Mitt Over Obama?

As you may recall, a few weeks ago a Republican friend of mine asked me whether I would be voting for Newt Gingrich over Obama this election. My answer was a resounding "no." Last night (the night before the Florida GOP primary), this same friend asked me whether I would be voting for Mitt Romney over Obama this election. My answer is still "no."

I had to laugh at the ease with which my friend is willing to throw his support to Romney (a candidate he previously despised) now that it looks like he will win the Florida primary and become the presumptive GOP nominee. After a moment's reflection, I suppose it's really not that surprising. Romney and Gingrich are simply generic, interchangeable parts of the same neocon machine after all. Since there are no substantive differences between them, it probably makes just as much sense (from my friend's point of view, anyway) to support one as the other.

From my perspective it makes no sense to support any of them. Neither Obama, nor Gingrich, nor Romney reflects anything even remotely approaching my own views. They're all just a bunch of big-government types – whether they choose to put an "R" or a "D" after their names is completely inconsequential. They're indistinguishable from one another when it comes to their positions on bailouts, monetary policy, foreign policy, civil liberties…you name it. And as I told my friend before, my vote won't make a difference to the outcome one way or the other, so why bother?

He found my argument…unpersuasive. Here is the most recent exchange – again, I leave it to the reader to decide which of us has the more reasoned view.

GOP (Friend)

Ok... looking more and more that Mitt is going to be the nominee. Will you vote for Mitt or stay home?

I'll be honest, Romne-care makes me want to stay far away from this guy. However and ironically, the more I hear about Bain it makes me want to vote for him. Newt's attack on Bain backfired badly. Romney promises to support repealing 0bama-care, so that's good enough for me to forgive his heinous healthcare record in Massachusetts.

ABGTF (Me)

I'll stay home, but I agree that Newt's attempt to play the Occupy card was a disaster (among others). I think Romney would have a better shot at beating Obama. Newt's like a right-wing Hillary Clinton - popular with the base, but carries too many negatives with independents. And Santorum would go down as the GOP's Mondale. Mitt's your guy if you want a shot at getting the White House back. Hope for a net gain in the Senate and pray to hold onto the House.

GOP

You don't really think the House is in jeopardy, do you? I'll make that bet any day of the week and five times on Sunday.

You staying home is a vote for 0bama. You libs are like those *****s in the school yard growing up. My way or I take my ball home. Anything is better than 0bama, wake up!!

ABGTF

It's not that I think the House is in jeopardy, it's just that I think the Dems are likely to retain the White House regardless of who the GOP puts up. So perhaps more focus should go into maintaining and building on the gains in Congress rather than on the Presidency.

My staying at home is a rational choice. My vote will make no difference (the probability of a decisive vote here is roughly 1:1 billion). I'm pretty sure Obama will win the state of California by more than one vote. If it makes you feel any better, though, I could take any of the following actions to help Mitt Romney (or whomever) win, and each of them would be just as effective as voting, if not more:

1. Perform a modified rain dance.
2. Sacrifice a virgin to a volcano (the volcano part is no problem, but finding a virgin in Southern California may be a little tricky).
3. Send out positive vibes to the universe, a la The Secret.
4. Buy a lottery ticket and donate some of the winnings to the GOP candidate's campaign.

If I were to vote, it would be for Gary Johnson (assuming he gets the LP nomination), simply because he's much more in line with my views and because there are ballot retention reasons for doing so. It certainly wouldn't be for any superstitious belief that my vote mattered to the election's outcome.

And finally, everyone's a tough guy online. Save the ad hominem attacks for your buddies on the message board. No one here is impressed by your inability to make a convincing argument.

GOP

Am I supposed to be impressed by that weak comeback?

ABGTF

No, you don't have to be impressed, but since you can't be bothered to refute anything I said I'll take your silence as consent. Did you ask Santa for a GOP victory?

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