With the 2012 Presidential elections coming up, we need Monty Brewster to run his "none of the above" campaign, so neither of these two morons running get into the oval office (or get back in the office in Obama's case).
shareI urge you to vote third party to show your lack of confidence in what the two major parties are offering to you. Change can come about but you can't expect it from within when you're talking about an organization such as the federal government.
shareYou probably won't read through all this, but here goes...
Voting third party is basically throwing away a vote. It does absolutely nothing for the greater good of the country. There always was, and probably always will be only two electable candidates(as much as they both might suck). You should vote the lesser of two evils, even if it's only a little better. A protest vote only makes yourself feel better, but helps no one else. Unless the third party approaches 30% of the vote they will never be paid any attention.
Look at it this way. You've got two candidates. One is slightly in tune with your views, the other you despise. But you really don't like either, so you vote third party. You have now split the vote, and could quite possibly have handed the election to the guy you despised, instead of the guy you merely disliked.
Of course there are always exceptions, especially in local elections. But there's almost always some mitigating circumstances. Minnesota elected Jesse Venture who was a name brand celebrity(and a nut). Massachusetts elected Joe Lieberman because he was wrongly ousted from his party against the peoples will.
I'm really a Libertarian, but vote Republican. I align myself with fiscal conservatives, but lean pretty far left on social issues like gay rights, abortion and I hate the religious right. But I can't see taking away a vote from what I find most important to me. The economy. It's what drives our country,and makes everything else possible.
Just your attitude about "You probably won't read through all this" is enough for me to dismiss you but I feel the need to tell you how 100% wrong you are and how sad that a Libertarian is spouting this nonsense.
Spoiler/protest votes send a message to the most closely aligned political party that you're not beholden to them. There were doubtlessly dozens of better candidates than Romney but the stagnation of the Republican party makes those kind of people languish in obscurity. Hopefully this election sends a message that people don't need the Republicans. They may want them but, frankly, the Republicans just aren't bringing enough to the table to keep voters. This can potentially bring about enough change in the party to make them viable again.
The Libertarians picked up enough votes this time around in several states to automatically get on next election's ballot. It doesn't sound like much but it's big for a low funded organization such as the LP. Had they picked up 5% of the popular vote nationally they get ballot placement and federal funding for the next election. Far from the 30% nonsense that you pulled out of your rear.
And finally, voting for something you don't want is throwing you vote away. I feel great about voting by my standards and not by some disingenuous ideals. Believe me, my feelings for Obama and Romney cannot be described as "merely dislike."
There is a difference between theory and reality. If I had time and was not too lazy to type it I would tell you a funny story about the difference between theory and reality.
But in this case; in theory protest votes to a third party candidate send a message that will be noted by the leaders of the Dems and Repubs. In reality if you think the Democratic or Republican leadership give one rat's bunghole that 1 or 2% of the popular vote went to the Libertarians and the Green Party you are living in the world of unicorns and elves.
The only time in recent history that a third part candidate had an impact on the election, or on policy was in the 90 and 94 elections with Ross Perot. And most analysts say that his only real impact was to split the conservative vote handing both elections to Clinton. I have even heard conspiracy theories that claim the only reason Ross ran was because of an under the table deal to ensure Clinton won (personally I think that is total BS, but it is out there).
So the truth is that if you vote for the green party or other left leaning candidate for national elections you are helping the Republicans. If you vote for a Libertarian or other right leaning candidate (I know libertarian is not really right leaning) you are helping the Democrats.
I wish this were not true. I would love a good strong Libertarian candidate I could feel good about voting for. I am very fed up with both major parties (I call them the Democans and Republicrats). But in the real world that is not very likely to happen. The political structure and their media lap dogs are unlikely to let another team seriously join the debate, they all have too much to loose.
The best way to change this is at the local level. There is less money and less attention paid to these elections so third party candidate has a better chance. Get some good third party candidates elected at the local level and it may build over time into a ground swell that could effect the national picture. But it will take time and be a lot of work.
Lesser of two evils, woohoo! You're a political genius.
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