No lesser-of-two-evils this time

To the editor:
    This is in reply to Ms. Baer’s response to my letter “Beware of Sarah Palin.” I would like to point out that time and size constraints on my letter were two of the reasons I did not go into my opinions of Barack Obama. My main purpose of the Palin letter was simply to alert people to some of her most disturbing practices that seem to be getting very little press time. I am not out to brow beat anyone to vote any particular way. I just hope people take a moment to see something very clear in this year’s election … there is no lesser-of-two-evils this time around.
    Neither candidate and running mate in the two major parties is suitable or worthy of serving the United States as President and Commander in Chief of our Armed Forces. And for any McCain fan reading this and getting hot under the collar because McCain was a POW, my opinion is this: The moment he joked and made light of it in a confrontation with Hillary Clinton, was the moment he disrespected every single POW before and after him, and, therefore, lost that as his excuse to get into the White House.
    The caucuses this year were definitely a joke. What was the benefit of a one-hour caucus in a town hall instead of all-day primary balloting? Did all registered voters show up for that hour? In my town, I counted six in the time I was there. And only one voiced support of Obama. And that was not me.    
    For far too long, we, as a nation, have sat back and said: “Okay, these are the two candidates the major parties have manipulated to get onto the ballots, we have to vote for one or the other.” For reasons we can’t even justify, we don’t want to hear about any Independent or Green Party candidates; we don’t cry foul when a lesser-known primary candidate is not invited or is prohibited from taking part in televised debates because his/her views are not on par with the biased media, the fat-cat powers-that-be entrenched in our government or their special-interests cronies.
    That said, it’s really not in my hands, or your hands, anyway. The presidential/vice-presidential positions are not by majority vote. They are solely voted upon by the Electoral College. And while the guidelines of the College (read electors) should vote per their state’s popular vote, they do not have to. It may even be safe to say the presidency has already decided behind closed doors; we’re just waiting for the hoopla. So, we should be educated about whoever walks into 1600; expect the worse, refuse to accept it, and let it galvanize us to action at the grassroots level.
    On every ballot is a blank line for write-ins. And this time around, I will walk out of the ballot booth, disappointed that either McCain or Obama will become President, but I’ll be able to look in the mirror, look myself in the eyes and say: I wanted neither of them; I didn’t vote for either of them. Perhaps a reader might say I made a null vote. To me, it will be my most proud, most honest, vote ever.
Darlene Kenney
Linneus