A vote for McCain is a vote for McCain. A vote for Obama is a vote for Obama. A vote for Barr is a vote for Barr.
As a registered Libertarian for 20 years I dutifully recited the same catechism, over and over; unfortunately, it doesn’t matter how many times it’s recited, it’s simply not true. A vote for any candidate other than the top two contenders in effect a vote for the frontrunner. It’s called Duverger’s Law. Look it up.
And it’s not the parties’ fault, or the voters’ fault, it is the fault of our system of voting which intensifies this Duverger effect. There are only two ways to get past it: change our system of representation to one not affected by Duverger’s Law (proportional representation), or change our voting system from allowing only a single vote cast per voter per election to an approval voting system where each voter may cast a single vote for each candidate running. Proportional representation would require amending huge swaths of the Constitution and would radically alter our way of government. Approval voting would only require statutory election reform at either the local, state, or national level. Although approval voting would not eliminate altogether the Duverger effect or the two party system, it would eliminate wasted vote syndrome and the utter lock on the top two party positions by the Republicans and Democrats.
yours/
peter.
