My vote. A decision to make. What is it worth?

Our current voting system is flawed, driven by negativity through attack ads and falsely guarded under the pretense that campaigns are geared towards tackling the issues we care about. Once elected, the person who goes to DC faces the same bribery and underhandedness that the rest have who came before them fell prey to. Lobbyists control their campaign, and in turn, their vote. My vote becomes meaningless. The sad truth is still that I helped put them there.

I have said this before in previous posts, but our elected officials are a reflection of ourselves. American voters are at each other's throats. We are unable to agree on anything. We elect men and women who are extensions of that disagreement. Government can't get anything done because we cannot agree on what should be done. If I want progress, I have to seriously consider how I vote.

Which leads me to my conundrum, and perhaps your own.

I want to vote my conscience. I want to vote for what I believe in. I want to vote based on someone's record. I want to vote for someone I can defend, someone I can stand behind. Instead, I'm being convinced that I must vote against all of that and support the lesser of two evils. If I vote my conscience, I might be able to sleep at night, but the person I vote for will not win. If I vote for the lesser of two evils, I may not like them, but they have a shot at winning and some of what I want might get through Congress. By voting for the lesser of two evils, my wants and needs as a US citizen have a chance. Ironic, isn't it?

But the opposite side votes the same way now. Take David Vitter, for example. He's running against Charlie Melancon who is admittedly a conservative democrat. Republicans and "independent" conservatives will be voting for David Vitter despite his afflictions and very public penchant for prostitutes. Family values are important to those voters, but Vitter is not expected to walk the walk. Why? He is a reflection of the conservative voter. His constituents don't have family values either. They behave in ways which favor selfish interests too. They may not be chasing after hookers, but their values are most certainly compromised. They would never be caught dead voting for "some damn democrat." As far as they are concerned, Melancon is a socialist, despite the fact that he's obviously a conservative democrat. In terms of the political spectrum, he's light years away from being a leftist. Still, conservative voters play the lesser of two evils game too, even when their candidate is an outright scumbag. Apparently Melancon is worse that a john.

The people voting for David Vitter are casting what I call a pseudo-protest vote. They are voting for Vitter to protest Obama, but all the griping going on in this country about incumbents, crooked politicians, and and reforming DC politics becomes meaningless by voting for David Vitter. We do not send a message to the corrupt that we want them out. We continue to put them back in because they will supposedly vote at some point in time in line with our belief system. We vote for the chance, not the reality.

If I do not vote for Melancon, those who vote for Vitter give their side a lead. If I do vote for Melancon, there is a chance he could win. But is my vote worth a sacrifice? Do I break principles and go for the win? Do I play that game? What does that say about me?

I do not like this feeling one bit. I would much rather take a stand against the status quo of conservative Louisiana. I have the gumption to cast a protest vote. Practically, it amounts to nothing in the long run. What would you do?

I would prefer to cast a vote of no confidence. I think that is a sentiment those of us on the Left and Right can sympathize with.

Oust the Blue Dogs

There are two things I am fed up with in the Democratic Party. Both involve our elected officials. The first is that predominant Dems in power are wishy washy pansies. The second is that conservative Democrats, the Blue Dogs, do not vote party line when it matters. The argument against Democrats this year is that we hold the power. We could pass whatever we wanted. Those are two big arguments against us this election season. Unfortunately, we just don't have any solidarity like Republicans do. There is too much individuality within the Democratic Party. We need to get rid of some dead weight.

While I admit it is a good point to argue against rank and file conservatives by saying our tent covers people who may not agree and vote as a matter of principle over party line, times are dire right now. Things need to get done. Don't Ask Don't Tell is on the table and it may get botched up because of one vote, a Republican from Maine. The health care debate was screwed up by conservadems like Blanche Lincoln and Mary Landrieu. Dems can whine all they want about Republican obstructionists and they'd be right, but our own house needs to get cleaned out too. The notion of an inclusive tent is a ruse and only serves as eye candy so those on the Left can have a talking point. Blue Dogs do not represent us. They are not liberals. They are moderates with problematic conservative stances.

On the flip side, Democratic voters tend to vote their conscience in addition to being party line. For instance, it's usually nothing for a staunch Democrat to cast a protest vote. Democrats are likely going to struggle this fall, so the last thing Democratic elected officials will want to do is piss off voters who have no qualms over voting someone out for being a douchebag who can't get DADT and other key agenda items through Congress. Just like the Tea Party, if you don't vote for what we want, we will get rid of you. We should be doing this to all of the Blue Dogs. Oust them so we can get some work done. On both fiscal and social issues, they are seldom progressive at all. They might as well be Republicans.

Blue Dogs are naively considered the compromising souls between the Left and the Right. Unfortunately, our system does not work under the notion of compromise and legislation winds up getting watered down into ineffectual nothingness or becomes ushered into the wasteland that is a bill that goes nowhere at all. Conservadems are right in the middle of this mess, but in terms of ideas, they should not be considered moderate. Oddly enough, conservative groups run slanderous campaign ads touting most Blue Dogs as Leftists when they are nothing of the sort. Their records show us this much.

If the Tea Party can put the screws to the GOP, surely liberal voters can hang conservative Democrats out to dry. Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Tim Kaine, and yes, even Barack Obama can all start cracking some skulls. We cannot rely on moderate Republicans to vote in our favor. The Republican leadership has them on a short leash. On the Left, there is no leash. We need to crack the whip and then strap a choker chain on some of these Democrats. If they don't want to be chained, suggest to them that they should retire their political career so we may vote in someone new.