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> I fail to see why voting for someone who you already know will not win is a satisfying experience Because it has lasting consequences. Those numbers are coun

by maratd 14y ago

> I fail to see why voting for someone who you already know will not win is a satisfying experience Because it has lasting consequences. Those numbers are counted. They are poured over by the major parties and those votes affect the platform of the major parties in the years to come. Want to really make a difference? Vote your own beliefs. > Only for a very few fleeting times in the country's recent history have third parties had influence at the presidential level other than as spoilers or cult-of-personality gadflies (Nader, Perot). If you're going to restrict yourself to recent history, then even a few occurrences are significant. Regardless of what you think of Perot or Nader, they did affect the platforms of the major parties in the years after. If you're not going to restrict yourself to recent history, you should realize that the Republican party was a third party when it got started. It had one overriding issue it was pushing at the time, the abolition of slavery. As a result of its success, the Whig party completely collapsed.

CWuestefeld 14y ago
Certainly I can't influence this election from where I vote in New Jersey. But maybe my vote today will influence the next one. (I'm going to throw out the pretense of being unbiased, because it's easier to write honestly. But feel free to replace my favorite candidate according to your conscience.) There are many people who believe that the GOP has turned its back on its core principles; indeed, the Tea Party was a pretty strong demonstration of that. Yet the party persists on playing the same old political games despite these loud voices. So the people need to speak in even louder terms to make them hear. I harbor few illusions that my vote will put Gary Johnson in the White House. But I do hope that when all the votes are counted, the GOP will say, "if all those votes for Gary Johnson had instead gone to our candidate, we would have won". If that were to happen, then I think there would be a strong incentive next time around for them to choose a candidate and platform that would be more palatable to those votes they lost to Johnson.
- maratd 14y ago
  Ah, further evidence brilliant minds congregate in the same place. I also live in New Jersey, I am a registered Republican, and I will be voting for Gary Johnson as well. I am really curious about the percentage of people who will do the same.
mturmon 14y ago
You're using lots of italics and pleading. I'd say, have a realistic understanding of the nullity of this particular gesture. If you want to make a gesture of significance, you have to get involved in actual on-the-ground politics. (Maybe you are, but from your writing, you don't sound like it.)

by maratd 14y ago

CWuestefeld 14y ago

Certainly I can't influence this election from where I vote in New Jersey. But maybe my vote today will influence the next one. (I'm going to throw out the pretense of being unbiased, because it's easier to write honestly. But feel free to replace my favorite candidate according to your conscience.) There are many people who believe that the GOP has turned its back on its core principles; indeed, the Tea Party was a pretty strong demonstration of that. Yet the party persists on playing the same old political games despite these loud voices. So the people need to speak in even louder terms to make them hear. I harbor few illusions that my vote will put Gary Johnson in the White House. But I do hope that when all the votes are counted, the GOP will say, "if all those votes for Gary Johnson had instead gone to our candidate, we would have won". If that were to happen, then I think there would be a strong incentive next time around for them to choose a candidate and platform that would be more palatable to those votes they lost to Johnson.

maratd 14y ago
Ah, further evidence brilliant minds congregate in the same place. I also live in New Jersey, I am a registered Republican, and I will be voting for Gary Johnson as well. I am really curious about the percentage of people who will do the same.

mturmon 14y ago

You're using lots of italics and pleading. I'd say, have a realistic understanding of the nullity of this particular gesture. If you want to make a gesture of significance, you have to get involved in actual on-the-ground politics. (Maybe you are, but from your writing, you don't sound like it.)