Why I Didn’t Vote Goode and Voted for Romney

I didn’t want either of them—Romney or Obama.  They were very much the same individual, once you got right down to it.  You see, I’m pretty realistic when it comes to elections.  I know that neither individual is really going to get what they want.  They are both going to get some of it, but they are also going to get whatever it is watered down.  On the major social issues, neither of them are really in a place to do any major change, regardless of whether they support it or not.

But on the issues that matter and which they do have control—wars, budgets, spending, etc.—both of them were roughly the same.  Yes, Pres. Obama will get us in more debt, but a Pres. Romney would have done the same thing, just on a smaller scale.

So, why, if I believe that, did I still vote for Romney?

Why Not Vote Your Conscience?

When I walked into the polling place this past Tuesday, and I retrieved my ballot, I almost voted for Goode.  I had read a little about him earlier, and I never vote the Republican line, usually voting “Conservative” to hopefully make a point.  When I saw the Constitution Party candidate, I almost cast my vote for Goode.  I mean, I live in a deep-blue state and figured that Romney didn’t have a chance here unless there was to be some backlash from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Sandy.

Of course, I was there with my wife, and knew that she would vote for Romney, so I wasn’t sure that I wanted to vote differently and explain myself, but it was more than that.

My vote was more of a negative vote than a positive one.

Voting Against, Rather than For

Most of the time we tell people that they should vote for something, but my vote was more of a vote against something—namely, against the socialist system that stands behind the policy choices of the current President.  I wanted, more than anything, to let people know that I didn’t stand for his social views—even though I know he can do little to change them.  I felt that even if my vote didn’t count in my deep blue state, perhaps I could help the national vote be higher for Romney, and if enough people did that, even if Romney lost the fact that a majority of the people in the US said no to Obama, that would mean something.

Now we know that Romney lost both the popular vote and the electoral college, it doesn’t mean as much, but it was still the same.

For the Kids

The other reason was my kids.  No, not that I thought Romney would be better for my children’s future, but that we tried to explain what was different among the two party’s candidates, and the one that stuck was the one that stated that Obama accepts a woman’s right to kill babies that are still in their mom’s bellies.  Considering we’re expecting our sixth child—and they’re really excited about that!—this one really stuck.  For their young minds, they can’t figure out why anyone would want to kill a baby.

Yes, I could have explained that there were others that also didn’t want to kill babies, but these were the only two candidates, and they were also the only ones that were going to be mentioned on the television that night, so they naturally gravitated toward teams.

Which I think is alright for kids to do, but not adults.

Regrets?

Yes, I guess so.  I think that every time I vote I end up voting lesser-of-two-evils or with a view toward who could win.  I get sucked into the grandness of it all, even though each time I get further away from believing that what I vote in this deep blue state is important.

Each time I vow that I’ll vote my conscience the next time.  Maybe next time I will.

Image from Stock Exchange used under the Standard Restrictions explained at the link.