|
Voting third parties isn't throwing away your vote, but it is going to hurt efforts to get Bush out of office. Its all a matter of prioritizing your election values. If you're voting to make a statement or to represent your ideology then you should vote for whoever you like best in the general election. However, if you are voting for a practical goal such as getting Bush out of office or electing a person who will enact change you approve of then the vote for third parties is not the right one. I suppose the real question is if the value of your vote comes from the act of voting or the election that results from that vote.
I am not saying that either is wrong because their are pros and cons to both. Not voting your heart defeats the beauty and purpose of democratic elections, however taking without being able to compromise on issues also defeats the nature of democratic processes. Personally, I am encouraging everyone to vote for the candidate who they honestly feel is the best person for the job based on character and ideas, in the primaries because that is the time for voting your heart and then voting for whoever the hell is the most likely to defeat Bush in the general elections.
__________________
"The courts that first rode the warhorse of virtual representation into battle on the res judicata front invested their steed with near-magical properties." ~27 F.3d 751
|