Your vote really doesn't count

Point, by John Davidson

In a few short days, millions of people across the country will go to the polls and exercise their most sacred and fundamental right -- they will vote.

But there will be millions and millions of others who will stay home on election day and just watch TV or play video games. For one reason or another, they won't be voting.

This November, I not only encourage you to stay home and join me in not voting, I hope you abstain because you understand and truly believe that your vote doesn't make a difference.

That's right, your vote doesn't matter, doesn't count and won't make any difference.

I know it's not a very popular stance to take these days. In fact, it's not even cool or rebellious, what with all those slick, "get your vote on" ads from MTV and all those pro wrestlers trying to get young people excited about voting.

But it's true, voting is a pathetic waste of time and your vote doesn't make any difference, so you might as well stay home and play video games.

I'm not the only one who feels this way.

According to exit poll numbers from the last presidential election, among voters under age 30, only about 18 million voted out of 48 million potential voters. The message seems clear: They don't care; they think voting sucks.

And why should they care?

Does voting make a difference? I suppose it determines who gets into office, but that misses the point.

Does it really matter who gets into office? No, it doesn't.

And there's the crux of it: The reason your vote doesn't make any difference is because your candidate won't make any difference. Simple as that. I'm sorry, but it's true.

Setting aside the fact that our government is basically a monstrous bureaucracy in which elected officials play a marginal and shrinking role, consider some highlights from this year's election rhetoric.

The biggest voting issue in the presidential election seems to be Iraq and the war on terror. Sen. John Kerry has made the patently absurd claim that he "has a plan" to get us out of Iraq. No, he doesn't. There's no plan. We're in Iraq for the long haul and no one is going to get us out.

Kerry also says he has a plan to get other countries to share the burden, to send troops and whatnot. Yeah, right. Just because he isn't George Bush doesn't mean other countries will suddenly think it's in their best interest to send troops to Iraq. The reconstruction of Iraq -- or its descent into civil war -- will be determined by events on the ground in that country, and it will be almost entirely up to the United States.

President Bush says we need a strong leader who will keep our country safe from the evil ones, a leader who understands the threat we face and has the resolve to do what is necessary to keep us safe.

But the painful truth about 9/11, the thing no one is willing to admit, is that nothing could have kept those people safe, nothing could have prevented those attacks. No set of safeguards, no security protocols, no border policies, nothing. 9/11 couldn't have been predicted or prevented any more than Pearl Harbor could have, and everyone knows it.

Creating new federal agencies, passing another Patriot Act, making granny take her shoes off before she gets on the plane and sending troops to the Middle East won't eradicate terrorism. The threat will remain because the conflict is cultural and religious. But it will remain a distant threat, just like before, unlikely to threaten very many Americans or significantly alter many people's lives. Let's not kid ourselves, 9/11 didn't change the world; neither will this election.

The truth about this election is that it's about who we think we are, not who we actually are; it's about what we want to believe about America and terrorism, not about what America and terrorism actually are; it's about stories we tell ourselves that aren't true; it's about promises and fear and denial and the sinking feeling that no matter who gets into office, it won't really change anything, it won't really make a difference.

So please, don't "get your vote on" next week. Instead, wake up and get over it -- your vote doesn't make a difference.

John Davidson is a Frontiersman reporter.