tzor wrote:thegreekdog wrote:Furthermore, if you are in a state such as New York, where polling shows that the president has a commanding lead over Romney, a vote for Mitt Romney would be just as wasted as a vote for Gary Johnson.
That depends. But even then, unless you are planning to go jump off the line for the other elections and vote for Gary/republicans for everything else your vote can have a coattail effect. There are several congressional races that are very close and can easily cause the Democrat to fall. NY1 is my area and the Democratic Candidate Tim Bishop is on the ropes. His victory was only by a hundred votes back in 2010.
Senator Gillibrand has a strong contender in Long. She can't fall back on her gender because her opponent is also a woman.
So it's absolutely vital that the Republican base gets their bottoms off of the chairs and goes to vote this year, even in NY.
Besides, I'm still hoping that this whole Big Gulp Revolution is going to turn NY Red this year.
I understand what you're saying. I'm saying we shouldn't limit ourselves to two parties in determining who we vote for. What influences your decision on who to vote for? Here's a partial list:
(1) The most charismatic person.
(2) The person that most conforms to your points of view.
(3) The political party of which you are a member.
(4) The person that is least like the person that you dislike.
(5) The person who you think will win.
So, my youngest sister voted for Obama in 2008 because it was her first election and because of (1) and (5). My brother and I will vote for Gary Johnson because of (2) and (3). My parents will vote for Mitt Romney because of (4). I think a lot of people vote for someone based on (4). Far be it for me to tell someone why they should vote, but I think (4) is a terrible reason to vote for someone. And that seems to be how a lot of people vote; for evidence, just look at Exhibit A (Phatscotty) and Exhibit B (political races which focus on negative things about candidates, rather than the candidates' plans themselves).