I call it the NOTAP. The NOTAP is the None Of The Above Party. And I offer up as NOTAP’s first presidential candidate . . . well, we’ll get to that in a moment.
NOTAP’s primary platform is the ultimate delegitimization of the eventual winner of this year’s U.S. presidential election, and the abject humiliation of a two-party system that foisted these two candidates upon us. That’s it. One issue. One objective. Everything else at this point is secondary to that one goal. E-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g, whether we’re talking about abortion, guns, immigration, taxation, whatever; because none of any of those issued means one damned thing to anyone if we continue down this path.
Here’s what you can do: Research your state’s voting laws. See what candidates other than the Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton may be on the ballot. For instance, there are 27 alternate parties on the ballot of several states, and various self-identified “Independent” or “Independence” parties on the ballot of fifteen states.
Here’s a rundown of just a few of the more prominent: The Libertarian Party is on 33 ballots. Twenty-one ballots will display the Green Party candidate. The Constitution Party is on the ballots of thirteen states. The Reform and the Working Families Party are each on four ballots, and the Progressive Party is on two. There’s even an American Shopping Party on the ballot in Hawai’i this year, if shopping is your thing, but the candidate on that ballot is running for the U.S. Senate rather than president. Anyway, you get the idea — there are other choices out there, choices that haven’t a prayer. Hold your nose and pick one. Any one. Just pick. If you have no alternative, and if your state does not allow a write-in (more on that in a moment), then I suggest you withhold your vote for either of the two other candidates unless either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton truly appeals to you and you feel either of those candidates holds with the issues dearest to your heart.
In states that offer the alternative of a write-in, even if that write-in vote will not be tallied because of arbitrary and punitive regulation, I offer up one other choice, and that would be the self-appointed, first-ever nominee of the NOTAP — R. Doug Wicker. No, this is not an ego trip. I do not expect to garner any significant vote tally. Indeed, if you have any other choice then I implore you to please pick it.
If you agree with this treatise, and if you desire to act based upon its proposals, please forward all this week’s articles to your social networking list. The time to organize a true and effective protest is rapidly dwindling.
Monday: Election 2016 — How the Hell Did We Get Here?
Tuesday: Election 2016 — Why the Hell Did We Get Here?
Wednesday: Election 2016 — Fixing This System Long Term
Thursday: Election 2016 — But How Do We Fix This Year’s Mess?
Today: Friday: Election — A Call to Arms
Decisions — Murder in Paradise
The Globe — Murder in Luxury
