Why do so many people believe that voting for a third party like the LP is a "wasted vote"?

Question

After all, since it's true that the Democrats and Republicans are both evil (i.e., they both support taxes, welfare, war, authoritarianism, high regulation, they're both against social freedom), if you vote for the "better" or "lesser evil" of the two evil major party candidates, and your candidate wins, don't you still end up with an evil politician? Isn't THAT really the wasted vote? Wouldn't it be better to vote for a third party candidate like a Libertarian who's politically and morally acceptable, even if s/he has no chance of winning, just as a matter of principle, and to make a statement? It seems to me that if Americans keep voting for bad people, that guarantees we'll never get closer to electing good people.

Answer 1

I feel that any vote I cast is wasted regardless of whether or not my candidate wins. Because the Supreme Court Justices are the most evil people in the federal government and I can't vote for or against them. So I've decided to not even bother and vote any more.

Answer 2

Practically speaking, it is a wasted vote because those parties are almost guaranteed to win, unless there is a miraculous wellspring of low-cost grassroots activity. The American political system almost guarantees the existence of a two-party regime (institutions such as primaries are extremely detrimental in that regard). One of the most prominent reasons is that for the most part, we still have privately funded elections. The Democratic and the Republican Parties are truly awesome fundraising machines, and they can afford to lob out tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars for even a local election.

Advertising and going around a community (let alone the state or the country) needs major funds, and not many outside parties have that sort of cash to compete with the Democrats or Republicans. Ideologically, it's very noble that you are voting for the people whose positions you truly believe in, but practically, it's difficult; in fact, most third-parties run to get exposure, which is what they desperately crave. In order to make a vote for groups like the LP not be a waste, one of the very first things we need to do is advocate for publicly funded elections, among other things.

Hope that helps.

Answer 3

Our system was set up so that third party candidates would fail, especially in the presidential elections. Even if one Green Party member got elected to Congress -- which is hard since they have so much less money and grassroots organization -- they would not be able to DO anything since they'd be in a minority of one.

So, people like myself conclude that it is better to push for better candidates in the party of your choosing; hence the liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans.

Now what I think is that there should be proportional representation in the US House, at the very least. Then we would see the rise of third (and fourth and fifth) parties. And politics would be shaken forever.

People consider third party votes wasted because even if your long-shot candidate wins, they stil can never wield any power.

Answer 4

Because...it is. That's the reality. And if you don't face reality, than you aren't being realistic. Too many people like to quip the "independent" card. I think its pretty lame. Most people are close enough to one party or the other to get behind their party. If you want change, change it from within.

I hear a LOT of democrats and liberals criticizing the democratic leaders already. I think this is HEALTHY. Many times, they have extremely good points. Contrast this to the Republicans, who almost NEVER criticize their leaders and parrot their talking points with perfection. Sure, a couple Reps are a bit onery about the spending, but they ultimately fall in line so what does it really matter?

Answer 5

I agree with timberwol to a point , we need to get public funded campaigns that way the Dem's or rep's can't hog the publicity. keeping the small man down or the Jewish backed Dem's and rep's in office, but any time one votes his vote is not lost as some may think if en ought people vote for a candidate even if he loses it sends message to the others that the people are not happy with the present party's,but, so many people will vote for who they think will win even if they despise him and what he stands for. they feel as if the are winners if they vote for the winner ,

Answer 6

Except in those communities that have "proportional representation", voting for a "third party" candidate is a lost vote -- a half-vote for the victor -- in a close race.

"First past the post" systems of election encourage two-party contests. It used to be argued (convincingly, when I was in college) by scholars (Kennneth Arrow comes to mind, but I may be mis-attributing; it's been a lot of years since) that they also led to both parties approaching the center. That obviously has not been the case in this divisive years since Reagan.

Answer 7

You need only to look at the Presidential Election of 2000 for your answer. Bush won because of the third party candidate, Ralph Nader. If you like Bush that was great, but if you didn't it was terrible. Gore lost many percentage points around the country, often in key places like Florida, because Nader siphoned off votes that would have otherwise gone to him. Nader had a great message, but had absolutely no chance of doing anything,except perhaps of making Gore lose. If Nader had not run, more of the issues that he represented would have had a chance under Gore, but as his message was anti-big corporations, they both lost and Bush, who favors big business, won. So, not only was a vote for Nader lost, it worked dramatically against the very issues he fought for.

Answer 8

Third Party votes usually take votes away from Democrats. Look how close the elections have been in the last decade, Third parties definitely have an impact.

Answer 9

For a matter of principle, yes but many still look at as a "who's going to win" contest.

Answer 10

Hey your the guy who thinks Hitler was Socialist, you idiot, anyways a vote for the LP is a wasted vote, the LP is useless, not to mention they will never elect anyone because they are to extreme, try moderation for once, you might win.