Ed Normile Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Take my poll please and edify me what you think is the most scary result of wasting a vote on a non-viable candidate during the most important election I have ever seen in my life. I guess we all can agree that a 3rd party vote is wasted as there are no viable candidates who could actually win with a " protest vote " Beside the view that one might be able to influence future politicians with such a vote, what could really be accomplished in the real world? I guess in a utopian world one might assume that a politician would actually notice the written in or 3rd party votes of a losing candidate, but in the real world politicians look at losers and realize they received 5-15% of the vote and they want to avoid that, afterall they want to win not attract the lunatic fringe and as for written in votes its insane to think they would give a thought to any policy that captured 2% of the write in votes for a losing candidate. Why would any politician think " Hey I want to lose this race with a low total of the votes so I will adopt - insert name of your favorite loser here - policies so I can have his voter block. ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Do we really need to continue on with this? I think by now the best advocates for the 3rd party side are tired and unwilling to continue this tedious, repetitive and ineffective conversation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Normile Posted October 29, 2012 Author Share Posted October 29, 2012 [quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1351471014' post='2499333'] Do we really need to continue on with this? I think by now the best advocates for the 3rd party side are tired and unwilling to continue this tedious, repetitive and ineffective conversation. [/quote] I guess you have not been reading the recent posts then.... ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qfnol31 Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 (edited) [quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1351471014' post='2499333'] Do we really need to continue on with this? I think by now the best advocates for the 3rd party side are tired and unwilling to continue this tedious, repetitive and ineffective conversation. [/quote] You could always abstain from voting. Edited October 29, 2012 by qfnol31 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 [quote name='qfnol31' timestamp='1351471241' post='2499338'] You could always abstain from voting. [/quote] I did, actually. And that is because I didn't agree with any of the poll answers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihil Obstat Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 wut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaime Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 [b] What Is The Most Scary Thing About A Wasted Vote?[/b] The guy you vote for ends the civil war and sets all the slaves free? Is that the scariest thing for you Ed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaime Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 That I've actually fulfilled my civic duty and demonstrated my constitutional right to vote for the candidate of my choosing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Normile Posted October 29, 2012 Author Share Posted October 29, 2012 [quote name='jaime' timestamp='1351472965' post='2499372'] [b] What Is The Most Scary Thing About A Wasted Vote?[/b] The guy you vote for ends the civil war and sets all the slaves free? Is that the scariest thing for you Ed? [/quote] jaime I tried to ignore you juvenile post in the last thread you asked if I would vote for Lincoln, I assumed you ate some bad mushrooms my friend. I guess you realize that as Lincoln is dead and I do not want to waste a vote naturally I would not vote for Lincoln. If I wanted to waste a vote I would vote for Ron Paul as that at least would not make me look like I was a drug addict. jaime as this is a game for you please realize that I am mature enough that I do not play facile games. ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIKolbe Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 I think it's scary to believe that both major parties differ greatly, if at all, in the three of the poll questions. I mean, with all the fear mongering, who has time for thinking critically about one's political party. But I suppose the scariest thing is to think one's single vote means more when it is one of millions, rather than what that one vote represents about you, as most people will either votes for a guy who loves to kill babies no matter what, and the other thinks it's ok to kill babies if it is a super big inconvenience. It's scary to think people see a difference between killing babies and killing babies. And, tbh, hasan's face is pretty scary too. And on this, I think we can all agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaime Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 [quote name='Ed Normile' timestamp='1351473586' post='2499383'] jaime I tried to ignore you juvenile post in the last thread you asked if I would vote for Lincoln, I assumed you ate some bad mushrooms my friend. I guess you realize that as Lincoln is dead and I do not want to waste a vote naturally I would not vote for Lincoln. If I wanted to waste a vote I would vote for Ron Paul as that at least would not make me look like I was a drug addict. jaime as this is a game for you please realize that I am mature enough that I do not play facile games. ed [/quote] I'm waiting for you to acknowledge that Lincoln was a third party candidate. That Lincoln as a third party candidate won the election and is arguably the most important president in US history. Hardly a wasted vote and hardly a juvenile post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Socrates Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 He killed vampires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qfnol31 Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 [quote name='jaime' timestamp='1351475667' post='2499410'] I'm waiting for you to acknowledge that Lincoln was a third party candidate. That Lincoln as a third party candidate won the election and is arguably the most important president in US history. Hardly a wasted vote and hardly a juvenile post [/quote] The first time President Lincoln won, there were four major political parties at play in the presidential election. [color=#0000ff]The first was the Democratic Party[/color]. [color=#ff0000]The second was the Republican Party, which, as you say, was a third-party of sorts[/color]. The third was the[color=#ffd700] [/color][color=#ffa07a]Southern Democratic Party, which became the representation of the Democratic Party in the [s]North [/s]South[/color]. [color=#008000]The fourth was the Constitutional Union Party, founded around the same time as the Republican Party[/color]. Therefore it's a bit misleading to say that the Republican Party was a third party since there wasn't really a two-party system in place before that time. The older Democratic-Whig setup had disappeared by that point. The Republican Party was formed around the demise of the Whig Party, which had had a strong-hold for a few decades before and had been preceded by a similar party. The second time President Lincoln was elected the Republican Party was the second of two major parties to face off for the Presidency. I don't think that our present situation accurately reflects the political situation in the 1850s and 1860s. We haven't had a third-party candidate do well in a general election since Teddy Roosevelt or perhaps George Wallace in the 1968 election (and perhaps a couple before). I don't think that the Republicans constituted a fair third-party since there was a fourth major candidate in the election, which we don't have this time around (and honestly we don't have a very strong third-party candidate). I'd be happy if there were, but I wonder if the only way we'll get a different party paradigm is if we lose one of the current parties as it is today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sixpence Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 none of the above Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dUSt Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 [quote name='jaime' timestamp='1351475667' post='2499410'] I'm waiting for you to acknowledge that Lincoln was a third party candidate. That Lincoln as a third party candidate won the election and is arguably the most important president in US history. Hardly a wasted vote and hardly a juvenile post [/quote] jaime, I don't think anyone is opposed to voting for a third party candidate that has any remote chance of winning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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