Voting as a symbol
I ran across this article the way I run across a lot of things, read a blog that links to another, that links to yet a third, which links to something really interesting.
This guy is anything but conservative, but you will enjoy this:
SUPER TUESDAY is over. Today is Non-Super Wednesday. And regardless of which Presidential candidate gathers more delegates in the primary; regardless of who takes the popular vote; regardless, even, of who (and whose agenda) is ultimately voted into the White House in November and how much changes as a result, one truth remains unaffected: The power to make change resides in each and every one of us, and every day.
The obligation to work at positive changes in our society on a personal and community level ought not, and in reality, cannot be sublimated into or subsumed by one day in a booth with a button.
Now, isn’t this true? As much as we want conservative candidates, as much as we want conservation and enforcement of environmental initiatives, as much as we want a meaningful agriculture bill or a sane energy policy, none of these will happen by us casting a ballot, signing a petition, calling a Senator. There’s more to it than that. We vote by where we shop, what we buy, what we say, how we live.
Voting is a good place to start, but ultimately it’s only a symbol, a very unclear message to someone who might not even hear it. Being “the change you wish to see in the world,” as Ghandi put it, may have more of an effect on the world. It will certainly have more of an effect on you home, your city, and your county, which is, after all, right where you live. 
