Essentially when you have a dominant two party system, each side wants what it wants and doesn’t like what the other side likes. That’s one of the reasons that in democracies, elections produce a flip-flop switch of parties which changes back and forth over time. It’s the Universes way of creating the middle way.

Every election becomes a make-or-break situation for the left (liberal) and right (conservative). It seems that each time one side ‘wins’ the other side ‘sulks’. Even a third party candidate doesn’t get any traction because the party lines are so entrenched. In the UK, the Lib-Dems could never hold power. In Canada, it’s the New Democratic Party. In the States, even someone as divisive as RFK Jr would fail to make any headway. And don’t get me started on fringe political parties. They just take votes away from other candidates, even when they support Green issues.

So, what’s a body to do? Withholding or defacing your vote might seem to be a protest that you could adopt, but, it’s a fool’s game. If one side is more to your liking than the other, get out and vote for your chosen party, even if they don’t offer you everything your want.

And, as always, be careful what you wish for.