Voting AGAINST The Other Man

With the first Presidential Debate now behind us, political hype has increased ten-fold. Of course, along with this, so has the typical nasty comments spamming all of the popular social media sites; but, as much as people gripe about the one-sided political hate of their peers, you know they take pleasure from it deep down inside.

Governor Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama face off in the October 03rd, 2012 Presidential Debate.

One interesting facet that this year’s election has been showing is why the candidates have the support they have received. While some voters are voting in support of either President Barack Obama or Governor Mitt Romney, others seem to be feeling rather lackluster about their candidate and are simply voting against the opposing party.

“I’m disappointed in Obama, but I can’t let Romney get elected for the sake of society!”

“I don’t think Romney is what this country needs, but Obama will run America into the ground!”

Statuses and tweets in a similar vein to these seem to be becoming more and more prevalent on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and other such sites. Is the 2012 Presidential Race going to be remembered as a battle of the lesser of two evils?

“I wouldn’t say that I’m hyped to be voting for Barack Obama, but I do believe that he has proven himself worthy of the title President of the United States,” says Mel Rey, 22. “Mitt Romney has proven himself completely unprepared. Rather than focusing on what this country needs, he focuses on what he thinks it should be…and that’s not something a President should ever do. This is no longer about Democrats vs. Republicans vs. Liberals vs. Conservatives; this is about Obama—a man of reason, intelligence, and with the desire of equal prosperity and opportunity—versus Romney—a man who focuses on the rich, and tries to enforce his religious views on such a religiously diverse country.”

“I’m voting for Mitt Romney,” says Leah Blair, 22, “although I feel that he won’t be very different from Obama or [George W.] Bush. He will probably continue spending money we don’t have and is just paying lip-service to factions of the GOP who honestly do want to see the deficit go down. Still, I believe he’d be better than Obama. While I do believe that Obama inherited a huge mess, he’s done nothing but make it worse while continuing to blame his predecessor. Blaming Bush worked for at least the first two years, but people aren’t buying it anymore.”

Former President George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States Of America and current President Barack Obama’s immediate predecessor.

“A lot of people feel that Ron Paul or Gary Johnson would be better all around, but statistically they can’t win,” admits Amanda Cooper, 24. “I think Obama has done a lot for us both socially and in the world arena, and I think he will do a lot more throughout his second term without out having to worry about re-election. Romney stands for oppression and ignorance that I cannot tolerate.”

Although it seems that many people are in the same boat as Blair, Rey, and Cooper, there are still others who are actually excited about their candidate of choice.

“I am voting for Obama!” proudly announces Monica Boes, 25. “Romney’s plans will victimize women and turn this country back to the way it was pre-Civil War. So I am indeed hyped about my candidate because I feel that Obama is the best candidate for the majority of America!”

Still, Boes seems to be one of the few Americans thoroughly pleased with either candidate. With so many people lamenting the Republican and Democratic nominees, what does this mean for the poll turnouts? Will people actually vote this November?

With so many campaigns like Rock The Vote, which encourage all eligible American citizens—especially youths—to mark their ballots, will that be enough to convince people to vote for lackluster candidates?

To some, the answer is no.

“I’m not voting,” admits Xakk Stewart, 22. “It’s not worth it due to the fact that neither party is good for this country, both economically and socially.”

Despite being told repeatedly that “every vote counts”, more and more Americans are frustrated with the electoral votes system. They feel that their voice is not truly counting unless each and every person’s vote individually influences the winning candidate, not how many electoral votes their state possesses. Others just cannot bring themselves to seat either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney in the White House under a good conscious.

“People say that if you don’t vote, then you don’t have the right to complain,” Stewart reflects. “Where’s the logic in that? If you put them into office, then you shouldn’t complain about your candidate, and you can’t blame me for your shitty politician because I didn’t vote him in.”