Some people get mad at me when I tell them not to vote.
But I believe there is a right time to abstain from casting a ballot - particularly if the only choice is a Democrat or Republican who are indistinguishable on the major issues of the day.
A good example of a race where a protest vote for a third party candidate or a non-vote would be the right thing to do on Election Day is the New Jersey Senate race between incumbent Robert Menendez, the Democrat, and Republican challenger Thomas Kean Jr.
Pollsters say the race is too close to call. And I don't really care how it comes out.
Some Republicans will hate me for this. They will point out that control of the U.S. Senate could be at stake in this campaign.
I say, if Republicans need Thomas Kean Jr. to control the Senate, then they really won't have control anyway. Because Kean is a RINO - a Republican in name only - a Republican who is embarrassed about being a Republican, a second-generation country clubber who, if elected, will turn out to be a bigger embarrassment to the GOP than a straight-out loss of the Senate.
No, I would never urge a vote for Menendez. He's part of the corrupt Democratic Party political machine in my birth state. As far as I can tell, there isn't a single issue on which he's right.
But, honestly, Kean is no better. Not at all.
And here's the real trouble with electing a sniveling weasel like Kean. What you get is a backstabbing RINO who will spend most of his time distancing himself from his Republican colleagues, showing that he is "different," that he is "bi-partisan," a conciliator - and someone with no principles whatsoever other than his own personal empowerment.
We've had Republicans in the Senate like this before. Think Lincoln Chafee.
Even though polls in New Jersey show voters there are more concerned about local issues than national issues, Kean is spending most of his time right now running away from President Bush - not on the border, not on profligate spending in Washington, not on the political correctness run amok in the White House, but on the war in Iraq, the war against jihadist terrorism, the war that will destroy America and Western civilization if we don't achieve victory. It wasn't Democrat Menendez who called for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation. It was Kean.
Last week, when he heard that Rush Limbaugh had taken on Michael J. Fox for shamelessly politicizing a disease, Kean issued a statement denouncing the talk-show host. He hadn't actually heard Limbaugh's articulate admonishment of Fox and those using him in this campaign. But what Kean read in "press reports" was enough to get him to attack Limbaugh.
"There's no reason for this in our politics, and I don't subscribe to it," he said.
To what does Kean subscribe? It's a good question. The answer is not much that's good for New Jersey or good for the nation.
If your idea of a good time is electing a spoiled brat rich kid to the U.S. Senate, then, by all means, vote for Kean. Have a ball.
But if your goal in political involvement is to restore freedom in America, to restore moral sanity to our system of governance, to restore constitutional principles to Washington, to restore a reverence for the sanctity of life, to restore respect for America at home and abroad, then I'm afraid to tell you that you have no choice on Election Day in New Jersey. Better luck next time.
Actually, let me backtrack from that statement. You do have a choice. And casting a protest vote or not voting at all in this virtually uncontested Senate race is a very good choice. It's the only choice for those who want to see real competition in elections, who want to see better alternatives in the future.
Vote no on Kean. And feel good about your choice.
