Let your vote send a message!

A GRAND IDEA (in my opinion)
I hope everyone reading this understands the electoral college, at least a little bit, you know the people (electors) that we elect to represent us and select the president. Its not exactly democratic, in that he/she with the most general public votes wins. Anyway, let me explain what happened in MN last presidential election cycle. George Bush one the Presidency 286 to 252 according to the electoral college. 10 of those votes for John Kerry came from MN. MN only has 10 electoral votes to give and John Kerry got all 100% of them even though he only had 51.1% of the vote. George Bush received 0% of MN's 10 electoral votes even though he received 47.6 percent of the public vote. (There were about 100,000 votes between the two).

One could say that all of those who voted for George Bush 'wasted' their vote because none of their votes counted in the end. George Bush didn't stand a chance of winning MN. As a matter of fact, one could say that every presidential, general election vote for a republican in the last 50 years (except for the roughly 900,000 cast in 1972 for Richard Nixon because he carried the the state that year) was a 'wasted' vote.

(Side note -- Let me clear that I don't believe there is such a thing as a wasted vote. Every vote counts for something, its just not always counted for in the electoral college. I also strongly support the electoral college because it is just one more way in which the constitution limits power and authority by providing for checks and balances between the populace and the states.)

So, now on to 2008. Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain have clear differences on some issues yet similarities on others. I'm not writing to address those issues, their strengths, weaknesses, differences, nor similarities. The purpose of this writing is to address the ever leftward march of the Republican Party and the opportunity to send a clear message in your presidential vote with out it effecting the overall results. Please hear me out.

Current MN polls show Mr. Obama leading in MN anywhere from 8 to 15 percent. The 'chances' of John McCain winning MN are slim to none. Therefore, it seems apparent that 100% of the 10 electoral votes granted to MN will be alloted to Obama. That means that those who would vote Republican in the Presidential election this fall (in MN) could use their vote strategically to send the message to the National Republican Committee and Party and say,

"HEY, our vote matters! We're tired of you assuming that we have to vote Republican because your our best shot. You adhere to the constitution and our platform and stop this pandering to the left for votes or risk loosing us as a voting block."

There are two other viable parties (on the right) that have a nationwide presence. The first and most well known is the Libertarian Party and the second is the Constitutional Party. Each of these one could say are more Republican than the Republicans and actually made up primarily of former Republicans. Watch the polls this fall. If it's clear that McCain doesn't stand a chance in your state, vote your conscience, for the candidate that is most in line with your thinking about government, liberty, justice, and the constitution, no matter what party they belong to. Or you could write in someones name even. The point being, that Republicans could no longer take your vote for granted.

"Always vote for principle,
though you may vote alone,
and you may cherish the sweetest reflection
that your vote is never lost."
John Quincy Adams

Thanks for considering my 'GRAND' idea. Hope you see the logic in it. It makes a lot of sense to me.