On Monday, September 22, 2008, at 10:45AM, "Harlan Rosenthal" <harlan.rosenthal@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > Suggestion: Look at the history and the statistics. Voting for a third party candidate always > splits the votes away from Democrats. Republicans have more-clearly stated interests and > don't split; Democrats try to include everybody and therefore wind up losing people. Therefore > voting for the third-party candidate always winds up being a vote for the Republicans. Add > Nader's votes to Gore and Bush would have clearly lost. While I did support Democratic candidates in my younger naive pre-voting days, I joined the Army at eighteen and swore an oath to defend our Constitution. That's an oath I hold most sacred. Consequently, I've never actually cast a vote for electors for a Democratic (or Republican, for that matter) presidential ticket. I consider myself a Libertarian Republican, having at times been a member of either or both parties, and I voted for Ron Paul in this season's primary. > I agree: The system sucks. Or at least has serious weaknesses. I keep hoping someday > to be voting FOR someone rather than AGAINST the other one. But it's the system we > have right now, and the only way to change it is from the inside, and if you try to score > home runs on a football field you're not going to win. The vote is a very important thing, and I will never waste mine on a "lesser of evils" vote (I know, I know, my sig implies that I have done that, but it's just boilerplate). When you cast a vote for someone, you are telling them "I support what you are doing/want to do." If you are just holding your nose and voting for someone you think has a chance of beating the guy you really don't want, but you really don't want him in office either, you are wasting your vote. You are doing yourself and your compatriots a disservice. Even a vote "against" a major party candidate "for" another major party candidate simply tells them both that you support what they are collectively doing. Red or blue, they are all spending us into oblivion. The Democrats just have the decency to steal the money up front, while the Republicans have just been mortgaging our future by borrowing. You are, of course, welcome to cast your vote how you feel it best suits. I, however, am bound by oath and honor and can support neither Obama nor McCain this November. Topher ----- I'm tired of choosing the lesser of two evils. Make a real choice for President: www.BobBarr2008.com