Points:
- we haven't always had the political parties we do now
- Both our current parties were originally 3rd parties Republicans Democrats
- George Washington wanted us to have NO parties, but that kinda went by the wayside pretty quickly
- A relatively new phenemonon is Iceland's Pirate Party Regardless, they are currently the majority party in Iceland, and there are similar groups in many other nations.
- is a vote for a 3rd party a wasted vote? How about a conscience vote for Party A when Party B always wins your district? A wasted vote is no vote
- Since the next president is A or B, it might be a victory in a seriously shaking things up way to give the electors a candidate with less than a quarter of the popular vote as the largest plurality.
IndyStar article re write-ins
official list of state candidates If you want to do a write-in, reasearch and consider one of these. In Indiana, these are the only ones who won't register as no vote.
article about Washington's view and present reality worth a read if your computer can handle the ads and flashing banners
It's worth noting that the options collapsing to two viable parties is an emergent property of our simple majority voting system. Iceland's legislature is seated by a proportional representation method, which makes it much easier for more parties to get their foot in the door. In fact, they have so many parties in government they all have to form coalitions to get anything done.
ReplyDeleteI certainly want more choice on the ballot and more representative representatives, but I don't feel I have it in a voting system that keeps third parties down in the single digit percentages where they can be seen more as spoilers than serious alternatives. I did vote for third party candidates below the state legislative level, but with the current polarization of the dominant parties, I don't consider anything above that safe. It's not a wasted vote, it's not a vote that doesn't count, but it's a vote that could do more damage than good in the system that we have.
You make good points. Not that you've persuaded me, but thanks for weighing in.
ReplyDeleteEntrenched systems can and have changed when they see sufficient impetus from the people. However it happens, i'd like to see that now please.