I'm seeing lots of folks talking about whether or not to vote this November. It's fascinating to watch this unfold and the different variations of it. There are lots of folks using Pres Trump as a crutch to support their opinions on vote/don't vote. You shouldn't have to use President Trump's name at all.
President Trump didn't run in 2016 on a third party or as a democrat. He chose the GOP for a reason, broken as it may be. He didn't advocate for anyone not to vote if they didn't like the progress being made at any time since 2016. He actively endorsed candidates for republicans to vote for in 2026, if he was disinterested in the 2026 election, why would he bother doing that? I personally think many of his endorsements sucked and said as much but I voted for the ppl I felt best represented my interests.
What I don't hear most ppl talk about in the vote/don't vote conversation is that there is much more at stake in elections than the GOP. Your non partisan school board members, sheriffs, judges will be elected this November. Your mounting an effort to boycott the GOP and tell ppl to sit it out doesn't mean the election won't happen, it doesn't mean school board members and judges won't be elected, it basically means, if successful, there will just be significantly less 'conservative' voters and therefore less conservative school board members, sheriffs and judges.
Are we all frustrated with the elections, fraud, etc? Yes. But in the midst of all that fraud, cheating, somehow President Trump still got elected bc we didn't sit home. Did he get elected bc of you did not participate? The majority of the ppl talking about setting this one out, that I've seen posting that message, are not the ones that have blood sweat and tears working election integrity issues and being attacked non stop. Not to say they don't make other contributions but if the ppl fighting the hardest for election integrity aren't sitting out the election, why would you listen to ppl who chat ppl up on social media about other topics?
I spent decades in the military fixing things from the inside and encouraging others with integrity to join and do the same. At no one did I consider leaving, taking my toys and going home thinking that would somehow make the institution better or that anyone would even notice my absence.
The Air Force didn't blink when I was medically retired. My absence wasn't institutionally noticed by anyone and neither will your vote be...that's not how things work in the real world. In the real world, a 'don't vote' campaign would have started in the immediate aftermath of 2020, but it didn't. They had another chance in 2024, but how could you do that when Trump won? Well, you couldn't...because your vote actually mattered and he won.
I'm sure all the Trump fans that are advocating you don't vote all didn't vote in 2024 after 2020 was stolen, right? Right? That's what you'd do if you believed the election system is rigged and not voting somehow is important in addressing the rigged system because there is a principle involved.
So why wait til September 2026 to tell folks you're not voting?
If done in mass, it will change one thing for sure: the face of your school board, judges, sheriffs and not for the better.