Okay, this one may strike a nerve with a lot of people. I also have a lot of explaining to do. I welcome all opinions and comments, butplease be patient as you read and try to have an open mind. I tried to break it all down in bolded sections so you can skip through if yuo want. enjoy.
**please forgive spelling errors and such... and again have an open mind for a sec.**

WHO AM I?
I will start by explaining who I am, to give you an idea of my knowledge (or lack there of lol) and why i may have came up with this. Then I will explain exactly what I am trying to say when I say don't vote.

I am no different that most people my age. I am 25 years old and this is the first election I have taken an interest in. I have never voted before, or cared to. I have been in the Army for the last 6 years. When President Bush was elected the first time, I was too young to vote, or just came of age. I still lived with my parents and was more worried about parties, women, and my car. The I joined the Army. I was over sea's for the last election and, as you can imagine, we had other things to worry about. Now is different. I am 25, I have a wife, a 20 month old daughter, and a son on the way. I own a home, live in a real expensive area of the country, and I am now feeling the effects of the economy. This is why I decided it is time for me to get into politics, get a general understanding, find out what matters to me, choose a party, and rock the vote.

The problem I have had so far is not being able to really associate myself with a specific party. So I decided to do away with that idea from the start. Right now, I think, presidential candidates should target people like me. I am undecided on a specific party, I don't know how everything works yet, I am formulating new Ideas, and I am in the age group that is the up and comming leaders of companies, counties, states, and the country. We all have to start somewhere, and this year's election is where I start getting involved.

So I will explain why I am not voting this year, and may not be voting in the future. This may strike you as odd, but let me explain what I want before I fill in a bubble next to someone's name on a vote card.

WHY I AM NOT VOTING
This election has upset greatly. I find myself not being able to believe anything that comes out of any of the candidates. What I want: THE TRUTH. DO we need a change? Yea sure, we always do. Well I can go up infront of people and say we need his, and we need that, vote for me, cause we need it! I have to say, this is a great election year for the opposing party to the white house. We are in a war, the economy is bad, housing markt sucks, oild prices are up. This all builds a great campaign strategy for the democrats. I also believe it would be the same the other way around. If a democrat has been in office the last 8 years and all this is going on, this would be a great year for republicans.

But, I want the truth. Don't get up there and just put the other candidates down. Don't tell me we need a change, it's very important to yuo, but you are toying with different ideas. NO. Tell me exactly what you are going to try to do, whether some are going to hate it or not. That's all i ask. Don't slander another candidate to get votes, that explains nothing to me. For example: I saw a slander on TV about Senator Mccain. All it said was "Senator Mccain wants to spend $160 billion of your tax money (or whatever the cost was) on nuclear energy and oil refinaries etc etc." I was like, wait a minute what does that mean to me? No real facts. They used the idea of that amount of money, to intimidate me. I don't know, and never will know, what $160 billion dollars looks like. But it's all relative. How do I know that wanting to se $160 billion is not actully a reduced amount from what has previously been used? How do I know he didn't come up with that byt comming up with a way to fix the budgeting to where it costs each of us less? Don't slam another candidate thinking I will vote for you. Tell me the truth.

Think about it. I do believe there are thing that we, the general public, do not need to know about. Like movies with terrorist threats everyday, that stuff. But I do feel that when you are going to change something that has an effect on me, you need to be truthfull.

We need change, yes, but WE also have to understand that a major change is not soley done by the man/woman in office. It takes everyone, as a nation, to sacrafice. That's a problem we as a nation have. We want to see change but we don't want to contribute to it. But when a candidate says he/she is going to do this.. I want to know the pros and cons, and the truh about what it is going to take to get there. Even if it's the hard truth, its the truth. At least this way, when that candidate is voted in and needs to pass his ideas through congress for approval, congress will know this candidate told the US he was going to do this, gave the pros and cons, and they voted him in. This is what the people wanted. Makes the descision to accept or veto a lo easier on congress.

For example.. our so called "deficit". What happened in the past is the past. I don't need to hear 15 campaign stops where they talk about how Bush did wrong. I want to know where we go from here. So lets say, for example only, Senator Obama, on nation TV, gave a plan. If he were to say "ok, this is exactly why we are in deficit. or need money for this, or whatever. That is what happened, we need to fix it. Here is one idea I have. If I raise taxes in each tax bracket by 3% for 5 years. We will pay off this and that etc. After that 5 years, we can lower each bracket by 8%. So in the end, 5 years from now you will be paying 5% less in income taxes then yuo do right now." Do peopel want to hear that? no, and thats the problem. I WANT HEAR THAT. real solutions, explaining how we, the nation, actually have to participate in the change. That is the person i will one day vote for, regardless of the letter next to theier name. (D or R). And if he/she is not elected because of it, then so be it. That would mean that his/her idea is not what the people want and they should except that. Don't just generalize and try to tell people what they want to hear, that won't help us in the long run. Give us the hard truth, explained to me what it will take from me as an american to make it better. And people, please don't think for a second that these issues will change because of a party change. I believe we run the nation, and it will takes something from all of us to make it better. But that, again, is OUR problem. We want to see change, but don't want to contribute and that's why it will never change. We blam everything on the president and when new elections come, new candidates feed off our lack of knowledge, and presidential blamming, to win a contest.

I mean really. They preach about caring and people buy into this stuff so quickly. I can't beleive for a second these candidates actually care about anything more than putting their name in the history books. Think about it. Senator Obama won't even spend any time in N.C> becaus ehe knows she is going to win. So he doesn't even care about that state, keep campaigning in undecded states, or states that love him. THAT'S WRONG! if you care, and feel yuo are best for the nation, you should be down there to try to get people to see where you are comming from, to assure them that even if Senetor Clinton loses, they have a democratic candidate that they can rely on. That's what I would be doing. This election has become, to me, more on bashing the other to win a contest, then it has been to actually come up with ways to solve our issues. General ideas won't help, and will never fly. Please tell me the truth. Give me the hard honest truth. You can naver make everyone happy, but you can get the majority (not just 51%) to respect yuo when you are honest. Why are we in this situation, what do we need to do as a nation to fix it. What's it gonna take from each and every one of us! That's the one who gets my vote, even if I don't like everything i hear.

DON'T VOTE: here we go
So let me get to my don't vote point. I will break it down like this. First will be why I think we really don't have a say, then the reasons I say we should not vote at all and what it might accomplish. enjoy:

Do we really have a say? Think about it do you really have a say? This 'vote', and 'make yourself heard' is beat into our heads. I almost feel like it is a way to control elections, and make it seem like the president is someone the nation wanted when technically les than half the nation will actually want the next president in the whit house. here is what I am talking about.

Let's pretend, or could be, yuo are a strong Senator Clinton supporter. And you have been doing what is preached to you. Yuo voted, you put signs up, blog about getting involved, share your views with peopl eundecided. Yuo have participated as much as you possibly can because your voice matter. Well, what do yuo do if Senator Obama wins the democratic nominee? Where is your voice then? Now you are left with 3 choices. Vote Obama, strictly because yuo are democrat and so is he, vote against your party because yuo are upset Senator Clinton did not win, or you don't vote at all.
Think about it. Clinton won Pennsylvania. If obama wins, and pennsylvania votes for him in the main election, did that stae really get the person they wanted? NO. But it will SEEM LIEK thier voice was heard because they voted democrat to stick with their party. really the majority of PEN, wants Clinton. So their voice was not heard. bu tthat never makes the history books, it will just show Obama won that state. Almost a false fact when we elect a president. Do you see what I am getting at? It's hard to explaion what I mean. I just feel we are forced into voting, making it seem like the person elected is what we wanted, when it really wasn't. I hope you see what I am getting at. Again, hard to explain it.
So when a president is elceted, lets say 51 to 49%. That means half the nation didn't want him/her. So if obama wins the presidency, about half the nation will have actually voted against him. In the 51% that did vote for them, probably half of those were actually Clinton supporters jsut voting democrat because of party loyalties. So what, 25% of the nation is all the ever actually wants the president in office? Then they say "see yuo did your pasrt, you rocked the vote!"

Okay, you voted, but your voice was not heard. You ended up being forced to vote for the lesser worse, pretty much.

NEVER CHANGES ANYWAY
ALSO... WHAT EVER CHANGES? I have spoken to my parents, grand parents etc. I hear on TV.. "the issues this time around are taxes, economy, welfare, health care, etc etc" The media is making a huge deal on all of these. The truth is, it has been that way since my grandfather was a child. These things are always and issue. In the end, it never matters who is in office. Taxes consistantly go up over the years, welfare is always an issue, some for it some not, immigration is always a problem, health care - nothing ever fits everyone and will always be an issue, social security is a problem and seniors complain about barely getting anything from it as much as we complain about having to pay into it. These issues are nothing new. They haven't changed to this point you expect me to believe they will change, all i have to do is vote, even though the person I vote for may not even make it to the main election? Thats another reason i am not voting, whats the point? Problems we had 30 years ago are still the same ones we have now.
WHY SILENCE IS MY VOICE
SO DON'T VOTE! Don't vote if the person you want in office is not available. Don't vote just because of the 'D' or 'R' next to their name. Thats giving these candidates false information, making them think their ideas are what we want. Make your voice heard by shutting up.

For example. I believe WE run this country. Just like WE run our housing markets, and our suppky and demand. Have you ever heard your parents or grand parents say "when I was a kid, yuo could get a bottle of soda for 5 cents!" You probably think WOW. but then you write it off as well things change, prices on things go up. NO, we make that happen. Now a days, a bottle of soda, out of a vending machine, costs $1.50. I guarentee you, if we refused to pay $1.50 for that soda, we wouldn't have to. We have that kind of power. If everyone refused to pay that much, and stopped by soda all together, those prices will drop. That is the kind of silence I am talking about.
Another thing that got me thinking about this... You are folding laundry in your living room, watching a tv show. The commercials start, so you continue to fold. You are looking down at your clothes. You can hear the TV in the backround. Nothing really grabbing your attention.. commercials are all the same, either a catchy song, or "we give yuo this much for trade in value!" or "big weekend sale!".. you hea all this in the backround, but nothing that cathces your attention, cause it's all the same. Since you are in the middle of folding and want to get it done, these commercials are not breakin your attention to folding... BUT.. what would happen then, if your TV all of a sudden went silent? No backround noise at all. Whats the first thing you are gonna do? Yuo are goona break your concentration from folding and turn your attention to the TV... I have seen commercials liek this. That is a great marketing tool... complete silence is not soemthing you are used to heaing on a TV so you are gonna check it out. I use that same idea with the voting!
When 'the ring' came out in theaters. I remember the TV going silent. When i looked up to see what the heck was going on, that scary video from the movie (the one you watch and die 7 days later) was playing. Nothing else! no words, no plot to the movie itself, just that wierd ass little video. Then at the very end a wisper came on and said "before you die you see the ring." Tht was the whole commercial. MAN did that get my attention! I had to research and find out it was a movie, and that made me really want to see it.

Thats my idea. We do control more than we think. During elections they expect cheering, cursing, signs, protests, happy people, upset people, debates, arguments, questions from the public. No different than any other "commercial'. But what if they heard nothing from us. What if polls opened up in a state and only like 150 people even voted.. what if none voted?

Ok, initially for this elcetion, congress and delgates would decide the president. I can garentee, however, they will spend the next 4 years trying to figure out why no one voted. they being, the media, future possible candidates, state politicians, state representatives, county and city leaders. That will open up curiosity, grab attention, and make politicians want to find out why we didn't vote. Then, we can have our say, and they will listen!

Stop going to campaign rallies. Can you imagine if a candidate showed up to a stadium for a rally and 2 people where there? Do you not think they will want to find out what they are doing wrong?

To conclude: Thank you for taking the time to read this. I know its a long shot idea, sounds crazy, and I hope I explained my point. I am not voting because I don't like what I am seeing.Candidates only saying what each different campaigning state wants to hear, the democrats can't get along and are splitting eachother apart, the republicans didn't even try to see if there may be a better candidate, this has turned more into a bashing eachother war then it has in deciding who is best to run the country, we are divided by party support, the parties hate eachother even though they will eventually HAVE to work together, its just a mess. We need to do away with 'D' and "R' and figure out who, reguardless, is best for the job. Don't just vote becuase you claim a party.. no won't do that, I refuse to. We are not in a civil war between the parties. I want the truth, as hard as it may be. I believe in fairness! If you have earned a million dollars, good for yuo! share the knowledge, enjoy your earnings!

Don't fall into the brain washign that you must vote to be heard!. There are other ways of being heard. Do we need a chnage? yes, we need to change the way politics is ran. We need to vote on what is honest and best, even if its not going to be easy to achieve it. Just don't fall for the change hype unless you understand what yuo will have to do to contribute.. The problem is they are not telling us what it will cost us.. so be heard by staying silent, until we get the truth..
JOIN ME
DON'T VOTE '08