Most of my closest pre-campaign friends either favored Senator Obama or at least regarded him as a an acceptable candidate. Most have not engaged as intensely as I have with this campaign season. Most cannot understand why I will not "stop beating a dead horse" (to quote one friend) by objecting to Senator Obama as the Democratic nominee. After all, with it so clear that Senator Obama will in fact be the nominee, they comment, why fuss? Others, who share my distaste for Senator McCain's policies, express opinions ranging from puzzlement to anger that I could even consider withholding my vote from the Democratic contender.

Many of my "campaign friends", the fine people I have come to know through my recent political activities, urge that I vote for Senator McCain. These friends object to Senator Obama's positions and to his character. They mistrust Senator Obama, regard him as arrogant, manipulative, unreliable, untrustworthy and ungracious (to say the least to Senator Clintons supporters). I share many of their opinions.

The precampaign friends tend to know little or nothing about my ongoing effort to retire Senator Clinton's debt; many are tired of hearing about Senator Clinton or about the primary season in general and some are not excited by the general election. Since I try not to be a crashing bore, I don't advertise my unwavering commitment to retiring Senator Clinton's debt to these friends. And since many have not followed the ins and outs of the nominating process, they do not want to listen to a detailed explanation of the various ways in which the D.N.C. leadership and Senator Obama himself have thus far gamed the party's system to make Senator Obama the presumptive nominee.

The campaign friends certainly know about my drive to retire the debt. They have rallied around this cause, spreading the word far and wide. They share my excitement as, bit by bit, we make a dent in that debt. These friends rarely tire of discussing the latest appalling actions by Dr. Dean, Speaker Pelosi, Senator Reid, and Senator Obama.

Regardless of their differences with regard to both politics and to my own actviities this year, both sets of friends adopt a view toward voting in the general election that is fundamentally guided by consequentialist reasons. Those who dread the state of affairs in which we end up with President McCain cannot understand why I am not planning to vote for Senator Obama even if I have "hold my nose" (again to quote a friend) while doing so. Those who dread the scenario that winds up with President Obama have difficulty accepting that I will not vote for Senator McCain - although it must be said that these friends have been far more understanding and tolerant of my disagreement with them than the friends who are dissatisfied with my view that unless and until Senator Obama actually earns my vote, he will not have it.

At the end of the day, the precampaign friends who truly care how I in particular vote should be glad that I myself choose abstention rather than that I opt for Senator McCain or for Senator Obama,if these are indeed the alternatives come November. Because if somebody told me that I simply had to pick one or the other, that I could not reject both, I might well pull the lever for Senator McCain, although I most definitely would be holding my nose while doing it. My reason: I simply cannot vote for a candidate chosen by what so far has indeed been a corrupt Democratic nomination process. I will not endorse that perversion. Even if I regarded Senator Obama more highly than I do, the ends do not justify the means by which the Democratic Party is trying to promote him.

That ends-justify-the-means sort of reasoning characterizes the current administration: it is a style of thought that can slide one down a slope pretty fast. President Bush uses it to justify torture, for example. And Senator Obama's supporters seem to use it to justify their bullying and threatening to get all Democrats to shut up and fall in line. I say: no thank you. Certain means are simply unacceptable.