Many people during this election cycle, dissatisfied with the choices of Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, have passionately fled both candidates to find others more to their liking. This has brought many to Jill Stein of the Green Party or Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party. Some are choosing not to vote at all, others intend to write in Bernie Sanders despite his concession and the fact only 7 states will actually count those votes.
The general sentiment is that even if the person they vote for loses, at least they didn’t vote for Clinton or Trump, and therefor they’re absolved of responsibility for anything Clinton or Trump may do while in office. No doubt many also think of a pleasant future where the winner does something unpopular and they can say “I told you so”.
The problem with this sentiment is that they aren’t thinking about it enough; they’re either missing or deliberately ignoring the reality that their decision has consequences on the race between the Big Two even if they put their vote elsewhere, or withhold it altogether.
The fact is that barring an incredibly strange occurrence, the election in November will be between these two people. Third parties lack the media attention to gain a following and their candidates have practically no mainstream name recognition. They’re unlikely to be involved in any debates and the American people are simply used to seeing Democrats and Republicans. Maybe this will change in the future, but not by November. This election, it’s going to be between Trump and Clinton.
This means that when future generations look back, or even the current ones in 10 years, and ask “How did this person become president? How was it allowed to happen?”, they’re going to look at the people who opposed them or failed to oppose them. If Trump wins, it’ll be asked why more people didn’t oppose him. If Clinton wins, it’ll be asked why more people didn’t oppose her. And the “opposition” they’re going to look for is their chief competitor. If you didn’t vote for Clinton you’ll be held responsible for letting Trump win. If you didn’t vote for Trump you’ll be held responsible for letting Hillary win. Nobody’s going to care if you voted for a third party–only that you didn’t vote for the person’s chief competitor.
This is a proven social occurrence. Those who voted for Nader in the 2000 election are commonly criticized for enabling Bush to win. Democrats who stayed home during the 2010 and 2014 mid-term elections are blamed for allowing Republicans to make gains in Congress and lower levels of government. This is because we understand, after the fact, that a person’s power to vote has influence beyond just who they vote for. It matters who they don’t vote for. It matters who they support or fail to support, oppose or fail to oppose.
But this isn’t something only visible after the fact. We can know this before we vote. We can know, now, that voting for candidates who can’t win means we’re failing to support or oppose a candidate who can.
On some level I think we all know this and it’s why so many end up voting for the lesser of two evils. We know that failing to oppose the greater evil, by supporting the lesser evil, helps the greater evil to win. This is undeniable, inescapable logic. Is it fair? No. And voting for a third party candidate isn’t an escape; it just means you failed to oppose both evils.
And that’s the crux of it. If you choose not to oppose either evil you’re responsible for that decision and the consequences of it. You’re responsible for not having opposed whichever person wins. You’re responsible for the consequences of their presidency. That is what your conscience will deal with. It’s about a lot more than just who you vote for.
The presidential election of 2000 was my first presidential election to vote in. I didn’t like any of the candidates and idealistically protested the system by withholding my vote. Bush ended up winning and when I look back and ask “How did that happen?” I realize I didn’t oppose him. I stood by and let him become president. I didn’t use the power of my vote to try to stop him. It wouldn’t have even mattered if I had; living in a red state my vote against him wouldn’t have gone far, but I’m still responsible for my decision. I didn’t do what I could. I didn’t take a stand. And I’m responsible for that. Because I didn’t use my democratic power to oppose him, everything he did, I allowed to happen.
Suffice it to say I will never make that mistake again. In 2004, despite not caring for Kerry, I voted for him in opposition to Bush. That cleared my conscience.
These are lessons I learned and the country had to suffer before I learned them. Learn from my mistakes and from my lesson here. Don’t require America to suffer again for you to learn.