Sampling

The pattern of whether one votes and for whom one votes at the highest levels (such as the presidency in the United States of America) can indicate some aspect of one’s political course in life, at least in a democratically-oriented society such as that of the USA, organized with a constitutional republic.

Here’s a brief description of my political journey, with the presidential elections as sample points (not actually waypoints) and with some commentary along the way.

I should emphasize that there are respectable arguments that voting within a coercive system is an unethical act, due to the tacit approval that it *seems* to confer on the system, so one must confront this dilemma and be careful with how one handles it.

Also, once we’ve fixed our political culture, I don’t think we should even have presidents, so I don’t mean to give the presidency more attention than it needs; however, presidential campaigns can sometimes serve as educational and experimental opportunities. I hope at least some entertainment may be drawn from this sketch.

My voting history for US President

Party Key

I	=	Independent (no party)
D	=	Democrat
R	=	Republican
G	=	Green
L	=	Libertarian

Honorable mentions

There are other non-duopoly parties (non-Democrat and non-Republican) and coalitions in the USA, and others in the world, that are useful and interesting to investigate, to open one’s mind to possibilities for political goals and actions. Take, for instance, the Natural Law Party, the Peace and Freedom Party, the Constitution Party, the Transhumanist Party, and Unity 2020.

Timeline

1980	No-one
	Not alive yet.
1984	No-one
	Not politically conscious yet.
1988	Jesse Jackson (D)
	A very simple-minded and superficial vote (not counted of course due to my age), not based upon policy but on social symbolism: I thought that since we hadn’t had a black president before, and so many of them had been white, that it would be nice to have a black president, and it might help more people feel represented and included.
1992	Ross Perot (I)
	His campaign was the most data-driven, presentation-based campaign that I’ve ever witnessed. Although later campaigns from Ron Paul to other libertarians would surpass his in terms of principle and respect, Perot’s campaign was one of the most respectful, no-nonsense, tell-you-like-it-is campaigns ever. He seemed to be a real solution-seeker and a great compromise between the Democrats and Republicans, except actually willing to tackle some of the biggest problems of government and not “kick the can down the road”.
1996	Bill Clinton (D)
	Being raised in a Democrat household, I was swayed and persuaded by much of the Clinton-era arguments and policies. However, watching a lot of C-SPAN legislative live-streams and civic programming, I had a strong impression that the two-party-based political system seemed to be entrenching political disagreement where there could be much more agreement and compromise. I felt determined to find higher ground, or deeper principle that could enable more effective problem-solving.
2000	Ralph Nader (G)
	Nader seemed to be speaking to more fundamental issues and taking a common-sense approach to finding real solutions. Some people warned me that I would be “throwing away” my vote, but I’ve never once regretted voting my conscience and sending out a signal that respectable positions will gain respect and votes from at least some of us.
2004	John Kerry (D)
	I’m pretty sure I voted for Kerry, in opposition to Bush, although I considered voting Nader again and other alternatives. I think I wanted to experiment with the “pragmatist” approach this time, as I was not particularly inspired otherwise. That was my first and last “lesser of evils” vote; thereon, to receive my vote the candidate must rise to a certain level of principle and ethics, upon which I’ve gained more clarity for myself.
2008	Ron Paul (R)
	Upon much reading and analysis, I had a political transformation or consolidation in terms of consistency in principle, where many things that were confusing to me began to become more clear and understandable. Ironically, or maybe not-so-ironically, it started with a lecture by Noam Chomsky and led me into (American) libertarianism (and beyond). Although disappointed yet unsurprised with Paul’s loss within the Republican Party, in some ways I was happy to see Barack Obama win, symbolically at least, with regard to racial social symbolism, but I felt sorry for him, as his noticeable lack of cogent principle meant that he would soon become a war criminal and ethically compromised in myriad ways, if he was not already deeply compromised.
2012	Ron Paul (R)
	By this point I was generally against the notion that voting was an effective means of political change and that personal development and social and business entrepreneurship, activism, and activity are much more important than voting. We need to eliminate as much coercion and aggression in the world as possible, and attempting to vote it away is one small action we can take but not nearly enough to make real progress. Our votes are an indication of our culture, and until we improve our culture, our politics (that is, where we choose to exert socially-accepted violence) will continue to fail us. There are also respectable arguments that voting within a coercive system is an unethical act, due to the tacit approval that it *seems* to confer on the system, so one must confront this dilemma and be careful with how one handles it.
2016	Gary Johnson (L)
	Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were both abominable. Although I could see why people would vote for either of them, I couldn’t condone either action. It would be much better if people would simply vote non-duopoly party *and more importantly* do the real-world work of personal and social change in their own lives.
2020	Jo Jorgensen (L) — yet to occur
	I became active in a party for the first time due to Adam Kokesh taking the most principled and clearly stated and argued position of a candidate that I’ve ever heard. I became a Libertarian Party delegate to nominate Adam Kokesh, but Jo Jorgensen won the party nomination. She definitely rises above my bar for principle and ethics, and thus she has my vote. The Libertarian Party is not perfect, but it has some real value in learning how to create and promote better political culture and providing a vehicle for good candidates.