I always get a bit of blowback when I say I'm not voting in state and federal elections. Just so I'm clear on this: I have always voted. There is nary a vote--whether local, state, or federal--that I haven't voted in. I stood in line for over two hours to vote in the 1996 presidential election. I voted in 2012, even though our choices were miserable.
I have always voted.
But now feel like a dupe for doing so.
Because I don't think it makes a difference: The Washington Party is in control, whether they're Democrats or Republicans.
That being said, I was at a cocktail party last month and was talking with a guy who pretty much agrees with me on these things (pro-life, has a garden, thinks the economy is a looming trainwreck, etc.). He conceded that it ultimately makes no difference whether a Republican or Democrat wins the presidency: the federal government's mauling wheels are in full motion and nothing is going to stop them. He did, however, think it makes a short-term difference. Rough quote, "Even though there is no real difference between the parties, it does make a difference in the velocity ."
That, I thought, is a valid distinction. Substantively and long-term? No difference. But in terms of delaying the inevitable triumph of the Techno-DC-Wall Street Triumverate a few more years?
It might make a difference.
Astute readers will notice that the first line of my post on Saturday read, "Would I vote for Trump in the Republican primary?" I said I probably wouldn't vote at all. That hasn't changed.
But I don't see myself sitting out the election in November. If nothing else, the idea of a Hillary White House disgusts me and the prospect of a Sanders Socialist White House fills me with fear. Although there won't be a palatable choice on the Republican side, I will at least go cast a negative vote against the Democrat side.
