Matt Sweetwood

7 years ago · 3 min. reading time · 0 ·

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Why We Must Not Vote for President in 2016

Why We Must Not Vote for President in 2016


Published on The Huffington Post 10/23/16


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I have voted in every presidential election since I was old enough in 1984. That election was a Ronald Reagan landslide win against Walter Mondale. Looking at politics and this 2016 election, I can confidently use the cliche, “those were good old days .”

I firmly believe that voting is a fundamental duty for all Americans and a right that we must exercise if we truly believe in the greatness of our democracy. I am making a public statement right here that I will not be voting for President in this election. In fact, I am calling for a boycott of the Presidential vote for all Americans.

Let’s use the hashtag #NoPresVote2016

This Presidential election matches the two most unpopular and hated candidates that have ever run for U.S. President. The RealClear Politics poll average, as of the week ending 10/20/16, has Clinton at 53% unfavorable and Trump at 61% unfavorable. And these numbers are very high for a good reason.

In one corner we have Donald Trump who has insulted essentially everyone except white men - before he was running for President and afterward. He continually repeats himself with 6th-grade sentences and can’t seem to keep on his policy message without detouring on to some complaint about an unfair system and who he will sue. The 11-year-old video of his “locker-room” talk has insulted the entire woman voter pool in a way that I have never seen before. 99% of the women I know, just hate his guts. His pompous attitude, lack of humility and inability to sincerely apologize for anything leaves him unlikely to recover from any of that.

In the other corner, we have Hillary Clinton. Her unfavorability is driven by her public lies which are too numerous to even enumerate here. The most public of which is when the FBI director, testified before Congress that she is a liar - and mishandled classified materials. She has clearly engaged in pay for play with the Secretary of State position. Add to that The Clinton Foundation, emails, Benghazi, and more. Her first debate performance showed her well-prepared and well-memorized in her ability to personally attack Trump. Her pompous attitude and lack of humility get people to really dislike her too. And most recently, the daily release of Wikileaks emails, shows how truly corrupt she is.

I live in Manhattan. I find it almost impossible to find someone who supports Donald Trump here. So I have conducted an experiment in asking people why they support Hillary Clinton and what positions of hers they agree with. Every single response I got was of the form: Donald Trump is a #&*@%#!. If I question further about Hillary Clinton, I start to get angry looks and a response that asks me whether I support Donald Trump and if I do I am a #&*@%#! too. I haven’t been able to get one person to articulate a policy reason why they like Hillary.

Since I have a very well-followed Facebook page, I looked there to conduct a similar survey on Trump supporters. I used the last obnoxious episode where Trump was caught on open-mic, sounding like the vile, power-abusing, misogynist he has been accused of in his description of women. There were many on Facebook who excused Trump’s behavior saying Bill Clinton did worse and Hillary protected him. Yes, folks, bad behavior justifies more bad behavior.

One of these two lowlifes is soon going to be the leader of the free world. Americans will have to be able to look up them and see them represent us to the rest of the world. I can see it now. If Trump wins, his cabinet will be all Ms. Universe contestants and his Secretary of State will be a Twitter power-user well versed in 140 character insults - in multiple languages. If Hillary wins, she’ll set up a toll booth at the entrance to the Oval office and she will hire the Ms. Universe contestants to keep Bill happy at home.

I just can’t be a part of this embarrassing train-wreck by casting a vote for either one. I know some of you (about 6%) might say vote for Gary Johnson. But I won’t vote for a pot smoking moron who can’t name a single foreign leader and has no practical chance of winning.

So what is there to do? Thomas Jefferson said, “I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.” And since I don’t think forming a militia and taking over the election process is going to be successful, my rebellion will be in the form of refusing to vote for President. And If enough of us chose not to vote for President, while still voting for the other ballot positions, whichever one of these losers get in, they won’t have a mandate. Let’s make this the lowest voter turnout ever and it will weaken their ability to do harm. So I am asking every American to show some rebellious spirit and not vote for President in 2016. It’s our only hope.

Let’s use the hashtag #NoPresVote2016 together!


"
#Donald Trump #Americans #Hillary Clinton #Trump #President
Comments

Milos Djukic

7 years ago #40

#
FractalsForever

David B. Grinberg

7 years ago #39

I'm pretty sure one can vote for a "write in candidate" -- so why not ME? (lol) Seriously, though, I'm not advocating against voting. However, it's important to understand that how much one's vote really counts in actuality must be weighed against multiple competing factors -- including but no limited to -- 1) Whether you live in a "swing state" 2) How many Electoral College votes your state represents, 3) the demographics of your state, 4) the current political leadership elected to represent your state...etc. Yes, voting is more American than even apple pie. But it's the entire electoral process which is in need of radical reform to best represent "we the people" it supposedly serves. Perhaps I'll write some "sweet honey" with my suggestions on how to reform our broken and dilapidated political system in the USA. And remember, Matt, I'm your "write in" candidate!

Dean Owen

7 years ago #38

Yes he made some bad decisions mostly related to foreign policy, but he had one quality that will be sorely missed - Integrity. https://youtu.be/qtiyAFf9ix4

Virag🐝 G.

7 years ago #37

I am not a US citizen (so I won't go into there). But I am a citizen of a democratic country, and I'm a citizen of a (supposedly) democratic international org, called the European Union. On both levels, the call that Matt Sweetwood is describing here, was used and is in use! It is not an anti-democratic act per se. It is often used by citizens when they find themselves in a deadlock. The current US presidential line up is a deadlock for many and I'll only refer to the continent I know & understand the most: people are indeed not getting the picture how the US ended up with the choices presented at this election. So, IMHO, voting for A just because I hate B, or vica versa, is just as well not democratic.

Michael D. Davis

7 years ago #36

#67
Pamela, you took the words right out of my mouth! Fortunately you didn't make them disappear from my computer so you can read my opinion on this discussion in The Daily Chalkboard hive. It wouldn't fit here 'cause I got a big mouth!

Michael D. Davis

7 years ago #35

So I'm reluctantly weighing in on this conversation. But my comments exceed the limit of characters here so you can find my response here if you dare: https://www.bebee.com/producer/@michael-d-davis/coming-to-you-from-the-sexually-political-religious-middle

don kerr

7 years ago #34

#65
Gotta tell you I don't find anything amusing about this at all especially from the perspective of promoting beBee.

Jim Murray

7 years ago #33

#65
Quantity is not quality John. This is not beBee or anything close. The whole idea of asking people to abstain from voting is pretty much anti-democratic the way I see it. But hey, I'm a Canadian. We did away with our "Trump' in the last election, and frankly we'll be cleaning up the mess he left for another couple of years. Think about that when you're in the voting booth deciding not to vote for anyone.

John White, MBA

7 years ago #32

On a different note, this article is generating more engagement here on beBee than on LinkedIn and Huffington Post. Buzz on! 🐝 Ha, ha! 😂😂😂 CC: Javier beBee

don kerr

7 years ago #31

I have become very hesitant to make any remarks on here about this election as it brings out one particular troll whose invective sickens me. However, I think the abrogation of one's duty to vote is a poor strategy which should result in one surrendering all right to comment during the term of whomever is elected. As a result, I believe this to be inappropriate advice from a purported business leader and one who is supposed to be leading the charge for this platform throughout the United States. Disappointing to say the least.

Phil Friedman

7 years ago #30

#57
ad hominem bullshit is always the same. The turnaround is to as whether as a declared previous Trump supporter prior to him showing he is not a viable candidate for president your call not to vote isn't a gambit to get the vote away from Clinton, while you vote for Trump. After all, nobody sees how you actually vote do they, Matt? My point is not to question your motives, but to show that you are way out of line in questioning mine. I'd prefer to take your view at face value, and have you take my disagreement in the same way.

Matt Sweetwood

7 years ago #29

#58
I am not going to engage in this kind of discussion, Pamela. Your accusations are untrue and disappointing, but very revealing. God bless.

Matt Sweetwood

7 years ago #28

#56
Once again, if you are for Hillary, you will find a way to justify what she has done by pointing to how bad Trump is. But what if they are both so bad, you can't in good conscience, cast a positive vote? You call for a no vote, just like I did.

Phil Friedman

7 years ago #27

I have personally exercised this option in several past elections, but this is not a time when the nation can afford votes of conscience. For Trump has shown himself not only to be inept, but ignorant and dismissive of the principles of free elections and peaceful transition of power that have enabled this great Republic to endure. I am no fan of Hillary Clinton, but I believe that Trump represents a clear and present danger to this nation. And so will vote to keep him out if office, while our political "leaders" figure out how to start doing their jobs again, and so the nation can survive to fight another day. This is a truth that even Republicans understand now.

Phil Friedman

7 years ago #26

I have personally exercised this option in several past elections, but this is not a time when the nation can afford votes of conscience. For Trump has shown himself not only to be inept, but ignorant and dismissive of the principles of free ructions and peaceful transition of power that have enabled this great Republic to endure. I am no fan of Hillary Clinton, but I believe that Trump represents a clear and present danger to this nation. And so will vote to keep him out if office, while our political "leaders" figure out how to start doing their jobs again, and so the nation can survive to fight another day. This is a truth that even Republicans understand now.

Matt Sweetwood

7 years ago #25

#10
She is ahead big in the polls and will likely win. But hopefully with very few votes. #NoPresVote2016

Matt Sweetwood

7 years ago #24

#52
Quite frankly, I don't know how to respond to your non-logic, so I won't bother with your non-sense and misquotes. But I will say that if you continue your personal attacks you will be removed from the platform. "Would you like me to contact Wikileaks as to the truth of what you said and posted :" You can do that? You know Julian? Please do that and I will post it top of my page. And I don't drink so I can't be drunk.

Matt Sweetwood

7 years ago #23

#43
You are a Hillary supporter. So you find the need to attack independents like me or Trump supporters. They are both terrible choices and crooked. That's real truth. When we spoke, you were so violently pro-Hillary, I simply took the opposite position to show there is another side.

Matt Sweetwood

7 years ago #22

#47
So you believe that Hillary is not crooked? Independent thinkers would disagree with you. It's not right wing propaganda it's facts open minded folks can see. IF you support one side or another you will only take issue with the negative things I said about your candidate.

Matt Sweetwood

7 years ago #21

#45
Albert, First of all, thank you for your service to our country. Your personal attack on me "YOU SIR ARE A DISGUSTING AND VIAL HUMAN BEING." simply weakens your arguments and shows you as a hater. That is disappointing for me to see coming from a veteran. I didn't say not to vote. In fact you should go vote all the way down the ballot. I was making the point that the system is so bad right now and both candidates are so bad, the best thing to do is create a discrepancy between the votes for President and the other positions that there is a message sent to whomever wins that they do not have the support of the people. And you are right, I live in New York. But the consequence of that is that New York is a "blue" state and Hillary will win here by a landslide. My vote for President is irrelevant - because of the way the electoral college is "rigged."

Matt Sweetwood

7 years ago #20

#46
I specifically said to vote down ticket. Just don;t vote on the President line.

Matt Sweetwood

7 years ago #19

#43
You are a Hillary supporter. So you find the need to attack independents like me or Trump supporters. They are both terrible choices and crooked. That's real truth. When we spoke, you were so violently pro-Hillary, I simply took the opposite position to show there is another side.

John White, MBA

7 years ago #18

#40
best comment of the day! 😉😂

Matt Sweetwood

7 years ago #17

#36
I am saying to go an vote, but only down ballot. Just don't click the Donald or Hillary lever.

Matt Sweetwood

7 years ago #16

#32
Do I think my "hashtag campaign" will have a great effect? ...Most likely not. But as an American, I am participating in the process in a way that is meaningful to me. That's not naive.

Matt Sweetwood

7 years ago #15

#30
It's ok to support Hillary. That is definitely your right. But don't dismiss the bad things she's done as a "I don't believe she's the "crook" and "liar" the right wing media purport her to be" because that just makes you a partisan. I am considering the FACTS on both sides. That's what an independent does.

Randy Keho

7 years ago #14

I feel, as an American, it is my duty to vote. However, after 40 years of voting, not one of my presidential candidates has been elected. So, whomever I choose, is doomed to failure. And, since neither candidate saw fit to seriously discuss any real issues facing the country, I chose the issue of marijuana legislation to help me choose. However, after a bit of research, that resulted in a toss up, too. That research may be found by following this link: See, even the link refused to cooperate the first time. Here it is, again. https://www.bebee.com/producer/@randy-keho/how-will-the-upcoming-election-impact-marijuana-legislation

Randy Keho

7 years ago #13

I feel, as an American, it is my duty to vote. However, after 40 years of voting, not one of my presidential candidates has been elected. So, whomever I choose is doomed to failure. And, since neither candidate saw fit to seriously discuss any real issues facing the country, I chose the issue of marijuana legislation to help me choose. However, after a bit of research, that resulted in a toss up, too. That information may be found by following this link: https://www.bebee.com/producer/@randy-keho/how-will-the-upcoming-election-impact-

Jim Murray

7 years ago #12

#21
Very Interesting @ Jackie

Matt Sweetwood

7 years ago #11

#21
You are simply assigning a value system that is personal to you to justify your vote for Hillary. She is just as awful as Trump - in her own special way.

Matt Sweetwood

7 years ago #10

#13
I am not saying not elect anyone> I am saying elect them with a tiny amount of votes. Only partisans should vote and then they will be in office without a mandate.

Matt Sweetwood

7 years ago #9

#10
I am moving to Madrid. Do you have a spare room?

Jim Murray

7 years ago #8

#5
Matt Sweetwood...that's because he's a dolt. How do these people get to be the head of a political party? There's something really wrong there.

Jim Murray

7 years ago #7

#14
The comment stream here should be interesting. Graham Edwards

Graham🐝 Edwards

7 years ago #6

Great buzz Matt Sweetwood. Being Canadian I have always stayed out of American politics for the most obvious reason... I'm Canadian. Having said that, I've worked for American companies, have many American friends and some so deep that they will last my lifetime... I find myself always on the sidelines cheering on the "great experiment" your founding fathers set in motion two plus centuries ago. You keep exercising your first amendment right and I will keep reading. No matter how the elections go, just remember it's all about "We the People...". Which, I hope you don't mind that I've borrowed, because on the north side of the border we have our own democratic issues we have to deal with.

Jim Murray

7 years ago #5

Well it's a wonderful thing to say let's not elect anyone. But I don't believe that you believe that will actually ever happen. I honestly feel that you are reflecting the effects of a year of character assassination on both sides of the political war zone. I can feel your frustration both as a Republican and as a patriot. But I just don't believe that what you're advocating can ever really come about. I would say the best way forward is to find a Republican candidate, for the next election, who will restore the party's faith in itself. It's a house divided right now, and the centrist Republicans are doing all the suffering I don't see that person right now, because IMO, the Republican part has been dragged too far right. The further right you how, to closer to the edge of the earth you get. But I bet they are out there somewhere. Both candidates have warts. The question is are those warts something that will destroy the country?

Matt Sweetwood

7 years ago #4

#6
She is as bad or worse. That's why I wrote the article. ;-)

Matt Sweetwood

7 years ago #3

#7
Your partisan remarks don't help the cause. Hillary's campaign on video trying to rig the election. So make sure you bash them equally. They both deserve it.

Matt Sweetwood

7 years ago #2

#1
We have a 3rd party candidate, Gary Johnson, and he has 6% of the vote and no one cares.

Harvey Lloyd

7 years ago #1

I share your apathy as a voter. I would add that who would want to be President of the USA in this current climate. Any person who stands up and wants to lead based on values or beliefs will be drug through some defensive campaign brought on by accusation and innuendo. Who but Hillary and Trump could withstand these attacks. I know for one i can't stand up to the scrutiny of any news channel or social channel for that fact. I believe any potential candidate that has any ability to lead at that level would run from the chance after seeing this process we are afflicted. So it doesn't look as though the next few election cycles we will see any change. Instead of not voting, maybe, just maybe we should write in our own names? The polls will be daunting, as if we are in a cell and the Roman Centurion is asking us if we prefer to be eaten alive by a lion or a tiger. Now Vote.

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