The conventional wisdom goes: “A vote for [3rd Party Candidate] is a vote for [major party candidate you don't like].” How do so many otherwise intelligent people fall for this?
It is impossible for one vote to actually effect the outcome of the election. Your vote does not, in fact, count. If by some unlikely chance the election actually is that close, in some state, then it will be decided by the courts anyway. So voting your conscience is not going to make it appreciably more likely that Obama (or whoever you don’t like) will be the next president.
What if everyone thinks that way? Well, if everyone thinks that way, Barr has a chance to win. That’s what I hope happens, which is why I want this prevalent notion that everyone should vote tactically, just to stave off the lesser of two evils for four years, to be slain. But what if only a few people think that way, enough to affect the outcome, but not enough to achieve victory? Then that is the first step to bringing more people around to our point of view. That is the outcome that will either force the major parties to take concern over the growing power and arrogance of our government, or prove to the people that they have an alternative. I care who sits in the oval office for the next four years, but I care more about the direction of our body politic over the next few decades. Congress’ approval rating is in the teens. The President’s is around 30%. The two parties are unpopular and ready to fall. Everyone is just waiting for them to topple over. Time to give a shove.
I have nothing against McCain or Obama personally. But a vote for either one is a vote for continued stagnation, gerrymandering, and erosion of liberty. A vote for Barr is a vote for fundamental change, the restoration of Constitutional, limited government.
