The Progress of Liberty

What is the purpose of voting for a third-party candidate? Many people consider such an act to be either “throwing one’s vote away” or giving the election to the “greater of two evils” – Republican or Democratic. I disagree. I will be voting for a third-party candidate this fall (Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party), and I believe it to be the best course of action I can take.

The main purpose of voting is not to get one’s candidate of choice to win. A single vote virtually never affects the outcome of an election – and certainly not one in which tens of millions of people vote. Rather, a vote is simply an expression of preference through an official channel. The extent to which one’s candidate of choice reflects one’s personal principles is the extent to which whoever does get elected will see what those principles are. After all, if I vote for Barack Obama and he gets elected (which he will be), Obama will think that I am in favor of what he is proposing – when in fact I highly dislike his “agenda for change” and consider him only marginally better than John McCain. But if enough people vote for the Libertarian Party or the Constitution Party, Obama will see that there are constituents who are not satisfied with the course of action either of the two parties has taken. In an attempt to get the support of at least some of these people, Obama will have to throw a bone to the advocates of liberty.  But this will only happen if the Libertarian and Constitution Party votes add up to a substantial number. I am willing to contribute my vote. Are you willing to contribute yours?

Sincerely,
Gennady Stolyarov II

Editor-in-Chief, The Rational Argumentator: http://rationalargumentator.com

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