Back when nine candidates were running for Chicago mayor, I wrote about not supporting any of the front-runners. I voted for someone who the polls showed didn’t have a chance, knowing I’d face the dilemma again in the runoff election.
Now it’s time to decide between the two candidates who advanced to the runoff. Paul Vallas is former head of schools in Chicago and elsewhere and former Chicago budget director. Brandon Johnson is a Cook County commissioner.
I am turned off by Johnson’s attempts to cast Vallas as a closet Republican responsible for all of Chicago’s financial woes even though three decades have elapsed since Vallas was city budget director. Johnson is slippery about owning his past statements about defunding the police. I distrust the Chicago Teachers Union, which is funding his campaign, and wonder how he’d negotiate with it.
In other elections, I was able to vote for the lesser of two evils. This time, I don’t even know who the lesser of two evils is.
This post is not going to wrap up with conclusions. I’m asking for readers’ thoughts about the following questions — actually, variations on the same question. Whether you live in Chicago or not, go ahead and weigh in.
Is choosing not to vote ever a responsible decision?
When you have serious reservations about both candidates, should you still choose to vote for the lesser of two evils?
What do you think about Michelle Obama’s statement during the 2016 presidential campaign that ”if you vote for someone other than Hillary [Clinton], or if you don’t vote at all, then you are helping to elect Hillary’s opponent”?
Is writing in a candidate in a close election any different from not voting?
Great questions. I have no idea, but am like you, I have no idea of who would be better or maybe the better question is who would be worst?
ReplyDeleteYes, that's a good way to pose the question, and it helps to cut through some of my confusion.
DeleteA write in candidate serves the purpose of blowing off steam. Like the angry email you write, then think better of. Because of the way ballots are counted, with write-ins being difficult to tally, this is an exercise in futility. But maybe that is all we are trying to accomplish, another venue to voice our discontent.
ReplyDeleteIn his newsletter The Picayune Sentinel today, Eric Zorn wrote, "The more I watch these debates, the more I’m inclined to say no, thank you, to these two. Just imagining how slippery one of these dudes is going to be when elected." Wonder whether Zorn will eventually reveal his vote.
ReplyDeleteMore from Eric Zorn today, in reply to a woman who wrote that "for the first time in my adult life, I'm contemplating not voting in an election." Zorn replied: "I’ve heard variations on this sentiment from a lot of people, many of whom say, as you do , that they otherwise would never, ever pass up a chance to go to the polls. The race is close enough that you can’t just cast a symbolic protest vote against the all-but-certain winner, as I have done in the past."
ReplyDelete