Don't Throw Away Your Vote!
They couldn't be more wrong.
Due to the quirkiness of our political system, and current political history, odds are your vote only matters if you live in a battleground state.
If you are in Florida, Colorado, Iowa, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, or Pennsylvania you should probably consider voting for a mainstream candidate because your vote might make a difference.
If you're anywhere else in the country, your vote is meaningless to the outcome of this election. Right before an election the media and the political parties play up the concept that more states are in play than they really are, to make sure people vote to give the current candidates a mandate.
So, if you aren't in Florida, Colorado, Iowa, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, or Pennsylvania then your state is either solidly Democratic or Republican, and in the grand scheme of things the vote you cast means nothing compared to the avalanche of habitual mainstream voters that will overwhelmingly agree or disagree with it.
How To Make Your Vote Mean Something
If you live in a solid blue or solid red state the way to make the most out of your vote is to cast it for a third party candidate.
Why would you vote for a sure loser?
There are many reasons.
If a third party candidate can manage 5% of the vote, they will receive federal funding for the next election cycle. This makes it easier to gain ballot access, media interest, and television time. If you are sick of the two party system, a vote for a third party could possibly end the monopoly the Democrats and Republicans have in American politics. Now that would be a vote for real change™.
In addition, a vote for a third party can send a clear message to the major parties that you disagree with what they're doing.
For example, Both Senator McCain and Senator Obama supported the federal bailout of the banks. Yet the third parties all opposed the bailout either from a constitution perspective or a populist one. The banks are now using the money they were given to takeover other banks. If you ask me, this single issue is enough to cast a protest ballot over. In my opinion the US treasury should not be a slush fund for irresponsible bankers who's only good investments were made by supporting both Senator Obama and Senator McCain.
Finally, the mainstream parties pay attention what third parties are successful. If you think that the Republican party was wrong to endorse torture, big spending and big brother like activities in the war on terror then a vote for the libertarian party or constitution party will likely send them a wake up message. If you think the democrats were punks for not trying to impeach Bush or push for more investigations into the 9/11 attacks, then the green party candidate might be the right vote for you.
So who are the third party candidates?
Former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney from the Green Party- Cynthia likes to hang around with the 9/11 truth movement, tried to impeach George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, and most notably beat up a capital hill police officer. Head over to her wikipedia page for a background on one of the most colorful characters in American politics.
Former Congressman Bob Barr from the Libertarian Party - Bob Barr is a former Republican congressman turned libertarian and was also a federal prosecutor. He is running a smaller government, lower taxes and 'abundant personal freedom' platform. Head over to his wikipedia page to read his full background.
Charles "Chuck" Baldwin from the Constitution Party - Chuck supports putting a tariff on imports to protect American workers, wants to pull out of the UN, supports the gold standard, and wants to make it illegal for foreigners to own American infrastructure. If you'd like some good old protectionism mixed with anti-globalism, then Chuck is your guy. He's also won the endorsement of Ron Paul. Head over to his wikipedia page to read the story of Chuck the crusader.
4 comments:
there was an article about this in the new york times today. your vote has a 1 in 60,000,000 chance of deciding the election.
Not sure if you knew this or not, but Ron Paul (due to a late withdrawal) is currently on the ballot in Montana under the Constitution Party, and by most estimates holds 5-8% of the vote; which puts both Obama and McCain is a practical dead tie.
Yeah I saw that. For Montana to matter McCain would need to pull of something like winning Flordia, PA, Virginia and colorado...and losing Montana. That would give Obama a win by 1 vote. It seems really unlikely, McCain has been throwing money at PA and he still trails by 6-10 points according to the polls there.
If you lived in Montana you could watch the returns from the east coast on TV. If you see McCain losing PA and Florida, or a bunch of traditionally red states, it's over. You might as well vote third party for the hell of it, it could help the political process in the future.
Due to the quirkiness of our political system, and current political history, odds are your vote only matters if you live in a battleground state.
How come you are still using this shitty system?
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