Simply put...
No.
My vote was not a "protest vote". I was not trying to "send a message."
I listened carefully to what the candidates had to say. I watched or listened to every debate and informed myself of where the candidates stood on the issues important to me.
In this race, I liked where Dean stood on many issues and I like him as a person. I felt as though he would better represent people like me and that Franken and Coleman were simply the status quo.
Considering the guy was outspent 1600-1 by Franken and Coleman each, I'm proud of what he was able to do.
Candidates have to earn my vote, you don't just get it because you have a D or an R behind your name.
The notion of a wasted vote is a fallacy. I would have wasted my vote voting for Al Franken, because I do not believe in him. I do not think he will be a good United States Senator. That's my feeling, my opinion.
To follow the flawed logic of the wasted vote, I should throw out any concept of principle and simply vote for candidate one or two based on who will do less evil. Of course, if the race is a blowout, feel free to vote for the candidate of your choice, but if it's close...you should regret that decision. "It's all your fault".
Where does this logic come from? Seriously? This is what is wrong with American politics.
To use a sports analogy...
You can only root for the Yankees or the Dodgers, since they have all the money. Or Duke, or the Patriots, Celtics, etc...
To root for any other team is a waste of time.
BS
So, no regrets from November 4th by this kid. In fact, seeing the incredible drama coming from both the Coleman and Franken legal teams, I'm proud of my vote for Barkley.
4 responses to "Any November 4th regrets?"
Does it matter if norm wins to you? I fully support that you can vote for anyone you want, but seems to me who could win is a factor in a lot of votes.
If your voting decisions are based on this type of strategic thinking rather than on who you feel is the best candidate, then you are doing something wrong. This is precisely what gets us into these situations of worse and worser candidates...
Your vote can be based on what ever you want it to be. So I'm not going to say any choice is truly wrong. I just disagree with it. Personally, I never would have voted for Dean, unless the choices were real bad. But, I've never really thought much of him.
But, my question was if Norm winning mattered to you? That's all.
It does matter. I didn't want Coleman to win. However, I didn't want Franken to win either.