Protest Voting

[onlinebiker]

You sound as paranoid and conspiracy minded as the whackadoodles I met in the Michigan Militia...

But that's OK. My sense of self worth isn't tied to the opinion of some jerkoff (like yourself) that I run into on the intetnet.

Blow me.

Not a chance.

If I did - you'd fall in love (first timers do that) then you'd be following me around begging for attention....

Just be glad I saved us both the embarrassment- and you - a broken heart.....

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

As much as I dislike the idea of voting third party the truth is that if you meet the criteria to be able to vote that vote is yours to do with as you see fit.  That includes making the decision not to vote.  

Not championing the other guy in no way means you are thrilled with the present guy.  I don't understand why that's a difficult concept on this forum.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” ― Edmund Burke (attribution uncertain)

‘Evil usually triumphs unless good is very, very careful.’ - Dr. Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy (attribution absolutely certain)

Boru

[Dingo]

Blow me.

Not a chance.

If I did - you'd fall in love (first timers do that) then you'd be following me around begging for attention....

Just be glad I saved us both the embarresment- and you - a broken heart.....

Wow you're so edgy.

[arewethereyet]

[quote pid='2004197' dateline='1602770296']
As much as I dislike the idea of voting third party the truth is that if you meet the criteria to be able to vote that vote is yours to do with as you see fit.  That includes making the decision not to vote. A lot of 3rd party voters, or at least the one's I know want to vote 3rd party without the social consequences. 

Not championing the other guy in no way means you are thrilled with the present guy.  I don't understand why that's a difficult concept on this forum.

I have no problem with someone exercising their freedom to vote 3rd party. But if someone is going to do something as idiotic they shouldn't act all surprised when everyone else is pissed at them.
[/quote]

I agree with that.  I was just pointing out that a person's vote is their vote to do with as they will.  

As we watch the news about voter suppression and voter intimidation at the polls we are just seeing a bigger louder version of being pissed at someone for what can be considered by some a wasted vote.

A person has the right to vote as they see fit.  Most people would prefer you vote for the same candidates as they do but it's a personal choice.

My bad - screwed up the quote thingy...again.

[The Grand Nudger]

Another poster in a recent thread mentioned a few applications for a third party protest vote that would seem to elude categorization as a wasted vote. In a heavily gerrymandered situation, a vote for either establishment candidate may be factually irrelevant to the outcome of the election. Parties are granted an amount of financial assistance, however, based on their ability to capture some percentage of the electorate. Funds that are not otherwise available to them - and this is seen as a significant barrier to us ever climbing over the obstacles of a calcified two party division.

There are dems and leftists in general who very much want biden to win, and very much want their leftward concerns to gain purchase in the centering of american politics, too - whose best use of vote, is voting some third party. The left can move the overton window in the same way that the right has since their departure from reality.

I can't speak for anyone else, but as a non voter, the argument to do this is more compelling than the argument to vote for joe.

[Draconic Aiur]

Sound's suspiciously like Lookin For Group's Richard.

Did Richard ever promise you a pony?  I think not.

Boru

He might have if he skipped dimensions, killed a guy and now is wearing the guy's meat suit while wearing a boot on his head.

[Ranjr]

As a I kid, I heard adults joke about voting for Mickey Mouse.  Thinking back, it was probably code for "George Wallace."  :facepalm

In a red state with paltry electoral influence, I can vote 3rd party to help it gain traction or reach funding levels.  I disagreed with him on many things, but I thought Gary Johnson would be a better wackjob president than Trump.

[Draconic Aiur]

Back to the issue at hand. Both candidates are not great with Trump being the worst. What is frustrating is that our current president is an obviously a mad tyrant surrounded by selfish idiots who worship him like Jeebus. Also it keeps on getting worse with the senate, SCOPTUS, and the presidency becoming red and bowing down to the orange mad tyrant like seen in the impeachment when knowing he's unfit to be president but are unhealthily loyal to their party. As this year keeps getting worse I have to watch these 3rd party and non voters whine about Biden being not exactly good, but won't vote Biden because they don't believe in the system of two parties or because their loyal to a third party that will never win regardless. People just don't understand that doing nothing will not help the country's system. The county's system relies on the people voting and protesting to draw the result closer to the goal of their "Utopia". Right now it's heading to a backwards 1960's era of mostly conservative assholes who don't give a fuck about anyone but themselves. So voting does matter, to take the power back from the greedy hands of the war pigs and their bigoted idiotic fans.

[Rank Stranger]

I've been a fan of Vermin Supreme for a while now. Still might vote for him.

I have some doubts about his association with the Libertarians though... but hey, there's no perfect candidate.

[Thumpalumpacus]

The situation is so dire that anyone in the US who doesn't vote for Mao Ze Biden is sadly voting for Trump. That's how it works. Pick one. By not picking Biden, or not voting, you automatically endorse Trump.

This ignores the fact that 48 of the 50 states have winner-take-all allocations for their EC delegation. If you're in California or Georgia, voting third-party is not at all a vote for the party standard-bearer, because those states overwhelmingly vote one party or the other regularly. There are plenty of states like those two.

In 2016, I voted for Gary Johnson, not because I thought he had a chance of winning, but because he was the least of the evils presented on my ballot and I didn't want to add a vote to either major party. Before I did that, I scanned the polls regularly (RCP being my main source), and decided my vote when I saw that Trump had a 750,000-vote lead here in Texas.

Under these circumstances no one can say I helped elect Trump, because a Clinton vote from me would not have made a difference anyone. At that point, a protest vote made sense to me.

Now back into obscurity for me ...