"What are the ethics of voting? Are they different in a primary rather than a general election? Must a person always be sincere in casting his vote? Or should the process just be seen as a way of getting a point across? Is it ever permissible to vote against something, by way of voting for it's opponent?"
I've honestly been struggling to figure this out. Not that I'm overwhelmed with concern, I'll probably just do what I feel like doing, regardless of the ethics, but it would be nice to know what the "proper" course of action would be. Also, it's fun to try to figure out a puzzle, and this is certainly puzzling (to me, anyway).
My problem is this. I feel an overwhelming need to use any means at my disposal (and I have limited means, being an ordinary guy) to punish the conservative movement, and the Tea Party in particular. I think their ideology is dangerous to our system of government, in that it's both radical, uncompromising, and intolerant of nuance or complexity in our problems. I also think it's very seductive to many disgruntled citizens, who happen to lean right. It's not just about punishment for bad behavior, though. I want to teach them a lesson by showing that while many in the "independent" middle may sympathize with the attitude, they won't support the extreme ideology.
The only way to do that is to give them a crushing defeat. It must be decisive enough to hurt. It must be enough to shake any remaining credibility and send them back into the fringe. If Mitt Romney gets the nomination, that is impossible. Once in a general election campaign, Mr. Romney will reorient himself to the center, and a loss of any kind will be interpreted as a defeat of centrism, not conservatism.
So in a nutshell, when the primaries roll through Ohio, I want to vote for whoever is both nutty-right and has a chance of beating Romney. I must try to nominate someone I hate, to run for the office of President.
HOWEVER
In 2008, I rejected and condemned that motivation. When a mutual acquaintence tried to convince John that "anything less than a vote for McCain/Palin is equal to a vote for Obama", I argued against it. I said that "You cannot support someone that you don't truly wish to see as president, it's dishonest and wrong". And I convinced him. I still believe that sentiment now.
It's the urgency of what's going on now that drives me. I feel like I need to hasten the fall of the Tea Partiers. I feel like the only way to "fix" the conservative movement, which I do sincerely identify with, is to get them into the wilderness so they can do their time, and reevaluate their values. The longer they remain enfranchised, the longer they'll be crazy and irresponsible.
I could try to argue that the ethics of a primary differ from the ethics of a general election, but that's a relatively weak justification, and I don't really believe it anyway. In a primary, the object is to nominate someone that you perceive to be a strong candidate.
On the other hand, when holding a conversation, one might say something that they don't actually mean as an attempt to illustrate a greater point. That's not seen a lying, just rhetoric. Right?
On the other hand, voting isn't holding a conversation. It doesn't have the complexity and subtlety of rhetoric. It's just a yes/no matter. If I vote for Bachman, and through some miracle she ends up as president, I will be accountable to that. People will count those votes as a simple "Yes", nothing else.
It's a pity that we don't live in Ancient Athens where we could hold a negative, "ostracise" vote, to kick someone out of politics. Our system is singularly geared towards a positive vote for a either of two parties. Any attempt to manipulate against a party is working against the intended nature of that system.
So, what to do? For lack of a better reason, I'm forced to conclude that it's probably not right to prop up a nutty-right straw man. I don't like it. In fact, watching Romney win by default is going to be difficult to stomach. So, I'm really hoping that my friends find some persuasive new perspectives on their own blogs. Believe me, I'm ready to be convinced.
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