I have always voted my conscience, whether the candidate of my choice was on the ballots or not. Since 1968, the first time I was eligible to vote, I've voted the party ticket only five times: twice for Obama, once for Clinton (the first time he ran, then I wised up), for Carter and for Humphrey (would have voted for Bobby had he lived).
My other votes went to people I knew wouldn't make it or wouldn't even be considered or want to run - one who was dead: Andrew Young, Barbara Jordan, Betty Friedan (ERA), Ann Richards, Eleanor Roosevelt, Carl Sagan.
With the choices before us this year, I've decided to vote for candidates who best expressed my hopes for our country, for the future I'd want for my grandson and all those who come after I'm gone. I want leaders who will guide us back to the dream that our nation was founded on (only better): liberty, equality, justice and fraternity - that state or feeling of friendship and mutual support. Honesty, integrity, diversity. Peace and economic stability, adequate healthcare, education for all who seek it, no hunger or homelessness. Consensus-building, harmony and community. This might be the last election I get to participate in, so I want my vote to count, to mean something more than party affiliation or flipping a coin. I want it to reflect my values, my hopes, my love for this world and what I think America could be.
I recently read a post by Frank Conway in which he declares he doesn't want any of the candidates; he wants George Washington. That's why I thought, why not write in our candidates based upon our values and hopes. Of course, it could be argued that that's what the current candidates already represent...but not for me, and, it seems, not for a lot of other voters out there.
So, here are my candidates, with links to why I'd vote for them. Otherwise, I'm not voting this year. I will be in mourning for what we are becoming, or have become.
President of the United States:
(Skip to time mark 2:46 for the beginning of her address.)
Vice-President of the United States:
Wikipedia has articles on both women, for those of you who don't know or remember them.
I'm sorry, thought the PBS link led to the video. It doesn't. I'll try to find it and repost.
14 comments:
As a mere limey with no links to the US I feel that I should not intrude on the sorrow that seems to be your forthcoming presidential election.
You seem to have taken the mature, considered course, Martha. If none are suitable, then don't vote for either. But you can dream..... George Washington, if only!
George Washington didn't want to be president - well, he didn't want to be king, which so many wanted at the time. What he abhorred was the idea of absolute rule by one person, which wasn't democratic in his experience.
Perhaps I am fooling myself, but I think Barbara Jordan was the 20th century version of Washington, so far as national politics was concerned. Doubt very much that she would have owned slaves, though.
Thank you for your comments, Avus.
(o)
:-}
If I were there and could vote at all (I never did take US citizenship even after 34 years) I would cast a ballot for Jill Stein. I know it's not likely this time but 15% would allow the Green Party to be taken seriously. What we're seeing now are the two ugliest heads of one very frightening monster. It's repugnant .. and not just for America either.
Thus far I've taken the pragmatic, 'lesser of two evils' approach. A lot of people I like and respect are taking your approach.
I just don't know, any wisdom I've managed to acquire in 70 years seems of no use to me with this issue. I expect I'll vote for Clinton, only because even in my most vindictive moods towards what has become of this country, I cannot wish the evil that Trump represents on the people here.
Other than that I have nothing to offer. I am not trying to talk people out of third party choices, though I think what happened when Nader ran might happen again, and the democrat candidate be the loser of the choice.
It will be what it will be.
Hope you are well, Martha. Winter is peeking over the horizon here, never got above 45 here today, and I expect the mountains nearby are getting their first coat.
Cheers,
Mike
Susan:
Perhaps your idea is the better way to go - to shake up the status quo, in hope of waking up voters and getting them to take back the electoral process.
Mike:
As Susan wrote, Clinton and Trump - to me, too - are two heads on the same monster. Ordinary citizens stand to lose, no matter which one wins.
I wrote my post while feeling hopeless, with no clear vision of where our country is headed after the elections. I started paying attention to politics when I was thirteen and JFK was running for office. With all the mishaps and tragedies we've endured in the years since, I've never felt this discouraged.
So it goes.
I think the first 7 words of your answer to me sums it up, Martha. The best president would be someone who doesn't want the job!
Avus:
You wrote: "The best president would be someone who doesn't want the job!"
Which is one of the reasons I wouldn't vote for Clinton. She wants the position too much, so much so that she'd sell the American people and her soul to the highest bidder. Oh, wait. I think she already has.
Trump is, in my opinion, a clown, a buffoon. He doesn't really want the job (too much real work involved, too many checks and balances to his liking), just the prestige and power brokering that goes with the job. With Trump, we'd never know who was truly president or who was really pulling the strings. One has only to watch or listen to his campaign ads to realize his modus operandi is the old bait-and-switch, double-speak of a snake-oil salesman. I don't want a carny barker for president.
Well! Sounds like I got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, doesn't it?
Hey, that's a fun exercise, to think of who we want to vote for, living OR dead.
I'm thinking Jimmy Carter, who's not only still alive but never got a second term---he would do it soooo much better this time 'round.
Since it's unlikely he'd live out his term, there'd have to be a great v.p. to step in. Since I'm (sort of) thinking in the realm of the possible here, maybe... Elizabeth Warren?
Martha, you've given me a new option to think about. Thank you! I remember both Jordan and Chisolm. Unbought and unbossed, amen. And I can't imagine either J or C charging a family $10,000 for a photo.
Have you ever thought of voting for Pmurt Dlanod in the hope that your tiny gesture will send him back whence he came. Even further if possible. There's a guy called Dante who knows all about appropriate destinations.
A write-in vote is a vote for Donny. Like Clinton or not, Trump is not a viable option. Things are getting scary.
Carolyn
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