Again, in places like NV, where "nobody" is always an official candidate, that's quite viable; if we did that nationally neither Bush NOR Kerry would've been elected in '04 (which might've made Dennis Hastert President; be careful what you wish... ). But in most of the US, not voting, or intentionally marring a ballot so it's unreadable, will be recorded as an over/undervote (if it's recorded at all) then ignored. Unless an election is decided by hundreds of votes and a single FL county has thousands of overvotes due to a confusing ballot, they aren't relevant (most weren't then, since determining which overvotes were actual errors and how many were "corrected" by voters who wanted Gore would be guesswork).

When half the country doesn't bother showing up to say who they want running the whole NATION we don't inaugurate "none of the above" we elect whoever got a majority from the half that bothered to show. If you're not part of the solution you're still part of the problem. I understand and share your frustration with the current system and candidates, but the bottom line is the same as with the people condemnning sex and violence on TV: It continues solely because we tolerate it. Dissenters sitting on the sidelines aren't going to change anything. That simply allows those who created the problem to make it worse (and if you haven't looked around lately that's pretty much what's happened). If you've got time to argue it online, you've got a half hour to an hour (tops) to go vote, and if it's not at least that important to you, why go online and argue about it? I can't guarantee voting isn't as big a waste of time as discussing US politics on a site hosted in the UK, but it's no WORSE.

It's not rocket science, people. If you don't like negative ads, stop voting for people who run them and they'll try an EFFECTIVE strategy. If you don't like crooks and thieves in government, show up and vote someone else. Write in your own name if that's what it takes, but not voting at all isn't "registering your disapproval". It doesn't actually REGISTER anything; that's the problem. It is kinda bizarre though that those with the least faith in government tend to be the most likely to vote, even if it does explain why charges of "socialism" can doom a US candidate.

But don't openly concede you know the system is BADLY flawed, then claim some kind of moral high ground because you don't bother fixing it. Maybe the Little Dutch Boy is better off just saying, "look, I've only got 10 fingers; I can't plug the whole dike" but it wouldn't make him a national hero.