Oh, bullshit. I'm not painting it black-and-white. I'm saying that, the day before the election, it's plain as day that this is not the year where a third party candidate is making a difference. I'm not saying it can't ever happen (though there need to be fundamental changes to the system for it to ever happen). I'm just saying that voting for a third party candidate in this election is a complete and total waste of a vote.
If Gary Johnson had a chance to make a dent in this election, you would know it by now. It's November 5th. He's out. Voting for Johnson is taking a vote away from whoever you think is better, whether that be Romney or Obama.
As Irvine said, third party voting is part of what created the George W. Bush presidency.
Idealism is great. But it's not practical in every situation. This is one of those times.
How are you not? You're telling me I have two options, and that I'm a 'cop out' if I don't vote for my favorite color being red or blue when I don't like either color, nor do I favor one over the other.
I don't like mayo and I don't like mustard. I wont eat the sandwich if they're on it. I'll eat it if it has ketchup. Nobody else wants ketchup? I don't care.
You do realize by putting your doubts in a third party, that's the very reason they'll never achieve majority status? Do you understand how 'making a difference' works with a third party candidate? As stated before, if the Libertarians can get 5% of the vote, that will grant them $90 million worth of campaign money in the next election and equal ballot access.
Call it a waste of a vote, whatever. To me that just means you don't quite understand where I'm coming from with this vote, nor do you understand what the implications of it are.
As Irvine failed to note, the Electoral College created the GWB presidency. In a state too close to count, someone pulled straws and the system won GWB presidency when in fact the people chose Al Gore. You can throw ifs and buts and whatever all around, but in reality you're just as good getting mad at the stupid system as you are getting mad at a tiny fraction of a percentage of the nations voters, because ultimately there will always be both, but one idea is certainly much more fundamentally flawed.
Why you've still got this notion of 'voting for who you think is better' I still do not understand.
I do not think either selection is better. I think voting for either is a waste of my vote. I can vote for Obama, and I can be the 1 vote difference that makes Obama POTUS once again, or I could be the 1 vote difference that makes Mitt Romney POTUS, and guess what? I wouldn't give a shit. Neither of them represent me, and I do not favor either. My vote will have been wasted because
you or others want me to vote red or blue, and
I don't want to.