Originally Posted by SecretMethod70

As has been pointed out numorous times in this thread, voting is not about being behind the winner - this is not a day at the horse races. But, to use the horse race parallel, when one goes to the races there are various different odds for each horse available. Some people bet on the long shot then, because while the chances are that that person is "throwing away" their money, if that longshot were to win, the payout would be much more significant than if they were to bet on one of the horses that was likely to win. So, people who vote for third parties, despite them having a much smaller chance at winning, are voting for the candidate who has the most promise in their view if he or she does win.