Making my vote count for something (Warning: Highly biased)

I've been sitting here for the last few hours after the final presidential debate contemplating politics...and playing mahjong. I haven't watched much of the debates this time around because I don't care for either candidate and I find them pretty frustrating. My husband and I have been arguing over how we should vote. He's been pretty adamant that he'll either vote Libertarian or not at all. I keep arguing that we have to choose the lesser of two evils and get Obama out at the cost of getting Romney in. After tonight, he's finally swayed me (he usually is right). Not surprising, considering how both candidates parrotted their talking points, repeating the same dead arguments, and failed to demonstrate the ability to think critically or to show consistency in their political philosophies (though Obama probably did better on that count).

Ultimately, if you identify with the Libertarian viewpoint, you have a choice this election between voting your ideals or voting pragmatically for a slightly more favorable outcome. The bottom line is that at the core Romney and Obama are very similar. Both believe in big government, running at a deficit, and sticking their noses where they don't belong. Obama puts his in closer to home, in funding endless programs and controlling how I spend my own money. Romney wants to poke his in everywhere, policing the world. Both believe in spending too freely, whether it's my hard earned dollars going to those who are too lazy to work or in lives far too casually spent in wars we don't belong in. The Republican party has become more and more about big government over the decades, trying to validate it's massive military spending with supposed free capitalism ideals. The tea party movement has tried to bring us back to conservative roots but the choice of a presidential candidate indicates they've failed, at least for now. I keep hearing that you can't "waste your vote" by voting for a third party, but the problem is that by voting for Romney, you're not just voting against Obama. You are voting for Romney and everything he stands for...at least when he's choosing to stand for it. For me, I can't in good conscience vote in someone who is going to increase the debt my kids are going to inherit.

So the question is, do you still have hope for true conservativism in America? If you don't, then by all means, vote for the lesser of two evils so that you're not "wasting your vote." If you do, then instead of "making your vote count," make it count for a candidate that most closely lines up with your political philosophy. Is the Libertarian party going to win this election? No. Next election? Probably not. But I'm going to hope that by the time my daughter can vote that she'll have an opportunity to vote for someone who believes in small federal government, stronger states, upholding the constitution, and protecting our property and our rights vigorously.