A cohort of idiots.
Nevermind.
I think, for the first time since I became eligible, I’m just not voting. Or maybe I’ll go write in The Inconvenience. Or Thomas Jefferson.
Autry White counts Dear Leader among his heroes, so, no thanks.
And honestly? I don’t even care enough to track down Deccio to find out where he stands. Given the pattern, here, he most likely sucks, too. If you’re not going to exert even a modicum of effort to make your positions available, then… come on. Setting up a website is not hard, these days.
So. Consider me officially jaded.
Philosophically, I don’t know where to go from here. If I don’t believe an office should even exist, what is the right approach? Vote for the least of the evils? Abstain in protest? Draft my own candidate, or run, myself? I can’t run for everything all the time, nor do I have any interest in doing so, so that really can’t be the answer for every piddly little office I protest.
Not to mention, my entire platform would pretty much be, “No on everything.”
Heh – maybe I WILL create a “Laurel for Everything” campaign – I will not run, but if elected by write-in, I will serve only to diminish the importance of my office to the greatest extent possible.
I’ll resurrect the Do-Nothing concept as a superlative rather than an insult.
Okay. Now I’m just feeling angsty.
“Philosophically, I don’t know where to go from here. If I don’t believe an office should even exist, what is the right approach? Vote for the least of the evils? Abstain in protest? Draft my own candidate, or run, myself? I can’t run for everything all the time, nor do I have any interest in doing so, so that really can’t be the answer for every piddly little office I protest.”
I’m not sure you’re even talking Philosophy, here. Philosophy is for suckers, anyway, in a high-stakes, winner-take-all game.
It sounds like you’re talking about Strategy. And I am at a loss, just like you. Even the “least of the evils” can be strategically self-defeating, if said candidate truly has zero chance of winning anything, or even of “making a statement” that might influence future elections.
Then the “lesser evil” assumes that you’ve narrowed it down to two candidates with a chance of winning, the major parties or whatever. That, too, can be self-defeating. The GOP needed to be punished in ‘08. But did the country need to be punished, since the alternative is the Pelosi Democratic Party? Hell, the Baucus Democratic Party is bad enough, as well as the Democratic Party of people like Walt Minnick who can finesse the same content as what comes from Baucus’ frightening authoritarian bent and make it sound less threatening. But we’re dealing with the Pelosi Party here.
So what strategy? I guess we won’t know the best path except in hindsight.
Both major parties are frighteningly bad. And groups like the LP are no more than a way for people to abstain while feeling like they’re doing something.
And if, as you said, you don’t even support the existence of an office (which I often don’t), then what?
“Heh – maybe I WILL create a “Laurel for Everything” campaign – I will not run, but if elected by write-in, I will serve only to diminish the importance of my office to the greatest extent possible.”
I like this. Perhaps this should be a strategy to pursue.
I wonder what percentage of the population views government as “a necessary evil” as opposed to something inherently good in one sense or another. How many see the coercion of the mob as inherently frightening?
Alternate plan: Griff’s Gulch. ;)
I should have said “coercion BY the mob”, which is what democracy ultimately is (and why we were never meant to be a democracy).
Saying “No on Everything” might lead to smaller government, but it won’t get the business end of of the Party behind you.
Maybe you could offer tax credits?
We won’t need tax credits when I say “No” to all the taxes in the first place. *evil grin*
Thank you for not voting.
Sure thing.
Since you don’t have comments over on your blog, I wanted to note: Ken Roberts did indeed purchase a wolf tag.
:)
“No on everything”
I like it. I like the very idea of it. Hmm… Dangit!!! Stop putting ideas in my head!
The idea is to start with a small office, something innocuous, and move up from there as the “NOT JUST NO BUT HELL NO!” canidate.
Naa… I know me, I would start taking myself too seriously before long and actually think I could make a difference.
s
*chuckle* next thing you know Laurel, you’ll have an office with a desk in it. On that desk will be a grenade with a number tag attached to the pin. and a plaque that read “Complaints? Take a number.”
1. Take ballot out of envelope.
2. Use lighter to ignite ballot.
3. Open bottle of favorite booze.
4. Clean any errant fingerprints off ammo stored in ready bags, just in case.
Does the trick for me, anyways.