YES, I VOTED

.....but I didn't vote for Barack Obama.
I've been voting since 1980. In that election, I cast my vote for John Anderson. he was an independent, much like Ron Paul, who ran in the primaries as a Republican, generating a large following, then losing the nomination to Ronald Reagan. So, in my first election, I voted for the loser.
I then began to see no real clear difference between the two major parties. They existed as other duopolies exist in our country; to shut out the other guys. Coke or Pepsi? Why not Dr. Pepper? McDonald's or Burger King? Why not Subway? National League or American league, tastes great or less filling, America the land of abundant choice had now been reduced down to the lesser of two evils. Which, if you do the math, is still evil.
So I voted third party. In 1984, 1988, 1992, and 1996, I opted out of the Democrap/Republicant part and instead chose to cast my ballot with the Libertarian Party. Of course, it helped that at the time, I was a major stoner and liked their stance on the decriminalization of marijuana. And I accepted that my candidate wouldn't win, because I knew that I only got one vote, and if I didn't use it, it would be gone. You can't accumulate them and cash them all in on one election. And I figured not voting was as bad as voting for the major parties, it would be like saying, I accept what either party has to offer.
But in 2000, something changed. As bad as other candidates had been in the past (and remember, I had the opportunity to vote Democrat against Ronald Reagan, easily one of the most vile presidents we had ever had, twice), that year, the Republicans offered a candidate that actually made Reagan seem appealing:George W Bush.
So, in the primaries, I voted Republican against George Bush ( for, you guessed it, John McCain) not only because I found him to be morally reprehensible then, but because Michigan's then Governor, Republican John Engler, had promised to deliver Michigan to Bush in the primaries. (He didn't. McCain actually won it) And in November of that year, I voted, for the first time, for a major party candidate.
Well, we all know what happened. The vote was stolen, which only served to infuriate me more because the first time I ever vote for the winning candidate, and the opposition steals the election. So, in 2004, I voted against Bush again.
I'm not playing that game any more. While I certainly prefer Barack Obama over John McCain, I'm fairly confident that Obama will win Michigan, with or with out my vote. McCain conceded Michigan long ago, when he pulled his advertising. If the popular vote counted, I might have been persuaded to vote for Obama, but since it all depends on who wins the electoral votes, I returned to voting my conscience.
I voted for Cynthia McKinney. I liked her when she demanded an investigation into 9/11, and I liked her even more when she slapped that cop. And I know she'll never win, if white America feels nervous about electing a black man president, a black female probably scares them more.