Rooting for lesser evils

We nonvoters may not cast ballots, but that usually doesn’t stop us from rooting for one candidate over another. In 1992, the late Murray Rothbard remarked on this in the pages of the sorely missed Rothbard-Rockwell Report. In part, he wrote:

"...whom should we cheer for on Election Day? Whom should we hope wins the election? Voting is a matter of personal conscience, and can be for one of many minor candidates or for no one at all; rooting on who should win is a different problem, because regardless of who you or I vote for, or whether we vote at all, one of the two major candidates is sure to win in November. Whom should we hope wins, or are all the considerations so equally weighted that we should be indifferent?"

In 32 years of persistent nonvoting, I must admit that I’ve usually rooted for one side over another, seeing one potential Master as slightly less odious than the other. So...

In 1972, I rooted for McGovern over Nixon, for obvious reasons.

In 1976, I rooted for Carter over Ford, because Ford had to be punished for the pardons.

In 1980, I rooted for Reagan over Carter, because Carter had to be punished on general principle.

In 1984, I rooted for Mondale over Reagan, because I hated the neoconservative hawks surrounding Reagan.

In 1988, I rooted for Bush over Dukakis, because Dukakis was, well, Dukakis.

In 1992, I rooted for Bush over Clinton, because Hillary was, well, Hillary.

In 1996, I rooted for Dole over Clinton, because, gee, isn’t it obvious?

In 2000, I rooted for Bush over Gore, because Bush seemed more likeable than Gore, and Gore carried a Clintonian stench.

As usual, I will cast no ballot November 2. But what is unusual this election year is that for the first time ever, I will be rooting for no one. Finally, as Rothbard indicated might someday happen, I find that all the considerations are so equally weighted that I’m absolutely indifferent to the outcome.