I've read too many diaries to harbor illusions about this. I have been told and told again by the most knowledgeable of kossacks. When I question this pronouncement they ask me why I'm so angry. They say they just don't get it. What's got into me that I respond badly to hearing that my vote won't matter? Why is that such a terrible thing?
Why don't I say it again, just so we can all remember clearly what we're talking about. My vote won't matter in '06. Your vote won't matter either.
One more time, what? Your vote won't matter in '06.
HEY OUT THERE! "Your vote won't matter in '06."
Make no mistake. I've been where no one's vote matters in the slightest. I have relatives in Crimea, Petersburg, and Central Russia. Despite all the blow-hard bullshit in the Western Press there was no revolution in Ukraine. One group of crooks managed to get over on another. What followed was very hard on the Ukrainian people as the new group of crooked cronies worked to get theirs as fast as possible.
But don't try to tell Ukrainians that their vote doesn't matter. Sure, there are some disillusioned people in Ukraine today, mostly younger people, people that had not experienced the Soviet Union and believed that an election could change their entire society. Maybe some of these, in their disappointment, wonder how useful their revolution and even their votes actually were. But for the most part Ukrainians are crazy for voting and anxiously waiting for their next opportunity with hope. Yes, that's right, I said hope. They hope that their society will evolve institutions that support the freedom and prosperity they desire. They hope that somehow leaders will emerge that will put the welfare of the people over the bank accounts of their friends. They hope that they can themselves have a voice and a hand in the remaking of their country into a place where life is not so hideously difficult and success so improbable. They raise their voice in every election. They have huge voter turnouts that put Americans to shame. And it is hope that animates their tenuous and improbable dreams. It is difficult to actually articulate how extraordinary this hope is. There is a kind of resignation to tragic fate that has been called the Russian Soul. Imagine if you can, hope springs even from this. Do you who say that my vote won't matter have that much imagination? Can you grok me? The prospect of voting, even for known criminals, brings forth hope from resigned apathy. Do you think that maybe that matters? Maybe just a little?
Here I sit in south central Minnesota, a long way from Broward, Miami-Dade, a long way from Cincinnati, a long, long way from Philly. And it's a long way from Simferopol, Dnipropetrovsk, a long way even from Kiev. Sure, we have controversial elections here but the controversy is about who is the best candidate, what is the better idea, which programs are needed, how should taxes be apportioned. But even if I knew that the fix was in, even if I knew that the candidates offered no real alternatives, even if I knew that I would die in the polling booth, my vote would still matter.
I walk into the polling location for my precinct every year with determined pride and studied optimism. I am there to make a difference. I am there to have my say, express my view. There are times when my horse doesn't win. That does not demean my vote or anyone's and it does not demean the process or denigrate even the decision reached.
For as long as I vote I still have my own views, I still have my own take on what the world ought to be, what my country should do, who should lead, who should judge, who should legislate. As long as I vote I still have hope. Hope that change is possible. This matters. This matters a lot.
The entrance to hell leads past a sign that reads "those who enter here, all hope abandon." Your vote won't matter in '06. Walk right in and join the rest, the jaded, the cynical, the eternally disenfranchised. Give up on all of it. Give up on your country, your institutions, your fellows, and any faith you may ever have had. Just give it all up as useless. There is no hope and no possibility of redemption or renewal. Your hope won't matter. The blog has spoken.
Before I finish I want also to offer a few words to those who think our elections are fixed. I have friends that are election judges. Your assertions impune them and all the other righteous election officials throughout the land. Take some thought to what you say, put some caution in your voice. Overgeneralization is no more helpful than foolish denial.
In conclusion, there are those of you that would take to heart the words of Joseph Stalin, words that say that the votes don't matter if you control the counting. May your cynicism burn your tongues from out of your mouths. Stalin's words have no place in contemporary America. If we accept his view we are saying that when we control the counting we will control the outcome. God forbid that such a thing ever come to be. I may well stand with an honest minority to confront the will of the majority but I will never stand with those that would deform the people's expression as known and counted through an honest ballot. Who controls the counting matters not at all so long as that counting is fair and honest. It is the fair and honest part that matters and not control of the counting. I say we need to keep our eye on the damn ball.