I agree with the steering the ship logic - I'm just using a different approach to sending the message. The vote here is actually irrelevant (other than I refus

I agree with the steering the ship logic - I'm just using a different approach to sending the message. The vote here is actually irrelevant (other than I refuse to not practice what I preach). The important part is spreading the idea of not limiting votes to the two main parties if you feel a third party candidate better aligns with your views. I want people to stop trying to outwit each other when voting and just vote for who they actually want in office. It's also partially due to the fact that I feel both mainstream candidates are equally poor choices, just for different reasons. On the issues I care about, they tend to have the same policies (maintain the status quo, just wrap different politician-speak around it). The reality is that I have effectively no chance of eliciting real, substancial change in the political system without becoming a part of it (either by running for office or buying off someone already in office - err, sorry, donating to their reelection campaign), and I'm having difficulty thinking of something I'd like to do less. So long as a principled message will have no substancial effect regardless of the route I take, I'd at least like that pointless principled message to be in line with my own views.