lost to write-ins, independents, and non-voters

It's here.  The day we all groan together over the next four years.  And let's face it, we would have groaned either way.  Because neither candidate is really worth celebrating.

To show you what I mean, here is an excerpt from a text conversation yesterday with my dear friend Halley:

H:  "I still don't like either of the candidates..."
Me:  "Write in"
H:  "Hahaha.  Is that what you're going to do?"
Me:  "Yep.  Maybe I'll write in Big Bird.  Or Stephen Colbert."

I ended up writing in Ron Paul.  Halley is pregnant with her first and due any day now.  She ended up writing in her baby's name.

And I can think of countless others... friends of mine who are fed up with the system and choosing not to buy in, who wrote in a candidate or voted independent or just sat the election out.  Ours is the generation of what I would call conservative moderates.  Or maybe conservative libertarians.  Either way, it's those of us in the 22 - 35 age bracket who grew up with either super conservative or super liberal baby boomer parents, who have settled somewhere in the middle politically.  The current system is super broken.  It just isn't giving us what we want.  We're tired of it and we're not casting a vote to perpetuate the brokenness.

You may say that we wasted our votes last night.  But you know, when I'm shopping for a dress or a really great pair of jeans and I don't find what I want, I wait for something better.  I don't buy something I'm not convinced of.  I would say it's the same politically for us.  I'm no political strategist or statistician, but from what I know, countless votes were lost for both sides last night because thousands like yours truly just didn't believe in the candidates presented to us.  What my vote said yesterday was this:  "All you old white men with money and power who head up the partisan sides:  Give us something better.  We're not buying this."

And yeah, it didn't happen this election.  And maybe it won't happen next election either.  But eventually, third party ideas will become more mainstream and my generation will be able to vote our convictions in good conscience again.  Maybe we'll get excited about voting again instead of writing in someone like Gandalf... or worse, sitting the whole thing out.

I didn't waste my vote.  I refused to compromise my ideals.