In 48 hours, I will either be booking my one-way ticket to New Zealand, or I will be having something akin to a Super Bowl party, celebrating a victory for America. However, at this point in the political season, most people are understandably fed up with politics. But I've noticed a disturbing trend growing out of this: support for third party candidates such as Gary Johnson and (in Virginia) Virgil Goode. I understand that voting independent gives people a sense of breaking away from the two-party system. It also lets them stand up for values they actually support rather than just voting to get someone else out of office. But let me explain why this actually ends up hurting the case for freedom (at least in this election.)
First of all, a third party guy isn't going to win. We all know this. It's either going to be Romney or Obama. If you believe Obama is ruining the economy, infringing on religious freedom, and promoting values that just aren't good for America, the goal is to get rid of him. Take it or leave it, but that's the truth. And if you believe that's true of Obama and you vote for a third party, you're actually voting for Obama. Taking away a vote from Romney if you disagree with the current President is a vote for Obama. That's just how politics works.
Second, there is no such thing as the perfect candidate, so stop looking for him. No one is Jesus, ok? I don't agree with Mitt Romney 100%. There are a lot of things I wish were true of Romney but they aren't. However, I don't think I agree with Obama on a single issue. Here is where voting for the "lesser of two evils" comes in. Like I said, I understand why independents don't like to do this. But isn't voting for the lesser of two evils actually voting for less evil? Think about it. Everyone is a sinner. Everyone is capable of evil. Isn't the most we can strive for really just less evil? And if you can manage to get less evil in the White House than what we have now, it makes sense to do what you can to accomplish that. Isn't the guy who is pro-life in 99% of instances less evil than the guy who supports all forms of abortions, including partial-birth and gender based abortions? Isn't the guy who believes in getting America back on track financially less evil than the guy who plans to spend even more money because he believes in weakening America? And let's not even get on the subject of Libya....a President who knowingly lets an Ambassador and former Seals die is not good for America. A vote for the guy who isn't even in the equation of "two evils" is a vote for the more evil of the two.
Third: no, it's not a wasted vote. And that's the problem. I explained in an earlier post why voting is important in regards to the electoral college. To summarize: the person who gets the most votes in a certain state is who the electoral college votes for that state will go to. So that means that votes for third-party candidates detract from Romney or Obama. For example, Virgil Goode only needs 10,000 votes and Obama will get Virginia's 13 electoral votes. That's how close this race is. And yet, Goode's views are far closer to Romney's than they are Obama's. But the third-party guy still isn't going to win. So what do you accomplish by voting for him? It drives me up a wall when I hear people say "I don't agree with Romney on some issues, so I'm voting for *third-party candidate of choice.*" People, now is the time to wake up and smell those proverbial roses! Our country is in too dire of a crisis for that kind of wishy-washy thinking. Each election is a battle and that's not the way to get your principals in the White House. There are some elections where it's fine to vote third-party. But there is too much at stake here.
I'm not often an advocate for compromising on issues. But in order to move forward in the way of politics and to promote our values, we sometimes don't have a choice. Small steps forward towards getting America back on track are far better than huge steps in the wrong direction. By voting third party, people do exactly what they always complain about Congress doing: not working together. This is probably the most important election of our lifetime. Don't let America keep going in the wrong direction because you're not willing to budge at all. Vote, please vote, please exercise the right many countries would love to have, but vote for someone who can actually win and make a difference in the country. A vote for Romney is a vote for freedom.
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