(July 28, 2016 at 2:10 pm)Brian37 Wrote: ...at this point a protest vote for a third party is insane for the very reasons I stated in the OP/ED. It is absurd to value his run then turn on him, but more importantly, burn down the house and allow a very dangerous demagogue in Trump to win.
Again, as I've said before, this depends on which state you vote in. If you are in a safe state, you can vote third party as a protest vote and not affect the outcome of the election. If you like in a swing state...not so much.
I can't believe how some members whom I'd previously thought knew so much about American politics don't seem to understand how the electoral college system works. I'll say it again: the President isn't elected by popular vote!!! Not only that, but the electoral college votes aren't even awarded by the majority winner (e.g. >50% of the vote), they are awarded to the person with the most votes. A candidate could win 40% of the vote in a state, and still win all the electoral college votes in that state, provided their opponents didn't get more than 40% of the vote each (e.g. they get 39% and 21% respectively).
