Into the depths of my mind...

Why vote, right?  Why bother?  The election's already sewn up.  It's already done.  One vote won't matter right?

Wrong.

Need a reason to vote?  Need an excuse?  Here's some of mine.

The 2000 Presedential election was decided by less than 1000 votes. 

100 years ago in this country, if you were a woman, you didn't have the right to vote.  People toiled, went to jail and fought to give women the right to vote.  If you're a woman, and you don't vote, why did they bother?

In 1965 the Voting Rights Act was passed, guaranteeing the right of any American citizen the right to vote without hinderance.  This is a landmark in American civil rights, and civil rights leaders mark this as a hallmark of advancement.  If you're a minority, and you don't vote, why did they bother?

My own family fled an opressive regime that sent people to work camps based on belief, religion, politics...anything.  They came to the States to be free.  The ultimate expression of freedom is the ability to cast your vote and choose your nation's leadership.

To wit, as I am a fan of quotes:

“The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.”  -  Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States

"The ballot is stronger than the bullet."  -  Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States