a provocative thought on 3rd parties

A vote for the third party is not a wasted vote. When a third party gains support it sends a message to the two major parties. A vote for a 3rd party can also influence the outcome of the election.

Well, I can say in the past, there have been times I have Voted for the 3rd party, and even though they never won, it was worth it then for me. The problem now, is that I know nothing about anyone in the 3rd party running, so how could I Vote for someone I know nothing about. Yes, there is speculation when you do Vote for a 3rd party it gives your chances to someone else to Win the Election a little higher, but sometimes I feel you have No Choice.

There is no such thing as a "wasted vote". Statistics show that LESS THAN HALF of the population votes in the United States... therefore, the politicians probably all assume that MORE THAN HALF of us don't care what's going on in Washington. The point is, VOTE! It always counts for something. We need to show the politicians that we DO care what they're doing and how they are representing us in D.C. Personally, I'm voting for Nader because I want to vote 3rd party, but you don't HAVE to vote 3rd party to cast a vote... write someone in, or write SOMETHING in... you can write "freedom" if you want, there's no law against it. Get out there and vote for SOMETHING and help show the politicians that we care.

Ok I am not an American, but I feel it necessary to chime in. I am a supporter of the NDP a party in Canada that is still years away from being a serious contender as a leadership party, however I never consider the vote for them a waste, for one in my riding the NDP candidate has won the last two elections in a row despite a swing in power towards the conservatives, the NDP have never formed a government in Canada and yet because of their power on various provincial levels and because of their role as a true opposition party they have managed to influence policy towards their goals. Public health care in Canada was an NDP platform put up by Tommy Douglas, one of the most well known NDP leaders of all time. If you want to know the power of third parties check out Tommy Douglas and his infamous Mouseland speech.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen any third party candidates that represent most of what I am about, but maybe I haven't done enough research, X. I did look at the site for the Libertarian candidate who conveniently didn't do the paper work in time to appear on the ballot in the state of Louisiana, and to tell you the truth, he seems pretty much like a Republican, and we all know how I usually feel about them. Abraham Lincoln perhaps is an exception; although, I'd like to point out that in those days, the Republicans were more like the Democrats of today, and the Democrats were more like the Republicans of today.

I live in a state that is so solidly blue that we pasted "Don't blame me. I'm from Massachusetts." bumper stickers on our cars in 1973. I've come a long way in a few months from being lukewarm about Obama to fully supporting him - but because I have the luxury of doing so, I'll be voting for a 3rd party candidate this election. I've also been asking everyone I come in contact with if they're voting this year - not who are you voting for, but ARE you voting? Whenever I get a lukewarm response - especially a 'I don't like either one of them' response, I launch into an explanation of why you should vote for a 3rd party candidate if you don't like the other choices. I've had more than a few of them thank me sincerely for the information and tell me they had no idea. I've done it so much that my kids groan when I start in... but I got a phone call from my son's teacher last week. Apparently, he had delivered an impassioned argument for voting for a third party candidate when his teacher said he wasn't sure who he was voting for yet.

Kool! I didn't know that!

You're right on the face of things. However, so are the people who are reluctant to "waste" their vote on a candidate that will most likely not win. In the case of Lincoln, he ran on a very popular platform (I think). A platform that wasn't being addressed by the other parties. In the case of now, there is no third party candidate who has that kind of support. If a candidate were able to drum up the kind of grass roots support needed to support his/her contention for the highest office in the land, then it would be another story. The most recent candidate who even came close was Ross Perot, but the problem was he split the Republican vote, thus helping Clinton to get elected. In order for a third party candidate to have a chance, they would have to draw from both the current parties. Not likely, but not impossible. Especially with the current mood of people being fed up with government as usual.

I must say that the issue of only two party system in a big country like the usa is not called for. This is a country that is a role mordel to many countries who are aspiring to be like them. i believe it should give chance for people to come in and context for the presidency. not giving chance for a third party or even restricting to only two party system is a sort of limitation to even the right people. for instance the issue of Abraham Lincoln, if the third party was not put in place we would have missed such a patriotic and a selfless god fearing servant-leader.