“Voting is too important to be left up to voters.” The quote gets attributed to Alexander Dubček, a Slovak politician who served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia during the Prague Spring in 1968.
It’s not exactly a sentiment that fits well within a representative democracy, though I admit I somewhat wish it would apply to primaries. Contra to what so many think, party nominations are not “elections.” Within safe House districts, parties can nominate any boob-bait dimwit they want because the district design structure makes it so that a hyena (or Matt Gaetz) could win a general election.
But let’s ponder the upcoming presidential election for a moment. Forget that it’s a wonder we’ve managed to survive as a species despite having two horrendous choices before us (as we did in 2020 and 2016) out of a nation of nearly 350 million people. But as we saw in 2016, and 2020, people have already determined you either vote for Trump or Biden, or the country will get destroyed.
Put aside the “This is the most important election” ever silliness we’ve been going through for nearly 20 years. Everyone says that in every presidential and mid-term election. What we’ve reached is a new stage of ridiculousness: vote shaming.
I’ve been around long enough that I recall when telling people who you voted for was about as controversial as telling someone what you had for dinner the night before.
“Who’d you vote for?”
“Ronald Reagan.”
“Oh, ok. I voted for Mondale.”
*chuckles* “Ouch.”
*laughs* “Yeah, right?”
Now?
“Who’d you vote for?”
“None of your goddamned business!”
“Oh, you won’t say? I bet you voted for Trump/Biden you frigging traitor!”
I’m being overly simplistic, but the attitude is not far off.
We’ve moved far beyond “binary choice” and questioning motives (“You’re fine with destroying democracy as long as you get conservative judges!”) to simply attacking another person as a traitor or someone who doesn’t care about the country over a lousy vote.
I feel like King Theoden in The Two Towers as the wizard Saruman’s army of nearly 10,000 advanced on Helm’s Deep, defended by 300. At one point, Theoden asks, “How did it come to this?”
Trump is bad. He attempted to overturn the election in 2020, violating the 12th amendment and the Electoral Vote Count Act along the way. He got impeached. The Senate should have convicted, which would have made him ineligible to run again. But they failed, thinking Trump would fade away. He has no set policy agenda other than tariffs — their ineffectiveness proven over and over. He actually does believe the constitution gives him the power to do whatever he wants.
Biden is bad. His Afghanistan withdrawal was a disaster, ignoring warnings of the poor results. He’s thumbed his nose at the Supreme Court on numerous occasions, including bragging the Court “stopped him” over his illegal college debt scam, but he “kept going.” He capitulates to the far left of the Democratic Party on everything from transgender issues to his view on the war between Israel and Hamas. Biden gets praise for his role in assisting Ukraine in its fight against Russia. I agree in most part, but I am with those who have criticized him for slow-walking some of the aid Ukraine needs not only to survive, but to turn the tide.
For the record, I think the damage Trump would do has more far-reaching implications than Biden. Still, that doesn’t mean I have an obligation to vote for Biden. Nor does anyone else.
Candidates have a responsibility to earn votes. One of the more significant issues of the 2024 election is the Biden campaign centering their reelection strategy around the “threat to democracy” Trump represents. It’s not an unwise way to go, considering the success it had at the Congressional level in the 2022 mid-terms.
The problem is, Biden and company will have to make a more persuasive case to the general voting public. Why is Trump a threat to democracy? Look at this column from Perry Bacon Jr. at the Washington Post. He writes:
But Biden and the Democrats are right. If Trump is elected, he will end American democracy as we know it — or at least severely erode it.
He provides a small list of reasons, but it’s all baked into the cake. People know all about what Trump did during his tenure, yet he still leads Biden in plenty of polls, especially battleground state polls.
Don’t Vote For The Sake of Conformity
What if you find Trump repulsive but don’t believe Biden earned a second term? Then don’t vote. Or vote third party. Or write in a candidate you’d prefer. That decision is up to you, and don’t let people who have allowed politics to take place of a religion say otherwise.
Also, do not get swayed by one of the more fantastically dumb “arguments” ever made. When someone tells you, “A vote for X is a vote for Biden/Trump” or “Not voting is a vote for Biden/Trump,” it is your duty to laugh at them as it is nonsensical, juvenile take. As you can see, both sides can (and do!) say the same thing.
It is not up to you to help Trump or Biden win. That’s the entire point of a campaign — for candidates to make their case. Clearly, we haven’t sent our best. Now you have Robert F. Kennedy Jr. floating the possibility of Aaron Rodgers or Jesse Venture as his running mate.
It’s Gozer said to choose the form of our destructors and it happened.
Vote for the candidate you want or stay home. Me? I’m going to write in Mitch Daniels.