Have you ever turned a friend into a voter?

[MilesColtrane]

I have a problem.

Most of my friends are musicians and they lead what the New Yorker entertainment listing disclaimer describes as "complicated lives".

As seems to be the case with many artists, they are politically liberal, yet a lot of them don't vote.
They shrug off voting with the excuse that "they're all crooks anyway", "what difference does it make", "elections are rigged", and other generalities.

My problem is that I can empathize with their point of view, especially given the evidence that, indeed, many Democrats are only marginally better than Republicans, and election rigging by companies such as Diebold IS a real problem.

I make my arguments that nothing in life is perfect and that voting for an imperfect Democrat is almost always better than voting Republican or not voting at all. I also point out that the problem of stolen elections won't go away on it's own, and that the only chance of changing this is to try to get someone elected who will do something about it.

I keep hammering away at them in the hope that my disillusioned friends will begin to see that engaging in the stinking cesspool that is American politics is the only hope for improving things.

In the end, my best argument is that it is every citizens outright duty to try and leave this country a better place, with better economic opportunities, a stronger Constitution, and more security for not only us, but those who come after us.

If you aren't at least trying to do this, by voting, you're indifference is ultimately just as damaging as the outright evil few who are actively trying to destroy our freedoms and our future.

So how about it? Have you ever turned a friend, and if so, how did you do it?