's moot not mute.

Regardless how meaningless you though your vote would be, it's still stupid not to vote. Personally I feel if someone doesn't exercise their right to vote as an American citizen should lose that right. Would you like it if your right to vote was taken away from you? I didn't think so… Granted your vote would not have made a difference in the outcome for Texas but it sure would have if we didn't have the Electoral College system. Then it goes to the populous vote.

This reminds me of a little quote I've heard:

"If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice."

You just can't complain about it.

 

no kiddng the florida ballot was not misleading in anway, we all looked at it on cnn.com and everyone at work easily picked the right hole. the one in Maine was harder to decipher than that one, and it wasn't hard or anything like that, when you vote take your time and read it over and carefully vote. A democratic official ok'ed it no problem and it has been used before that type of ballot. quit whinning Gore , Bush more than likey won! also there are 19,000 ballots that were disqualified because people voted for two presidents! tuff luck for both of them really, but hey you can't vote twice. and there is no way to know who voted for two.