Does your vote count?

I have been hearing a lot about how the chance of a particular vote mattering is small from various people in the blogosphere. In particular this study is referenced a lot. It has some nice charts showing the chance of your vote being the decisive one as 1 in 10 million if you are lucky enough to live in New Mexico for instance. Now they also have a paper on how it is rational to vote even if your vote won't be decisive.

But both of these studies miss a point that seems clear to me or at least don't emphasize it enough. I am voting for Obama and the Democratic party based on the issues. I care about alternate energy, health care, job security and relief for the middle class destroyed by Wall Street greed to name a few. My motivation is not just to get Obama in office with a progressive Democratic Senate and Congress by a squeaker. I want there to be a landslide, a massive turnout with public opinion strongly on display supporting progressive politics. Every single vote counts in this case. EVERY VOTE COUNTS, as Diddy said "Ain't no line too damn long". We all need to vote, we need to sweep out the corrupt conservative Republican's who are working against this country for their own gain. We need a public referendum so that Obama and Biden have the momentum to enact sweeping policy changes.

The Senate and Congress are slow acting by nature. With a big turnout we can speed them up, we can show them that we won't tolerate back room trades of influence for money. We want them accountable to you and me, to the people not the corporations. One of the points Obama made during his 30 minute address to the country was that he wasn't worried about CEOs, insurance companies and oil companies, they can take care of themselves. He is worried about the middle class and the poor. Right now lobbyists have all the influence and they work for the big oil, for the insurance industry, for everyone who can BUY the influence. Voting is how we show our influence. It is hugely important and it is our duty as well as our right.