AS the election slowly arrives the call now is from the candidates that are telling the American voter that if they vote for anyone other than the two clowns then they will be handing the election to the other camp…..personally I believe that it is bullshit from the ground up.
Of course these naysayers will trot out the 2000 election and the Bush win as an example….you remember the old “wasted vote” dodge, right?
This whole paradigm they have set up is a MYTH (do I need to explain what a myth is?)
Third parties split votes
“A vote for a third party is a vote for the (Republican or Democrat) party candidate,” equals “You must vote for the (Republican or Democrat) party candidate.”
First, the two parties do not “own” any votes. Therefore, a vote for the Veterans Party of America’s candidate does not take a vote from either party as it was never theirs in the first place. Just because a group of voters pushed a candidate in the primary does not obligate everyone else to vote that way.
Think about it, would all registered Republicans, as well as conservative and Independent voters seriously be expected to vote for Michelle Obama if she ran as a Republican and received the nomination? No. Because the individual owns their vote.
There is lots of stuff that craps all over this attempted blackmail of the voters…..
The biggest objection by allies to voting for a Third Party is the “wasted vote” argument — the idea that if you vote for someone who will not win, then the vote does not count.
Join any third party and merely suggest that another person consider voting for a third party candidate and you will hear, ad nauseum, “I don’t want to waste my vote.”
What is a Wasted Vote?
An unprincipled vote is the only wasted vote.
Voting for a third party, contrary to popular belief, is not a wasted vote.
What is voting? It’s a chance to tell the country — and perhaps even the world — what your vision of government and society really is.
Source: The wasted vote myth | Freepress.org
In this election cycle, many voters, especially first time voters like college students, are having a tough time deciding who to vote for.
Some don’t like Donald Trump, but they also can’t stand Hillary Clinton. I’m one of those people who is seriously considering voting for a third party candidate — and that’s nothing to be ashamed of.
There are more than two candidates in the race, such as Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party Nominee Jill Stein.
Some say a vote for Johnson is a vote for Clinton or a vote for Stein is a vote for Trump, but in reality it’s not. A vote for Johnson is a vote for Johnson and a vote for Stein is a vote for Stein.
Source: Voting for a third party isn’t wasting your vote – The State Press
Source: No, Voting Third Party Is Not A Wasted Vote
But if you are lazy and want this information boiled down to simple easy understandable reasons……
Vote with pride, fellow Americans.
This November will be my first election that I can vote in, and I’ve already got my candidate picked out.
I’m not a Trump supporter, I’m not vying for Hillary, and I’m definitely not “feeling the Bern” (which, by the way, is a tagline that really just makes me think of a bad UTI). I’m supporting a third party candidate.
Ultimately, the response that I get when I tell others I’m voting third party is that I’m “wasting” my vote. To all my third party friends who are getting the same backlash: don’t listen to them. You’re vote isn’t wasted, and I’m about to tell you why.
To all my political bullies: you’re wrong, and I’m about to tell you why.
Source: 5 Reasons Why Voting Third Party Is Not A Wasted Vote
So to answer the accusation….the only WASTED vote is a vote for a candidate that you do not like just to keep the other candidate you do not like from winning…..you claim you want CHANGE and yet you will not change your voting habits……
Then my friend YOURS is the wasted vote…..NOT MINE!
I am out for the day…..please enjoy your weekend and I will return as soon as available…..
Reblogged this on saywhatumean2say and commented:
I am sooo soooo sooo tired but I voted and so should everyone else! The only persons that “own” votes are each individual and they only own their own. ERGO…your vote counts! There is no such thing as a wasted vote only those who waste. (Time-money-relationships-life-other peoples’ time…..o and of course votes by not voting)
You can not legitimately bitch if you didn’t join the fray.
Thus Spake druastrutha
Wasters. ~~dru~~
I too am over all this silly back and forth…..thanx for the re-blog…chuq
Thank you! We need more people clearing the corruption fog of a two-party system. If I had a $1 for every time I had to defend why my vote for a third party is not a wasted vote, I’d be a member of the oligarchy and probably not care anymore, lol.
True……I know what you mean….I cannot understand the sheep that cannot understand why I vote the way I do….chuq
Let me address this question another way: “If there are two parties in contention and statistics show with some measure of accuracy that one or the other of the parties candidate will definitely, unquestionably and without a doubt win that election and somebody votes for a third party that does not have a pecks chance of winning that election then I have to say that for that paarticular election the vote cast for the third party does nothing to help the third party win the election. Can I say it that way? Thus the vote case for the third party under these circumstances can only accomplish one of two things … it can work against your own candidate or it can work against the opposing candidate but it cannot help either of the dominant candidates win the election. If there is a solid assurance that either the Democrat or the Republican is going to win the election then I maintain that a vote for the Purple People Party (Or whoever) does absolutely nothing but show personal dislike for either or both of the Mainstream candidates or it shows support for the Purple People party. My question is “What good does it do to vote to show support for the Purple People Party if there is no chance of them winning and no guarantee they will even be in business in 2020? Is that a fair question?
Thanx for your opinion and of course I disagree….cut any way you want….but why vote whether liked or not for someone that you feel will not rep the people or the country?
Why not just stay home and not vote at all? It has about the same effect.
That is the easy way and I seldom do anything easy….I know some that are thinking along those lines….but for me at least it tells them that there is someone that cares nothing for their candidates
Absolutely
Sadly I agree…no consent…. I fight in another way….shining the light on the dirt…
Benefits? I get trolled….those four letter words that come tumbling through my notifications box are a just reward…. 😉
I wish somebody would troll me for a change ….
Until you identify the enemy, you will never defeat it; all struggles will be spent fighting the fruits of evil instead of the root of evil.
The enemy does not have a name because people are afraid of being Politically Incorrect and being branded as racist or bigoted or something. As long as political correctness has its tenacious tentacles wrapped around peoples most sensistive parts the enemy will never have a name.
The enemy comes in all shapes and sizes….all evil. I have been branded a racist….in fact I was suspended from the labour party which I only joined to correct what I saw as an imbalance..I have never belonged to a ‘party’ in all my life. The word they did not approve of ZIONISM/NEO/CONS (the root of all evil)…..they recently wrote me a letter….which stated that I was no longer suspended….I shredded it and threw it into the bin…NO CONSENT…Never again. 🙂
Pennie — Br proud of who you are — There isn’t a person on the face of the earth who is not either racist or bigoted to one degree or another … whether they want to admit it or not ….No set of laws can ever legislate Love … and it is useless for legislatures to try …. Bigotry and Racism have been both the building blocks and the stumbling blocks of civilizations througout all recorded history. — I was raised by a racist and bigoted parent and I inherited it and I have always believed that there is a time and place ( a season) for all things and that there are times when both attributes can be defensive measures that can save lives or prevent serious confrontations. Everything has it’s use. God created all things and nothing is without purpose. — Go ahead and laugh in the face of your adversaries and your accusers and be proud of who you are. There is no obligation for anyone living to be the whipping post for anybody else. I used to have a saying that I wrongly thought expressed my individuality and independence and that saying was “Screw anybody who doesn’t think the same way I do.” — I have since modified that stance considerably and life has been more pleasant for my having cast that old attitude aside — (Or modified it). Be happy, be free, be proud! Never let anyone else’s words cause you to change anything you do not feel comfortable changing. You have a divine right to be who you are and who you envision yourself becoming.
Reblogged this on AGR Daily News Service.
Thanx for the re-blog…chuq
While they may be tactless, messengers bearing unpleasant truths are not bullies!
Unless U live in a cobalt blue or screaming red state, voting Green or Libertarian in 2016 will have the same effect on the actual outcome of the 2016 POTUS election as voting for Trump. In the real world, all options suck.
An alternative 3rd party model is illustrated by the Working Families Party, which sometimes fields it own candidates, sometimes endorses opponents of Establishment candidates in Dem primaries, and sometimes endorses Dem nominees after considering realistic alternatives carefully. On 2016-11-08, I will vote for Clinton on the WFP line.
The problem with the first part of your comment is that it assumes that we are calculating a tactical move when actuality many of us are simply voting for what we believe in. You can vote for Clinton based on the idea that the WFP endorsed her, but so did the Communist Party USA so I guess go with what you’re comfortable with there. I personally voted for Evan McMullin. I tend to lean more Libertarian but I couldn’t vote for Gary Johnson either.
If you want a tactical calculation regarding 3rd parties, you have to look at the big picture. Nothing will change if all we look at is the next 4 years. I don’t like Johnson, but I do hope that the LP get above 5% of the popular vote which will automatically grant the party ballot access in all 50 states and US territories. That will free up a lot more money and time for the party to get on the stage with the big boys and from my experience, most Americans have a libertarian side to them that is silently screaming “just leave me alone and let me live my life in peace!” The entire two-party paradigm is a false narrative and is really false thinking. The only reason it exists is because everyone else is either too scared or too shortsighted to make the change happen. We rage about it but then act like 3rd party voters are crazy because that’s just too extreme.
I regret that I was not clear enough about having no problem with somebody in a cobalt blue or screaming red state who votes Libertarian with the 5% threshold in mind. That *is* a tactical move, and it does make sense for the long term. (Short term thinking is partly responsible for the current mess.) My problem is with those in contested states who are so focused on voting for “what we believe in” right now that they shrug off the possibility of a Trump victory. Whatever good might come from having more parties on all US ballots in 2020 is dependent on avoiding the nastiest stuff in the interim (depression; ecological collapse; nuclear war; …).
Oh I agree with you Mellow on that last point. I think the only disagreement (and it’s not even that big of a disagreement) is that I see it as an imperative that Americans wake up, start really wrestling with what they believe and why they believe it, and start taking action in that way. I, personally, would love for more states to become contested states because the population has finally rejected the duopoly in American politics.
The reason the approval ratings of the federal government are so low, is because people don’t believe that they are being represented by their government; but how can they be when we vote for things and people that don’t represent us and give them power to manage our country. So many of my friends voted for Trump, and many of my more progressive friends voted for Clinton, but I have yet to meet a single one who can firmly say that their vote went to someone who stands for what they believe in. All they did was vote against the other one, which is only going to kick the can down the road for a few years.
I totally agree….me? I vote my principles no matter the candidate…if I agree with them they get my vote….thanx for the comment….chuq
Ah, no that was a reply to Mellow Curmudgeon’s reply to my reply on his comment. I’ve been off the interwebs for a while and just saw what he wrote.
Gottcha….I appreciate the visit and the comment….please do not be a stranger….chuq
As king as you have checked out a\the candidates then no one can argue with your choice….well done….chuq
Darn good article sir! It’s nice to hear someone else saying this stuff… makes me seem less crazy.
I am glad that you liked it….thanx for the visits….hope to see you again….chuq