Well, I'm sure we're all sick to death of the coming presidential election rhetoric by now. Following the day-by-day polls that track each candidate's popularity is an act of futility. Ultimately, the only day on which that popularity will matter is Election Day, and even that is questionable because of the Electoral College.
As I've mentioned before, I feel that my individual vote is essentially valueless. I've tried to explain my philosophy on this topic to some of my more politically minded friends in the past, and I'm not sure I succeeded in getting my point across. It goes something like this: every one of us can be seen as a member of a set of like-minded people. One characteristic of this set is the probability that people within that set will vote (as well as how they will vote if they do vote). So, in a sense, whether or not I vote, only some proportion of my set will vote in any case. The actual members of that set who vote are irrelevant; only a fixed proportion of them will vote, as determined by their inclusion in that set.
I'm sure that made my thinking as clear as mud. Oh well. In any case, I'm not sure I believe that argument myself any more - it is fairly circular. What I do believe is that you should only vote if you have taken the time to educate yourself on the issues. Otherwise, we might as well send trained monkeys into the booths to pull levers and scratch X's next to random candidates.
The Electoral College further distances the people from their leaders. I think it is an anachronism that needs to be abolished. At the very least, it should not be a "winner take all" system - the electoral votes of a state should be divided among the candidates either by district or by overall proportion of votes received statewide. Nebraska and Maine do not follow the "winner takes all" rule.
That's about all the political fire I have in my belly right now. All of the speculation will be at an end in two weeks. I can hardly wait.
You can respond to my ranting here.
If wishes were horses, beggars would rant.