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As much as I'd like to see the two party system broken up a bit and allowing other parties a chance to get something, voting 3rd party is as of now the equivalent of doing nothing.
Voting for the lesser of the two evils may seem like an ethical wrong, but if you want to keep the guy you REALLY don't want out of office, it might mean 'supporting' someone you wouldn't normally support.
Not to go full Godwin's law, but like the US hating Hilter more than we hated Stalin.
If you want to introduce 3rd parties into a truly open political system, the polls probably aren't the best place to do it yet.
As much as I'd like to see the two party system broken up a bit and allowing other parties a chance to get something, voting 3rd party is as of now the equivalent of doing nothing.
I live in Texas. Republicans win here by a 20 point margin on gubernatorial and presidential ballots.
If I was Conservative or Liberal my vote would make very little difference and at any rate I would be dissatisfied with whom I voted for.
Why wouldn't it be slightly more useful for me to vote for the Green Party or the Libertarian party.
at least after 20 years or something we would all realize there is enough of us. and there is enough demand for other organized parties.
I live in Texas. Republicans win here by a 20 point margin on gubernatorial and presidential ballots.
If I was Conservative or Liberal my vote would make very little difference and at any rate I would be dissatisfied with whom I voted for.
Why wouldn't it be slightly more useful for me to vote for the Green Party or the Libertarian party.
at least after 20 years or something we would all realize there is enough of us. and there is enough demand for other organized parties.
The only way to get more Libertarians to run is for them to think they have a shot at winning. For them to think they have a shot at winning, they need to see a base of people who actually do vote for them. I don't think it has to be a huge percentage, but I think it needs to be growing, and enough polling polling results that indicate that many more major party voters would have liked to vote Libertarian but thought they'd be wasting their vote.
I'm specifying Libertarian, because that's the party I occasionally vote for, and the one I think has the staying power.
I live in Texas. Republicans win here by a 20 point margin on gubernatorial and presidential ballots.
If I was Conservative or Liberal my vote would make very little difference and at any rate I would be dissatisfied with whom I voted for.
Why wouldn't it be slightly more useful for me to vote for the Green Party or the Libertarian party.
at least after 20 years or something we would all realize there is enough of us. and there is enough demand for other organized parties.
Its just plain silly logic... 1994 We unseated the sitting speaker of the house Tom Foley, only the second time in history. We got rid of some of the most miserable entrenched commie-lib democrats here in the state of Wa. Some districts it was the first time a Republican ever held the seat. It was all done because of a strong Conservative national leader Newt Gingrich, coinciding with an incredible local Conservative Grass Roots effort. Granted over the last 20 years the pendulum has swung back to the left. Point is... we have a 2 party system and no matter your ideology you can have an impact in one of those parties by getting involved. Or you can sit back and whine about it and vote for a third party candidate which will usually give you the result furthest from your own ideology. Voting 3rd party is an exercise in futility.
The only way to get more Libertarians to run is for them to think they have a shot at winning. For them to think they have a shot at winning, they need to see a base of people who actually do vote for them. I don't think it has to be a huge percentage, but I think it needs to be growing, and enough polling polling results that indicate that many more major party voters would have liked to vote Libertarian but thought they'd be wasting their vote.
I'm specifying Libertarian, because that's the party I occasionally vote for, and the one I think has the staying power.
Libertarians have an identity crisis, and therefore will never, ever, ever win elections. They have been running someone for President for decades and what is the highest percentage of the vote they have gotten 3% ? I am a Conservative who is very sympathetic to Libertarian issues. If they want to actually (accomplish) something they need to do as Ron and Rand Paul have done, Infiltrate the Republican party and pull it towards their positions. Unfortunately that will never happen because the new breed of self proclaimed Libertarians have an absolute disdain for Conservative Christians who happen to agree with them on perhaps 75% of all the other issues. So they would rather elect some one who agrees with them on maybe 25% of the issues...hence they are where they are and will always be .
Viable third parties cannot exist in our electoral system. They only time they can succeed is by supplanting one of the two major parties (such as when the Republicans replaced the Whigs in the 1850s) - wherein they cease to be a third party and merely become one of the two ends of our political axis.
Politics is a messy, inelegant system. This love affair some have with third parties is nothing but a holier-than-thou preening of those who pretend to divorce themselves from a system of which we are all inevitably a part.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DPolo
My State has been a blue state since 1984.
Minnesota has been a blue state at the Presidential level since 1976 - the last time it voted Republican was for Nixon in 1972. Of course, its results at the Congressional, gubernatorial, and statehouse level has been more mixed, though generally Democratic - DFL, if you prefer.
Libertarians have an identity crisis, and therefore will never, ever, ever win elections. They have been running someone for President for decades and what is the highest percentage of the vote they have gotten 3% ? I am a Conservative who is very sympathetic to Libertarian issues. If they want to actually (accomplish) something they need to do as Ron and Rand Paul have done, Infiltrate the Republican party and pull it towards their positions. Unfortunately that will never happen because the new breed of self proclaimed Libertarians have an absolute disdain for Conservative Christians who happen to agree with them on perhaps 75% of all the other issues. So they would rather elect some one who agrees with them on maybe 25% of the issues...hence they are where they are and will always be .
If the Libertarian vote total is growing, hopefully the GOP starts moving to get those votes back. If that means quieting the social conservative rhetoric, that would be fine and dandy by me.
I figure if I vote Libertarian, it sends a message to both parties.
But I generally don't if I think the election is going to be extremely close between the two parties. I live in a solid red state now, moving soon to another, so I stay registered R just to vote for more socially liberal, fiscal conservatives in primaries.
If the Libertarian vote total is growing, hopefully the GOP starts moving to get those votes back. If that means quieting the social conservative rhetoric, that would be fine and dandy by me.
I figure if I vote Libertarian, it sends a message to both parties.
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Not going to happen, Its like the homsexuals here talking about how the GOP needs to alienate their base to pick maybe a minuscule percentage of the possible 3% of homosexuals that might vote Republican . Its just silly illogical nonsense. To put it bluntly ... the GOP can and does win elections if the homosexuals stay home. They can and do win elections with out the libertarian vote. They CANNOT WIN if Social Conservatives stay home. Libertarians need to learn to coexist with those that will help them further much of their agenda.
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