Maybe, rather than an argument for inaction, for passivity and apathy, your friends' feeling that there are no candidates to "positively" vote for (in the sense that you are voting for what a candidates stands for, etc.), so that if they DO deign vote they feel that they are "negatively" voting for a candidate (in the sense that they're voting against someone else), so that they decide not to vote at all - maybe, just maybe (if you've followed this tortured sentence this far) that sense of futility and frustraton is an argument for GREATER engagement in the political process, RATHER THAN LESS.

Who said that we get the elected officials we deserve?