I always vote. I vote in non-presidential years, I vote in primaries, and I vote when there is nothing on the ballot except a levy. I realize that I am but a single solitary vote, but it is mine and I want to use it. So, I vote.
This year I will utilize my vote on a quixotic (and largely unknown) protest. I cannot vote for either major party candidate. I outlined earlier why I find both of them objectionable. I don’t believe in voting for the lesser of two evils. I believe in voting for the candidate that I like best, and that most assuredly is not Mr. Trump or Mrs. Clinton.
I get to vote (as do all of you) for whomever I choose – assuming that person is a registered candidate. A friend told me last week that he wrote in himself for President and yours truly for Vice-President. I appreciated the vote of confidence, and I think he would be a better President than either major party candidate, but his vote will not be counted. Only seven states allow voters to write in candidates who have not registered. Ohio is not one of them, which means that John Kasich’s vote for John McCain will not be counted either. Nine states don’t allow write-ins at all. The other 34 (including Ohio) allow votes only for write-in candidates who have registered.
My fervent wish, every time we hold an election involving federal elective offices is that the President, a majority of the Senate, and a majority of the House of Representatives, will not all be controlled by the same political party. That yields essentially a parliamentary system, which is prone to dramatic shifts of policy. Our founding fathers designed a system intended to avoid hasty decisions. Checks and balances are replete, but they are not always effectively employed.
The system depends on both houses of Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court to act independently, to do what is right and just, and to assert the constitutional prerogatives of their own branch of government to constrain the other branches. These days, Congress, the President, and the members of the Supreme Court too often act in the best interests of their party. It is sad, but it will continue until we do something about it.
Congress is the worst offender. The majority party has tended to be supine, a virtual rubber stamp, when the President represents their party. The majority party has tended to be obstructionist when the President represents the other party. Instead, Congress should do its job and legislate in the country’s best interest, without regard to party or who lives in the White House.
Most importantly, Congress needs to rein in the President. The executive branch has evolved beyond its constitutional bounds largely because same party congressional members have put party above country. It is an abomination, and ultimately could lead to an authoritarian regime. Not tomorrow, maybe not in the next hundred years, but history has a way of rewarding those who seek to accumulate power.
The Roman Senate caved in to Caesar. The French Revolution devolved into Napoleon. The German people elected and then succumbed to Hitler. Democratic Russia embraced Putin’s power grab. It can happen. Congress needs to arrest the accumulation of power in the presidency before it is too late.
That is a long trail to lead you to my vote. I will vote for Gary Johnson and Bill Weld. They were Republicans who were elected (and re-elected) governor of states dominated by the Democratic Party. They have proven that they can govern efficiently and work across party lines effectively and without rancor.
The party they represent believes in smaller government, unlike the Democratic Party, which enthusiastically supports bigger government, and the Republican Party, which only pretends to want smaller government. The Libertarian Party well and truly wants less government. Whether they would be able to pull it off will (no doubt) remain an unanswered question.
The rest of my votes will be largely anti-incumbent, unless I believe the incumbent has done a good job. None of my votes will be based on the party of the candidate. Straight-ticket voting is lazy and overly partisan, among the reasons we have a Congress unwilling to assert itself against the runaway executive branch.
Tuesday, you have an opportunity to assert yourself. Vote for the candidate that you think is best. Vote for the candidate you think is less bad. Vote.