As somebody who has always lived in blue states, I’ve never been able to cast a vote in a presidential election that had any bearing on the outcome, making me struggle with a question of whether it’s even worth voting — especially since I always have problems with the Republican nominee. In this election, however, given the closeness of the popular vote, there is a compelling reason for conservatives to turn out to vote, even in states where there isn’t a competitive presidential, Congressional or Senatorial race.

If President Obama is reelected on Tuesday, he’ll do his best to claim a popular mandate for his agenda. Pundits will be claiming that Tea Party extremists cost Mitt Romney the election and the usual suspects will be urging Republicans on Capitol Hill to acquiesce to Obama. This will have immediate consequences during the end of the year “fiscal cliff” negotiations. However, if Obama loses the popular vote, he’ll be in a much weaker position going into these negotiations and Congressional Republicans will be emboldened to continue to resist Obama in his second term.