I have tried to avoid it but today I began to take an interest in the Presidential election. I confess that I do not have a favorite running in this race but I wish I did. In fact, it has been several decades since I was able to get really excited about one of the candidates. Usually it became clear by Election Day that I would have to pick the lesser of two incompetents--again. The person best suited to assume the Office of the President of the United States--in my opinion--was too smart or not crazy enough to seek the punishment this office is capable of dishing out.
In my lifetime I have voted in every Presidential election since Richard Nixon ran against Hubert Humphrey. I must admit that I envy those who can cut to the chase and go bonkers for the candidate their Party has selected to run. I cannot get past my skepticism to go down that road. Even when I voted for the candidate who offered the best solutions to the problems of the day, that candidate lost the election or worse yet, that candidate won, then proceeded to do the opposite of what he promised to do in the campaign.
If I actually vote in this election--I may still exercise my right to remain silent--I will not be able to decide until I am actually in the voting booth with my subconscious wisdom directing my finger toward the button I should press.
Sure, I tell myself, it would be a lot easier living in a country where the choice is not between two and sometimes three candidates but only one. That would be easy.
Just show up. Vote for that candidate and go home knowing that I had made the right choice because it was the only choice. And there would be no problem with Voter IDs or any other annoyances we Americans have managed to inject into a tradition that goes back centuries. NO. I am not talking about casting a vote. I am talking about the freedom to remain silent on Election Day. In fact, not only can I chose to remain silent without the fear of that ominous knock on the door in the middle of the night, I can even post a bumper sticker on my car the next day proclaiming: DON'T BLAME ME; I DIDN'T VOTE FOR HIM.
That is the hidden value guaranteed by our Constitution: Not only are we allowed to vote for whomever we want to lead us; we are also allowed to remain silent on that question without incrimination or censure from our fellow citizens.
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