Has you read the article in the latest issue of Harper's Magazine called, "Why Vote ?"  It is subtitled. "When Your Vote Counts for Nothing"  and is by Kevin Baker.  I quote the opening paragraph here:

"The heroic narrative of modern society has always been that democracy would prevail in the end.  We believe that democracy somehow has an infinite resilience, that it is a bottomless reserve capable of being tapped whenever necessary, that in times of crisis not only will great men be recognized, called forth, and elected to office but that we,the people will rise to the occasion when required to do so. We have long counted on democracy to be the safety brake on our worst impulses, to be the countervailing force against fanatical ideologies, to serve as a check on the routine excesses of capitalism.  But we can no longer count on democracy as some sort of natural force or secret weapon, for today it has been turned against us, its very institutions now reinforcing the triumph of money and fueling the growth of nihilistic and antidemocratic movements."

I urge you to read it.    Whether you support Obama or (God forbid) Romney, you will agree with much that Baker has written.     See Harper's Magazine, October 2012