Tomorrow morning, afternoon, evening... Whenever you go to the polls. You may see dozens or hundreds of people in front of you. And even though you're a faithful Daily Kos reader and know that you should STFIL, you might start to wonder how much your vote matters. You might catch yourself thinking that you've never once seen an election, even a local election, come down to one vote. And if you start to think like that, take a minute and remember all the ways that one vote can matter, in ways that might never show up in a vote count or a newspaper article:
Your one vote could be the vote that makes a Republican decide the margin of victory was just a little too big to contest ballots and try to gain an unfair win.
Your one vote could be the vote that tips a race into an automatic recount, increasing the likelihood that the will of the people is reflected in the result.
Your one vote could be the vote that allows rounding up of a result and makes a big win seem even bigger.
Your one vote could be the vote that helps a young progressive who is looking at a loss decide that the race was close enough to suck it up and try even harder in the next election.
Your one vote could be the vote that convinces a big Republican donor that maybe there's a better way for them to spend their money.
Our votes count. All of them. No one acts in a vacuum and many times we have no idea of the impact of our actions as they ripple through the universe.
So get in that line, use the time to think about what more you can do for your family or your community, or talk with your neighbors in line and get to know some new people. Sketch a picture in a notebook, read a magazine, listen to some music, play a videogame.
Stay in line.
Vote.