The election is in five days. I find myself hoping more and more that the president won’t win. It is the second time in about a decade that I voted for someone, then four years later wished fervently the someone would be voted out of office. In 2000, I voted for the Republican because he seemed less of a jerk than his Democratic opponent, and I didn’t want to vote for a third party candidate that year. I’m not even sure a third party candidate was on the ballot in my state for the 2000 election. By 2004, I regarded my president as an incompetent criminal, and hoped so much that people would not succumb to incumbency bias and post-9/11 insecurity. George W. Bush won, and four long years turned into eight. I had not seen such poor leadership in my lifetime, and I have been alive a long time by now.

In 2008, I most certainly would not vote for the Republican candidate, as much as I liked McCain as an individual. He has served his country as well as any man. I did not like the Libertarian candidate, Bob Barr. That left the golden tongued Obama, the One, man of the hour. I knew his sheen would wear off six months after his inauguration, and I knew he would be highly progressive in his policy orientation. No matter. I wanted to be a part of history, and I figured institutional constraints would hold his progressive leanings in check.

Then he passed the health care bill in the most bizarre, legislatively corrupt and dishonest process one can imagine in a democracy. I wasn’t there, but from appearances the president sat down with Nancy Pelosi and they decided they were going to do this thing. Harry Reid gave his blessing. The three of them decided to have their way with the country. They learned what the country thought in the 2010 midterm elections. I wish the anti-Democratic sentiment in 2012 were as strong as the anger one could feel in 2010. Perhaps it is, but we can’t see it because Mitt Romney isn’t in such a good position to lead voters in this matter. After all, he sponsored the model for the Affordable Care Act in Massachusetts.

Now we enter the last five days. Obama deserves to be voted out of office for the Affordable Care Act, and for that legislation alone. He is responsible for other policies and political results that warrant retiring him, but the health care legislation is enough. When you vote on November 6, vote against coercive health insurance, whether it originates with a Republican in Massachusetts, or with Democrats Washington. Vote for Gary Johnson. We have a good, capable Libertarian candidate this year. His beliefs, policy proposals and leadership qualities give our country hope. Please give him your support. As Gary Johnson says, “The only wasted vote is a vote for someone you don’t believe in.”

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Steven Greffenius authored Revolution on the Ground and Revolution in the Air, both available at Amazon.