Only Votes for Trump or Clinton are Wasted Votes
Two-Party Panic Over Third Party Voters is Overdue
At this point in the presidential election, some on the left (including President Obama) are starting to panic over the fact that third party candidates like Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Jill Stein are perceptively taking votes from Democrat Hillary Clinton. They couldn’t be more wrong about their analysis, and their methods, in pushing this perspective, are only pushing voters further away from Clinton.
First of all, these votes for third party candidates likely reflect under votes if no third party were on the ballot. These votes don’t inherently belong to either of the two major parties. The argument that, ‘look the system is rigged to where either the RNC or DNC candidate will win, so don’t be foolish’ isn’t going to ever sway people who would rather not cast a vote than to cast a vote for either Trump or Clinton. And it’s not like either Trump or Clinton are even reaching out to third party voters in the first place. The only argument being advanced by both the RNC and DNC is something akin to, ‘we can’t afford to let Trump/Clinton win the White House.’ This is not a compelling argument.
You want Libertarians to vote for you? Okay. Then get your candidate to start pushing Libertarian issues. From my perspective, as a Libertarian, neither Trump or Clinton are remotely acceptable. But if they truly want votes, then they need to start advocating some of the following – Demand that both Gary Johnson and Jill Stein be included in the debates, pledge to pardon Edward Snowden, push for nationwide cannabis legalization, reform immigration law and push for open immigration, scale back the police state, shut down NSA spying, end preemptive wars, reform criminal justice, eliminate income taxes for corporations and individuals, pledge unvarnished support for the 1st Amendment, stop persecuting whistle blowers, oppose police state tactics and technology growth. Just to name a few. There are certainly more things. But arguing that Trump/Clinton is too much a danger to “throw away your vote” is dumb. The only people throwing away their votes are those who choose to cast a vote for Trump or Clinton.
I have written several times that I am gleeful with the knowledge that I’ll go to my grave never having cast a vote for either Trump or Clinton. The people are parties affiliated with these two carry that most blame in all that ails our nation. It’s the collective right and left who have brought us this electoral madness now confronting Americans.
On the other hand, Gary Johnson has been endorse by four major newspapers. Why? Because he has great ideas. If Americans are too propagandized and programmed to vote for either of the massively flawed major party candidates, they bear the blame for the outcome. What Trump says about Hillary is correct. What Hillary says about Trump is correct. Both are correct about each other and absolutely wrong for America.
I don’t believe there’s any way that third party voters can be shifted to either Trump or Hillary but advancing alarm about the outcome if Trump/Clinton wins isn’t going to work. In fact, I could argue that if Trump wins, he will be at war with his own party for the next four years. If Clinton wins, the RNC will organize around the idea that Hillary ‘must be stopped.’ The Democrats will certainly gain diverse voters who will rightly see the RNC as a basket of deplorables – racists, xenophobes, nativists, Islamophobes, homophobes, police state warmongers, etc.
The seeds of destruction for the two major parties was planted long ago. The RNC will have to play out its massive demographic disadvantage having help elect the most openly bigoted candidate in the modern era. The DNC will have to play out its hypocrisy on war, privacy, criminal justice, destruction of 2nd Amendment rights, and most other civil liberties undermined by a Clinton presidency. Millennial voters are correct to look to third parties, rejecting what Republicans and Democrats are trying to sell.
At this point in the presidential election, some on the left (including President Obama) are starting to panic over the fact that third party candidates like Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Jill Stein are perceptively taking votes from Democrat Hillary Clinton. They couldn’t be more wrong about their analysis, and their methods, in pushing this perspective, are only pushing voters further away from Clinton.
First of all, these votes for third party candidates likely reflect under votes if no third party were on the ballot. These votes don’t inherently belong to either of the two major parties. The argument that, ‘look the system is rigged to where either the RNC or DNC candidate will win, so don’t be foolish’ isn’t going to ever sway people who would rather not cast a vote than to cast a vote for either Trump or Clinton. And it’s not like either Trump or Clinton are even reaching out to third party voters in the first place. The only argument being advanced by both the RNC and DNC is something akin to, ‘we can’t afford to let Trump/Clinton win the White House.’ This is not a compelling argument.
You want Libertarians to vote for you? Okay. Then get your candidate to start pushing Libertarian issues. From my perspective, as a Libertarian, neither Trump or Clinton are remotely acceptable. But if they truly want votes, then they need to start advocating some of the following – Demand that both Gary Johnson and Jill Stein be included in the debates, pledge to pardon Edward Snowden, push for nationwide cannabis legalization, reform immigration law and push for open immigration, scale back the police state, shut down NSA spying, end preemptive wars, reform criminal justice, eliminate income taxes for corporations and individuals, pledge unvarnished support for the 1st Amendment, stop persecuting whistle blowers, oppose police state tactics and technology growth. Just to name a few. There are certainly more things. But arguing that Trump/Clinton is too much a danger to “throw away your vote” is dumb. The only people throwing away their votes are those who choose to cast a vote for Trump or Clinton.
I have written several times that I am gleeful with the knowledge that I’ll go to my grave never having cast a vote for either Trump or Clinton. The people are parties affiliated with these two carry that most blame in all that ails our nation. It’s the collective right and left who have brought us this electoral madness now confronting Americans.
On the other hand, Gary Johnson has been endorse by four major newspapers. Why? Because he has great ideas. If Americans are too propagandized and programmed to vote for either of the massively flawed major party candidates, they bear the blame for the outcome. What Trump says about Hillary is correct. What Hillary says about Trump is correct. Both are correct about each other and absolutely wrong for America.
I don’t believe there’s any way that third party voters can be shifted to either Trump or Hillary but advancing alarm about the outcome if Trump/Clinton wins isn’t going to work. In fact, I could argue that if Trump wins, he will be at war with his own party for the next four years. If Clinton wins, the RNC will organize around the idea that Hillary ‘must be stopped.’ The Democrats will certainly gain diverse voters who will rightly see the RNC as a basket of deplorables – racists, xenophobes, nativists, Islamophobes, homophobes, police state warmongers, etc.
The seeds of destruction for the two major parties was planted long ago. The RNC will have to play out its massive demographic disadvantage having help elect the most openly bigoted candidate in the modern era. The DNC will have to play out its hypocrisy on war, privacy, criminal justice, destruction of 2nd Amendment rights, and most other civil liberties undermined by a Clinton presidency. Millennial voters are correct to look to third parties, rejecting what Republicans and Democrats are trying to sell.
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