often times, people don't vote because they think the person they support doesn't have a realistic chance of winning. but, i think you should vote anyway, because:
even if the candidate doesn't win, if he/she has a strong number of votes, that sends a message to the American people. it shows that many people support the candidate's views, and thus next time, people are more likely to take him/her (or someone similar) more seriously. this is especially important for third-party candidates.
for phone-polls, they only call people who voted last year. so if you don't vote, you're sacrificing your vote in the polls. sure, it doesn't seem that important, but people (unfortunately) pay attention to these polls. a lot of Ron Paul supporters (like myself) don't get called because they didn't vote last year - now, we're facing the consequences of that because RP's popularity is not properly reflected in the polls.
even if the candidate doesn't win, if he/she has a strong number of votes, that sends a message to the American people. it shows that many people support the candidate's views, and thus next time, people are more likely to take him/her (or someone similar) more seriously. this is especially important for third-party candidates.
for phone-polls, they only call people who voted last year. so if you don't vote, you're sacrificing your vote in the polls. sure, it doesn't seem that important, but people (unfortunately) pay attention to these polls. a lot of Ron Paul supporters (like myself) don't get called because they didn't vote last year - now, we're facing the consequences of that because RP's popularity is not properly reflected in the polls.