Young People, Do Your Part And Vote

(Suggested by Kwame Anthony Appiah)
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The die is almost cast.  It's pretty clear that, unless there's a whole bunch of fun at the GOP convention, it's going to be Hillary versus Donnie Drumpf in the fall.  And the prospect of this match-up does not exactly fill everyone with joy.

Many Republicans are understandably mortified by the thought of Trump as their nominee, even as they shed no tears for failure of Cruz, Kasich, et al.  Some younger Democrats are disappointed by the apparent end of the line for Bernie, and claim they won't vote at all unless he's the nominee.

As Mick and Keith once told us, "You can't always get what you want."  We don't always get inspiring, ideal presidential candidates.  In fact, we seldom do.  But at least we always get a choice.  Maybe it's between the lesser of two evils.  Maybe it's voting against one person more than for the other.  But you do have a choice.

Refusing to vote because your guy didn't make it is not a choice -- it's throwing your choice away.  And please don't try to rationalize non-participation by saying "one vote doesn't matter."  The one certain way to make sure it doesn't matter is not to use it.

Think of your vote as a "we" thing rather than an "I" thing.  Think of an election as a gigantic game of tug-of-war.  You must be on one side or the other.  There are millions of players on each side and the rope is long.  But you pick a side, grab the rope and pull.  You do your part.  Whatever happens, it's comforting to be part of a group effort.  If your team wins, you can truthfully say "we won."  And that's true even if your team would have won without you.  If your team loses, you have to say "we lost."  But you were still among the people who determined the outcome, even if you didn't like the outcome.  You still did your part.