I Vote NO to a Protest Vote

Last updated on: June 15, 2017 at 6:48 pm by Shane Phipps

I Vote NO to a Protest Vote 2017-06-15T18:48:46-04:00 Shane Phipps

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I have heard a lot of talk this year about protest votes. For the purpose of this article, a protest vote is the act of casting your ballot in opposition to the establishment. In this year’s election, that would mean voting for one of the two minor party candidates, Libertarian Gary Johnson or the Green Party’s Jill Stein. Or it could mean voting for political outsider, Donald Trump. Let’s face it, people are fed up with party politics as usual. I get it. I also get this; casting a vote for either Johnson or Stein, while it might feel good, is casting a losing vote and there is no way around that.
So if you want your vote to go toward someone who may win, you are left with two choices. I only know a handful of people who are excited to vote for either Clinton or Trump. I know a lot more who are voting against Clinton or Trump. I’ll bet you are one of the latter, as am I.

For a long time, I wavered back and forth between my options. I looked hard at both 3rd party candidates, but neither of them excited me enough to win my protest vote. In the end, I came to the conclusion that this election is too important to cast a vote that won’t go to a potential winner. So that left two rather unappealing options.

Do I act on my impulse to use my vote to protest against the establishment? In that case, I’d be in the camp with many people I know, including some pretty close friends and family.

What about the issues? Truthfully, I don’t agree with either candidate enough on issues to sway me to vote for them so, again, it comes down to voting against someone.

Here is the step in my decision making process where things begin to become more clear. When you really examine the impact of a president, you begin to realize that the actual control they have over day to day issues is pretty limited when push comes to shove. The part of the job description of president that comes into play more than any other is that of diplomat. The president is the official face of our nation to the world. In that role, the president stands to do the most direct good or harm on any given day. When I picture the two major party candidates in their potential presidential role as a diplomat in a volatile world, my choice becomes less muddy and, suddenly, I become more comfortable with that establishment choice while the other makes me shudder with dread.

I grew up in the 1980s during the Cold War. When I was a teen, we lived under a cloud of constant fear of impending nuclear war. The movie The Day After, about a nuclear holocaust, was required viewing for us in school when it aired on television in November, 1983. The next day at school we discussed the movie in class. Our discussions felt less hypothetical than preparatory. Those were scary times. My daughter is growing up in a time when terrorism is a real fear, but that always feels more like isolated events as opposed to the potential global devastation we feared when I was her age. The last thing I want is an emotionally unstable person who has shown a repeated propensity to act irrationally in the face of criticism to have access to the nuclear codes.

Before pulling any lever on election day, I must ask myself which candidate is least likely to touch off a potentially cataclysmic international incident. The answer to that question seems fairly clear to me.

So, for now, “I’m with Her.” But the moment I pull the lever I will begin praying that, in the next four years, we will find some candidates I can be excited about in the next election.

I’d love to feel better about my vote by using it as a protest statement, but I owe it to my daughter and her generation to be more careful than that. I’m a parent, I haven’t the luxury of a protest vote.

Previous Post

October 18, 2016

Separation of Self and State: The Problem of a "Burger King America"

Next Post

November 8, 2016 On Politics, Christianity, Crimes, and Sin

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 150 word story 2nd Amendment AARP abortion addiction aging alcoholism Anderson Wigwam Andrew Jackson Appalachia Basketball bias bigotry Black Lives Matter Christianity Christmas, Constitution, Bill of Rights Civil War Clinton cloning confirmation bias Conservation Constitution Controversial Creationism Creepy tales David Bowie depression Dogs Education Election Electoral College Empathy Environmental Evolution exvangelical faith Family Family History Fantasy Genealogy Genesis George Washington Ghetto Global Warming Gun Control health care High School Basketball Hillary History Hockey homosexuality Hoosier Hysteria Hoosiers Hunting immigration income inequality Interview ISTEP Jurassic Park Kaepernick Ken Hamm Kids say the Darndest things LGBTQ Love MAGA Manifest Destiny Merit Pay Mike Pence Muhammad Ali Multiple Perspectives Music Music Review Nashville News media NHL No Child Left Behind NRA Paradox Parenting Pence Perspective Politics POTUS Poverty Predators Race Religion religious freedom Sci Fi Science Secret of Life sexual harrassment Short Stories Slavery Small Town Indiana Smashville Social Commentary social media sports Stress technology Terrorism Thomas Jefferson Trauma Trump Turning 50 Uncategorized war Washington DC White Privilege wooly mammoths words in red Writing Writing Process Writing, Writing Process Young Earth

Select a Month June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 August 2021 May 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is the main structure of Lamentations?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Twelve genealogies Six sermons Five acrostic poems Ten parables

Support this
Column