{"id":4852,"date":"2016-07-24T19:43:43","date_gmt":"2016-07-25T01:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=4852"},"modified":"2016-07-25T18:28:24","modified_gmt":"2016-07-26T00:28:24","slug":"what-about-a-third-party-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/07\/what-about-a-third-party-vote.html","title":{"rendered":"What about a third-party vote?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3AGary_Johnson_June_2016.jpg;<\/p>\n

Should I vote for this man? \u00a0That\u2019s Gary Johnson<\/a>, of the Libertarian Party.<\/p>\n

Fellow blogger Jennifer Fitz wrote the other day, \u201cWhy You Should Vote 3rd Party This Year<\/a>,\u201d that is, rather than just not voting, the gist of her argument being,<\/p>\n

When you vote third party, you send a clear, unequivocal message that is formally recorded and measured. You indicate to the major parties, and to the rest of the citizenry, which way the reform needs to go in order to field a winning candidate.<\/p>\n

Voting third party will not cause the person you cast your vote for to win. It will, however, cause the next round of candidates, at every level of elected office, to seek to be more like what it would take to win your vote.<\/p>\n

Candidates need your vote. They watch the polls and try to read the wind and guess which way to shift in order to ride popular opinion.<\/p>\n

By voting third party, you most clearly communicate what your expectations are and how the next cycle\u2019s candidates need to be different.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Which would be useful advice \u2014 if there were a third-party candidate whose positions I agreed with, rather than the candidate for the major party whose positions I largely align with, being off his rocker, and, in general, better suited for such a third party (remember Ross Perot\u2019s \u201cgiant sucking sound\u201d?). \u00a0In reality, looking at the list of third parties from wikipedia<\/a>, there is no third party that would better represent my views \u2014 not the Libertarians, not the Greens, not the Constitution Party, and not the various kooks who generally don\u2019t even get on the ballot.<\/p>\n

What about voting for anyone, just to prove the point that you\u2019re an engaged citizen who\u2019s actively choosing not to vote for Trump or Clinton?<\/p>\n

Or, better yet, what about the long-shot theories<\/a> that, if only Gary Johnson, Libertarian candidate and former governor of New Mexico (as a Republican), could win a state, any state, and, simultaneously, Clinton and Trump were to tie, there would be no majority in the electoral college, the decision would be sent to the House of Representatives, and anything could happen? \u00a0After all, Johnson (who received a bit of media attention just today<\/a>) isn\u2019t crazy, and isn\u2019t corrupt. \u00a0But this is so preposterously long-shot that it\u2019s fundamentally nothing more than wishful thinking.<\/p>\n

And\u00a0at the same time: \u00a0Johnson supports unrestricted immigration, drug legalization, and a host of other policies I disagree with. \u00a0If this is a \u201csend a message\u201d vote, would my support be the wrong message?<\/p>\n

Well, I suppose it\u2019s still just July \u2014 lots can happen before November!<\/p>\n

UPDATE: \u00a0well, OK, so I overstated things with respect to a lack of a majority in the electoral college. \u00a0Here\u2019s a summary of the process from CNN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the however-unlikely event that Trump and Clinton tie, then the vote goes to the House, with each state\u2019s delegation having one vote. \u00a0Since there are more states with majority-Republican delegations than majority-Democrat, it would still, under ordinary circumstances, produce a win for the Republican \u2014 unless, the Republicans agree to split their votes in order to cause a deadlock, in which case the Senate-elected Vice President, presumably Pence, would become the president. \u00a0Yes, it would require working together, which seems almost more unlikely than a tie in the first place. \u00a0But it\u2019s a straw to grasp at.<\/p>\n

In the likewise-unlikely event that Johnson wins some electoral college votes, and neither Trump nor Clinton get a majority, then the delegations could choose among the three of them, and either elect Johnson as more tolerable\u00a0than Trump, or manage the same strategy as above. \u00a0Again, exceedingly unlikely, but not impossible, eh?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image: \u00a0Gary Johnson, from\u00a0https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File%3AGary_Johnson_June_2016.jpg; By Gary Johnson [CC BY 2.0 (http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Should I vote for this man? \u00a0That\u2019s Gary Johnson, of the Libertarian Party. Fellow blogger Jennifer Fitz wrote the other day, \u201cWhy You Should Vote 3rd Party This Year,\u201d that is, rather than just not voting, the gist of her argument being, When you vote third party, you send a clear, unequivocal message that is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":4853,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[374],"tags":[426,427],"class_list":["post-4852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-gary-johnson","tag-third-parties"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat about a third-party vote?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Should I vote for this man? \u00a0That's Gary Johnson, of the Libertarian Party. 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