1. The predominance of the Republican party has not changed, and it won't for this election cycle.
2. Yes, people hate the thought of voting for Donald Trump, but enough Republicans will vote for him that he will win Utah without much effort. He's up comfortably in the polls today.
3. It's hard to imagine the hated Hillary Clinton winning enough cross-over votes to change that outcome.
4. Just because there are two minority parties who have chosen Utah as their headquarters does not signal a mass uprising among the citizenry.
5. Even if Evan McMullin or Gary Johnson were able to somehow win Utah's six electoral college votes, that won't be enough to throw the election into the House of Representatives to determine the election.
6. In the grand scheme of national politics Utah isn't even a drop in the ocean.
7. One person's vote in Utah is almost immaterial because the outcome is always so predictable.
8. Whenever a viable third-party candidate has emerged, I have always voted for that person, as I did twice for Ross Perot. Why? Because my vote really doesn't matter much and I have always known it.
9. "But the Supreme Court hangs in the balance," I hear routinely from others. See above.
10. This might be the most important election of our lifetimes. See above.
I won't stay home and not vote for anyone. Instead, I will immediately fill in my mail-in ballot as soon as I receive it and be done with this election cycle.
I have unsubscribed from every single e-mail request from every single campaign that has solicited my donations.
I have rudely hung up on every pollster who has called my home.
I have turned off all the political coverage on the news channels.
I will tune out the debates whenever they pop up. Watching NFL football will be a welcomed relief by contrast. Shoot, watching ANYTHING else would be acceptable to me this year.
I have never seen a time in my life when the political process has produced such dismal choices. The two-party system has given us the worst outcomes I can imagine. I am boycotting and denouncing the two major candidates, and I will not vote for either one.
Others will tell me to adopt such a stance is un-American or irresponsible and my vote will not count or be meaningful. And they would all be right, because my vote in Utah is essentially meaningless. See above.
So who will I vote for? The one guy who's standing up for America. The most logical would be a vote for Evan McMullin. At least he most closely aligns with how I think and believe. I actually have several options. I could write in my wife's name, as Mitt Romney suggested he might do a few weeks back. Or I could vote for Thomas S. Monson or Joseph Smith or Mickey Mouse. I've even thought about writing in my home teacher. Any one of my sons and daughters would also be a good alternative.
Far from throwing away my vote in Utah, it will give me the satisfaction of taking a stand against the corrupt two-party system and the two corrupt candidates represented by the major parties. Both Trump and Clinton have headquarters here in Utah this year. It won't move the needle much either way, I predict.
I would love to hear anyone's comments about why I'm wrong. Go ahead, take a shot and convince me your one vote makes even a scintilla of difference in Utah.
I have often joked that this year I would write in the name of a righteous young man whom I love and trust as my number one choice, even though he isn't old enough to serve based upon the Constitutional requirements for office. In fact, I have several grandsons that fit that bill. And even more granddaughters!
If you live in Utah this year, you don't have to choose the lesser of two evils. Trust me, plenty of people in Utah will do just that and blindly drink the Trump Kool-Aid to prevent Hillary Rodham Clinton from winning. And Trump will win Utah. And he will garner enough voters to do it.
I just won't be one of them.
Well, at least you're not wasting your time any more looking for political saviors. And not wasting time listening to the incessant yak-yak, which this silly season is focused on "did he really say that?" and "will she be indicted?". Not that those 2 aren't important considerations, but are they really the only ones?
ReplyDeleteYou're right, the candidates from the 2 major parties are unfit. We should look at alternatives. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) they have no chance of winning.
What is happening at the top is beyond the common citizen to influence. There are powerful forces at play that really run the show. This is the age of mass manipulation. Yes, call me a conspiracy theorist, doesn't bother me at all. I think it's all rather apparent. The adversary has his plan of damnation and his priesthood. This has been in the works well over 100 years. I think the success they're having is beyond the wildest dreams of those who signed on in the beginning.
It is the love of money and the concurrent fear of poverty, as opposed to love of and faith in God, that more than anything has brought the nation to where it is today. I speak not only about the elite but about all Americans, you and me included.
I've written in a President ever since Reagan's 2nd run. I might have left the 2012 ballot blank though. When I vote for president I do so with the Lord primarily in mind. That is, when it's my turn at the judgment bar, I want to say without hesitation that I chose someone not based primarily on political calculus but on someone who I felt in good conscience could be a modern-day Hezekiah, someone both capable of holding the executive office and handling its duties as well as having the character and will to lead us in the paths of righteousness.
I know this post is pretty incoherent. I've left out the details of the conclusions I've reached. I have a lot more to say about this, but not the time. I've got to focus on my sphere of influence, and there's someone needing my attention right now.
But I'm glad that you're tuning out the noise. It's a waste of time and it cankers the soul and it makes the mind mush. That doesn't mean we should be apolitical. No, we should be very informed and very involved. It's WHAT we get informed about and involved with that is critical to seeing things clearly and making things better. Cutting out the noise is an essential step. Searching for truth is another. Congrats on doing both.
Final thought: In times past history seems to tell us that a relative few at the top could steer their societies towards truth, virtue, prosperity, liberty, equity, and all the rest. I really wonder if that's possible now. The enemy has amassed so much control and power over all our institutions that it would take the VAST majority of our countrymen to turn from sin, corruption, and false doctrine to affect the change that we'd like to see. It seems that this time it'd have to be from the bottom up. Besides, who's at the top that we can trust? Where are our Washingtons, Franklins, Captain Moronis, Bolivars, etc? Maybe that's why the Lord comes again, because we let it get screwed up to the point where only He can fix it.
Good night and be happy
Once again, R John Jr., I could not have said it better. Thanks for your faithfulness and your constancy. I hope there are more of us out there.
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