There are polls that say that in Michigan — the state where Mitt Romney was born — the primary might be won by Rick Santorum — a man who stands 100% against most of what I believe in. And this causes me to contemplate — with fear and loathing — the prospect of Santorum's actual winning of the Republican nomination this year.
This poses a severe problem to me. I cannot support Santorum; as I said, he and I are diametrically opposed on many important issues. And I certainly cannot support Barack Obama; he and I are opposed on about as many important issues. So what will I do in November, if it is Santorum vs. Obama? Well, the first thing is: Neither of these two will get my vote. I will look to see who the Libertarians nominate — if they are on the Maryland ballot, since Maryland makes it well-nigh impossible to vote for a write-in candidate. If it is someone like Gary Johnson, I might consider voting for him. And I will look to see who Americans Elect nominate (if they actually nominate someone and make it onto the Maryland ballot), and whatever other third parties are on the ballot here in Maryland. My last resort is to do what I did in 1964 — vote for nobody for President, but in order to be counted, vote straight Republican for all other offices on the ballot. In none of these cases will my vote help to elect someone to the Presidency, but I am resigned to that, since Maryland will probably be won by Obama anyway, and my vote cannot help elect someone to the Presidency anyway because of our electoral college method of choosing the President.
Any of these is an unpleasant alternative, but that's where I am left if the GOP nominates Santorum.
This poses a severe problem to me. I cannot support Santorum; as I said, he and I are diametrically opposed on many important issues. And I certainly cannot support Barack Obama; he and I are opposed on about as many important issues. So what will I do in November, if it is Santorum vs. Obama? Well, the first thing is: Neither of these two will get my vote. I will look to see who the Libertarians nominate — if they are on the Maryland ballot, since Maryland makes it well-nigh impossible to vote for a write-in candidate. If it is someone like Gary Johnson, I might consider voting for him. And I will look to see who Americans Elect nominate (if they actually nominate someone and make it onto the Maryland ballot), and whatever other third parties are on the ballot here in Maryland. My last resort is to do what I did in 1964 — vote for nobody for President, but in order to be counted, vote straight Republican for all other offices on the ballot. In none of these cases will my vote help to elect someone to the Presidency, but I am resigned to that, since Maryland will probably be won by Obama anyway, and my vote cannot help elect someone to the Presidency anyway because of our electoral college method of choosing the President.
Any of these is an unpleasant alternative, but that's where I am left if the GOP nominates Santorum.
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