Politics is the art of controlling your environment.
Anybody who thinks that ‘it doesn’t matter who’s President’ has never been Drafted and sent off to fight and die in a vicious, stupid war on the other side of the world– or been beaten and gassed by Police for trespassing on public property– or been hounded by the IRS for purely political reasons– or locked up in the Cook County Jail with a broken nose and no phone access and twelve perverts wanting to stomp your ass in the shower. That is when it matters who is President or Governor or Police Chief. That is when you will wish you had voted.
I haven’t harangued you about it because this is not that kind of site. Our readers are adults who know what’s best for themselves in their life and even the poor excuses of “My Vote is meaningless” or “My Party doesn’t represent my values anymore” or even “I’m too busy” may reflect your current situation and while they do you no credit you’ll not be shunned or shamed for expressing that.
Ok, maybe a little. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? That things will get better if you just do nothing?
Now that I’ve got that off my chest, I will mention that I’ve never missed an election except once, when I had a car accident on the way to the polls.
I think you should vote, even if it’s not for the candidate I would choose, and I’m fairly confident TMC would echo that sentiment (though she might be a little more forceful about voting in your best interests and what those interests are).
For me voting is easy, it rarely takes more than half an hour unless there are ballot questions I’m not familiar with. Your experience may be different. Whatever time it takes, please make it, and don’t leave the line if the Polling Station is “Officially” closed, if you’re in line at the buzzer they have to let you vote.