Voting

Next Tuesday is Election Day. That day I, and my fellow New Jerseyans will be selecting our new Governor, among other elected officials. Voting is ALWAYS a selection of a lesser of two evils. The best possible candidate for any position never actually runs for the job, so we're left with people who actually WANT the job. Generally their reasons have nothing to do with an honest desire to make NJ a better place to live. They're after the goose that lays the golden eggs of political power. I said in an earlier posting that when you elect someone to office you give them immense power, that power is like a drug for some people, the more they have the more they want.

But back to NJ. Next Tuesday I'll choose between two major-party candidates and a number of third-party candidates. I don't trust any of the candidates, but I don't trust any elected official, especially not the ones I vote for. I always cast my vote with the understanding that the candidate made promises to me in return for my vote and that if said promises are not met then next time my vote may well go elsewhere.

So who will I vote for? I'm not going to tell you that, but I'll offer some of my thought processes. Of the two major-party candidates I completely dispise one of them and merely intensely dislike the other. There actually was a candidate in the primary who I liked and would have voted for, but he didn't win the primary. How about a third party? I voted for Ross Perot because I thought that as a businessman he'd bring a level of financial responsibility to our nation. I was misguided. I was misguided first in believing that such issues were the most important and second in believing he actually had a chance of winning. Live and learn, die and forget it all. There is no third party candidate in NJ who stands the slightest chance of winning, period.

But Mark, if you dislike both candidates so badly why not vote third party as a protest? I've considered it, but won't do so. First, the two candidates are quite close in the polls, if one were so far ahead that protest votes wouldn't likely affect the outcome I might cast one, but as it is it's just too close. And while I don't think either candidate would be a GOOD governor for NJ I do believe one would be far worse than the other. Given the tightness of the race, my protest vote is a vote taken away from the lesser of two evils which may well ensure that the worse of those evils gets elected. I learned my lesson from Perot.

I can cast one vote. If the candidate who I believe would be a disaster for my state is elected he'll do so with no help from me, I won't cast my vote for him, I won't withhold my vote from his only viable opponent. Perhaps I can help elect a governor who'll be merely bad instead of dispicable. Then maybe next time around we can replace him with someone who merely leaves a lot to be desired, followed by someone who's not too bad, followed by someone who's pretty good. I may never live to see the day, but we've got to start someplace.

So get out from in front of your computer next Tuesday and vote. No excuses. I don't care if the line is long, you've waited on long lines to see a movie. I don't care if it's raining, you went to work in the rain, you can vote in the rain. If you don't vote, don't complain about the Governor selected by those of us who did.