Again, voting isn't shouting loud. Merely voting is saying nothing. It's private and secret and falls in a big tub of millions.
I am sure that you opined on politics in those years you didn't vote and continue to on days that aren't Election Day. That's your voice in politics. Not voting.
Voting is an axe, not a scalpel. Hillary won't know why the 60 some million people voted for her. They certainly won't vote for her because they approve of every single one of her policy proposals. How many people will be voting for her simply because she's a female, or simply because she's a Democrat, or simply because she's not Donald J. Trump? That doesn't inform her as to what policy to pursue and in what order and to what magnitude.
That was a mistake Obama's staff made, health care was important, but not as important as he thought in comparison to the economy. Carter made similar mistakes. Clinton did. All the Presidents have. Hillary or Trump will too.
It's one reason lobbying works as it does. It's not just the money. It's that they're constantly advocating.
To be fair most 18 year olds didn't risk that. Especially whites. They didn't even protest Vietnam en masse.
I think I know myself a little bit more than you do. I didn't opine about politics during non-election years. I didn't care at all. I didn't think it mattered, and I was overall just ignoring the issues. That was the problem. I wasted my younger voting years because I was young, stupid, and ignorant. When I got older and realized that being cynical and throwing my hands up in the air and saying, "Well, that's just the way it is," was worse than casting a vote for a representative that may or may not win, I started to take a bigger interest. I don't vote in the "big" elections like it's some kind of sporting event. I vote any and every chance I get on any and every ballot that I think affects the lives of not only me and my loved ones, but others as well. I want this country to do better by all of us, not just me and mine. A lot of young people are the same. At 18+, they're often absorbed with other things in life. Graduating high school and looking at "what's next?" I tried to join the Air Force, and when that fell through, I moved to a new state and looked into college. That didn't work out so well, so I got into the work force, making chump change and struggling to make ends meet. It's easy for the realities of the real world to send politics to a distant recess of your mind. It doesn't seem important when you're trying to keep a roof over your head and food in your belly. To be completely honest, it wasn't until I got a stable job and the worries of survival started to go in the back-burner that I've been able to really assess the political landscape and start to think, "What can I do to help?"
What other people do with their vote isn't up to me. I can't say what their motivations are, and that's fine. That's on them. I can only hope that, at the very least, they're voting for responsible reasons. I hope that they're voting for the candidate that represents them as best as possible given the two party system we're locked in. I'm voting for Hillary because she's not Donald Trump. I do think she'd be a good President, but I'm kind of in a bind with this election. Hillary wasn't my ideal candidate, but she's who we've ended up with, and she's not Donald Trump. Trump is a horrible, hateful person, who is actively trying to make lives worse for the people of this country, in particular minorities and Muslims. I can't support that. So yeah, Clinton is my pick. And then I hope that by getting more involved in the smaller scale elections over the next four years, the political party that represents my interests better can gain traction. If my efforts amount to nothing, and nothing changes, well, I tried, at least. I didn't just give up in frustration and disappointment. Being a minority in this country means my options are limited. They just are. I can only do so much, but I'm going to do it the best I can, and hope that it's enough.
Our political system is far from ideal, but currently, what alternatives do we have but to try and lobby and vote for change? I'd love it of voters had more control over the direction the country is going in, but that's not presently the case. We're a country of 322 million people. It's going to be hard for all of us to get some perspective and stop the petty bickering. It would help if elections weren't treated like the Super Bowl.
In 2008, I thought McCain was a pretty good candidate. I thought he loved the country, and wanted what was best for it, but his policies weren't always in line with my own. Obama was more my speed. It was a difficult election for me, because I thought both men would be good Presidents. In the end, I voted for Obama. He edged it out more. Romney vs. Obama was a lot easier for me. I didn't vibe at all with Romney's policies on most things, and Obama had proven himself to be a capable President, if not a struggling one. It didn't make sense to me to boot him out of office for Romney. In the case of Clinton and Trump, it's a no-fucking-brainer. Trump is a buffoon and a carnival barker. He gives no shits about the people of this country, and "President Trump" is a title he wants simply to say he was President of the United States, and not because he actually wants to do right by this country. He's also a racist, misogynist, and bioted man. He'd be an absolutely God awful President. While I don't think that charm, class, and grace are the only things that matter when you're President, they certainly fucking help, especially when you're dealing with leaders on the world stage. Trump doesn't have that. He treats every public encounter as another opportunity to promote himself and his brand.
I can't see him navigating the world political stage in a way that will have America coming out of it in a good way. At least Ms. Clinton has the experience, brains, respect, and connections to do this job better than Trump could ever hope to imagine. He would get absolutely destroyed out there in the real world. He's enjoying this aspect of campaigning. The pointing fingers, the shaking fists, the loud yelling. Because all attention is on him. I imagine he's going to want to quit being President the moment he sits his hateful ass down in the Oval Office and actually has to do
work.
