Little Hawk, the problem with your analysis and recommendation ("Why bother voting?") is that that prescription tends to lead not only to Republican victories but the gov't being taken over by the really extreme right wing (e.g., the "Tea Partiers").    Had Al Gore been rightfully installed as President in 2001 there's a good chance the attacks on 9-11-2001 would not have been successful, and even if they had, we wouldn't have invaded Iraq on the pretense that it was somehow justified by the 9-11 attacks.   We would not have had corporate shills and reactionaries like John Roberts and Samuel Alito appointed to the Supreme Court and wouldn't have had an outrageous decision like "Citizens United" allowing multinational corporations to spend unlimited $ to affect the outcome of our elections.
That's just for a start.

Saying there's no difference between the Republicans and Democrats is a bit like saying there's no difference between a 200 lb and a 500 lb woman because "they're both fat."