What they're saying about 'None of the Above'

WASHINGTON – John Quincy Adams said: "Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost."

More Americans seem to be adopting that idea as their own this year as widespread disenchantment with both major-party presidential candidates reaches critical mass.

Polls show between 10 percent and 15 percent of likely voters unimpressed with either John McCain or Barack Obama.

And that's before the official debut of the first book ever published in America urging the public to abstain from pulling the lever for either.

The book is Joseph Farah's "None of the Above: Why 2008 Is the Year to Cast the Ultimate Protest Vote," scheduled to reach bookstores throughout the country Aug. 19, but already being broadly praised by those who have read it or heard about it.

It is the No. 1 selling book at WND's online bookstore – so far the only place it is available immediately. And the comments from readers are surprisingly enthusiastic about the possibility that 2008 could be a watershed election year because of the disaffection:

"This fall I'm going to write in a protest vote for Duncan Hunter," writes one correspondent from South Carolina. "Nothing will ever change if we continue with the status quo. By voting for McCain, whether you like him or not, you're still basically giving him your endorsement. I think an Obama presidency would put this country in perilous straits. However, the problems such as illegal immigration, corporate outsourcing, trade imbalances, global warming taxes, campaign finance controls and continued military deployment with no tangible results will all either continue or accelerate under a McCain administration."
"One word for Mr. Farah – Amen," writes a Kansas man.
"Another brilliant idea from Joseph Farah. Please tell me what substantive difference there is between McCain and Obama," writes someone from Georgia.
"Outstanding job as usual from Mr. Farah. I will vote, but it will be for the Constitution Party candidate," writes Greg from Kentucky.
"I share your sentiments, Mr. Farah. I'm fed up with voting for the lesser of two ANYTHING. If my principles are strongly opposed to increased government control and spending, I'm not going to vote for a party that will ensure both!" writes someone from South Carolina.
"Farah is right. No matter who gets elected, the establishment wins," writes John in Washington, D.C.
"Mr. Farah, I couldn't agree more. Until this year I considered myself a Republican, but no more. I am now simply a conservative," writes Peter of Tennessee.
"Third party seems like the only hope this year," says Jerry of Florida.
"Mr. Farah is absolutely right on. It is not that McCain would not be a better president than Obama and Clinton; he likely would be, but only marginally better. The big problem with his victory is that at the end of the day, the public would blame Republicans and worse, conservatives, for the problems," wrote a Chicago man.
"I have determined that I will not vote for John McCain, because under either a McCain or Obama, we will be granting amnesty to all the illegal aliens," says Robert of Chicago.

"I believe the grass-roots support for the premise of my books is much stronger than even the public opinion polls are suggesting at this point in the campaign," says Farah, the editor and founder of WND. "Therefore, coinciding with the release of this book Aug. 19, I will be releasing the results of a scientific poll commissioned by me to determine the extent of the disenchantment with McCain and Obama. I think we have the makings of an electoral revolution that will have ramifications for years to come. This is the election that will either break the hammerlock of control by the two-party system or one of the two major parties will reform itself."

The author of "None of the Above" doesn't see the race so much as a contest between John McCain and Barack Obama. He sees it more like a McCain-Obama ticket. And the only real choice Americans have is to reject it.

"There is a real choice in the 2008 presidential election," he says. "The choice is to vote for none of the above. It's the only choice that makes sense. It's the only choice that will make a real difference for the future of our country. It's the only choice that is moral and justifiable from both a pragmatic point of view as well as an idealistic one."

Farah is no fan of President George W. Bush, having opposed may of his policies during the last eight years and having refused to endorse him or vote for him in 2000.

"However," he writes in his new book, "in all honestly, the choices put before us this year by the two major parties make George Bush look like George Washington by comparison."

Farah believes there is a chance the 2008 election could be one of the most important elections in American history – one that causes a major realignment, a radical change in the way candidates are selected, great changes in both parties, the emergence of competition from one or more third parties and the redemption of the Republican Party.

Farah doesn't believe the presidency can be denied one of the two front-runners. But he does believe the best long-term interests of the country will be served by a general uprising of voters refusing to select the lesser of two evils. "None of the Above" lays out a panoply of reasons and some shocking, unconventional conclusions that will, at the very least, challenge every reader to think before they jump on one of the major-party candidate's bandwagon.

"I don't think Americans have really considered how powerful it is to vote 'no.' The Soviet Union imploded when Russians said 'no.' 'No' is a very powerful word. It is a revolutionary word. And America is in need of a political revolution – a revolution that gives voters real choices."