Absolutely this is a critical point. If you want better candidates, create them. Forge them and support them. Attend townhalls and demand answers from candidates. That's the time to shape the race. Once you enter the voting booth, it's far too late to try to fix everything with one choice.

I like the quote from Gandhi, "Whatever you do in life will be insignificant but it is very important that you do it..." I think that applies to voting. One vote may be insignificant, or it may be everything. You won't know, and you may never know for sure. But if you don't vote, it is definitely nothing.