My guy Gary Johnson. is likely to get about 1% of the national vote, while the Siamese twin Mittrack Obamney will get the other 98.999999%. Sorry Green/Constitution Party and Independent advocates - you'll likely muster the other .0000001%, give or take ten zeros.
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| Your vote on either of these two really only matters in 15 states, argues political expert/doofus/moron Brian Bolek |
Oh wait, I forgot about a problem with the argument that my vote doesn't matter. Yours likely doesn't either. In fact, I think we're both wasting our time debating whether our vote actually matters (at least when it comes to Illinois).
The 36 Strong
This can be said for about the 35 states (and DC, which gets 2 votes) whose electoral votes are clearly going to one particular candidate, and thus, getting all of the electoral college votes from them. These states are highlighted on this page: http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/electoral-map. The definition of "clearly" would be over a 95% chance that the state will be won by that particular candidate (Here's a detailed NY Times blog that is tracking this). If you notice the state of Illinois - it is 100% certain that Obama will win this state. Therefore, I would argue that your vote, which matters none in the national vote of a candidate (since the electoral college neuters this and ties someone's vote directly to their state and their state only), is just as useless as mine if you're voting for anyone other than Obama.
(Note: there are two states that allow for electoral votes to be split between candidates - Maine and Nebraska. Both states give two electoral votes to the winner of the state, and then allow their respective state districts decide the rest. For what it's worth, all of Nebraska's "votes" will go to Romney, while Obama is likely to take Maine and both of its districts - although Mitt has a slight chance in one district. Both of these states are among the 35 mentioned above.)
Even if Romney gets 40% in Illinois (just to throw a number out there), sure, he's a hell of a lot more popular to the voting public than any third party candidate, but he gets the same number of electoral votes from Illinois as my 1% does - zero.
If you ditch the electoral college and go straight to popular vote (it'll never happen), then I argue your vote would carry more weight. But since it only matters in the state which you reside, you aren't going to influence the vote.
The 15 That Matter Most
This leaves a total of 15 states who pollsters still have some question on who will carry the state's electoral votes. Many of these states have particular leans already - some Obama, some Romney - while others are statistically up in the air until Tuesday. These states compromise 173 of the electoral votes out of the 538 total (32%). So assuming that the election plays out as it should in those 35 states where Romney and Obama have a guaranteed hold on the votes, this leaves about one-third of the nation's voters with a meaningful vote.
If you break it down based on this site's "too close to call" states (that can be up for debate, especially with the flaws that polls represent), there's at least seven of those states, whose electoral votes total 89 - 16.5% of the electoral votes. This number might be a little higher or lower depending on what data you use, but this is a good estimate.
These are the states where the candidates have been spending the most time and money on, the ones where each candidate will essentially do whatever they can to get a vote (up to and including fellatio...just guessing). I feel sorry for the ads that those states have to deal with on a daily basis - Illinois' close race ads are brutal enough, couldn't imagine the stuff that Romney and Obama have come up with in the swing states.
Those 35 states (and DC) whose electoral votes we can count already as all but certain - each campaign knows better than to waste their time pandering across those states when their vote is (near) certain.
Of course it matters
What I am arguing here, is that in spite of your non-Illinois Obama vote not really playing a role into the election at all, your vote does matter. Mine does too, even if it's only one of about 1% of the vote for Johnson. It's easy to say "Your vote means shit" when you're in a non-swing state and you're voting for a candidate who is certain to lose that state. But your vote is more than just a statistic - it's a representation of your beliefs in who will be the best person to best represent my country (or state/district/town/etc.).
Well - at least that's what it's supposed to be. I'd love to believe that the general public votes FOR candidates rather than AGAINST them (i.e. voting for Candidate A because you believe in him/her and not just because you hate Candidate B that much), but we all know that these anti-votes occur.
I digress.
When you vote, whether you vote in a swing state or not, whether you're voting on any candidate who has a legit shot or not, you are voting for your ideal representatives (unless you're a dumbass).
If you are an Illinois resident and you believe Romney best represents your views on how the country should be run, then by all means vote for him. Meanwhile, I will vote for Gary Johnson who best represents my views.
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| The expected three top-vote getters in the 2012 election. The guy in the middle (Gary Johnson) will get about 1/49th the votes of each of the guys (Obama/Romney) who sandwich him. |
Another digression alert: (And no, my vote for him is not a vote for Obama or Romney - it is a vote for Johnson. I HATE!!! the notion that bi-partisan politics have brought upon the voting culture where you can't just vote for a third party candidate because, I don't know, You actually want to vote for that candidate! The idea that my vote is stealing a vote away from one of these guys is baffling to me. If I wanted to vote for one of those candidates, I would, you know, vote for them. My vote is not stealing a vote away from either because, simply put, I wouldn't vote for either guy if Johnson wasn't on the ballot).
Anywho, enough of this babbling. Go out and vote November 6th for the candidate(s) who best represent your views. And yes - your vote matters.
And so does mine.
