“Voting My Conscience,” Re:Consider
One of the most sacred duties we have as American citizens is the right to vote. For whatever holes in the system you might think there are, or mechanisms that stifle the democratic process and keep the status quo intact, the fact remains that we still have the right to vote, and however small our voice may be in a single vote, it is still powerful, and yes — it still makes a difference, especially when raised in tandem with thousands or millions of like-minded individuals.
If you doubt that, just look at the last decade of national politics: the unlikely rise and victory of Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton and John McCain, and the “almost-wins” of Bernie Sanders and Beto O’Rourke in historically hostile territory, on the left; on the right, the ascendancy of the Tea Party and names like Sarah Palin and Ted Cruz to national prominence, of course culminating in the nomination victory and eventual election of Donald Trump.
Yes, my friends. Your voice matters. When you unite it with others, it matters very much indeed.
In every election cycle, someone talks about “voting your conscience.” Every year, almost without exception, one of the two major party candidates is distasteful in some way to a large portion of their own voting bloc, so there arises all manner of chatter about “voting with your nose plugged” or some odd metaphor like…
