Share

The effects of third-party voting

To the editor: Weinstein’s piece is a welcome reminder of how voting for third-party candidates can produce regrettable consequences. They’ve had their hawkish eyes on the Green Party ever since it formed, and since that day, they’ve been acutely aware that they need to do everything they can to keep it from entering the mainstream. We might say it’s a vote cast that has no impact on an election’s outcome.

Advertisement

Edgar Antillon of Denver co-owns Guns For Everyone, a handgun training company. In recent polls, for example, estimates showed that only 3% plan to back the Libertarian Party, and only 2% will support the Greens.

With Clinton’s double digit lead over Trump and less than two weeks until voters hit the polls, it is safe to say Americans will have our first female president – whether we are with her or not.

Antillon and Dougherty spoke with Colorado Matters host Ryan Warner.

Which is to say: The United States would probably benefit from the emergence of strong and stable third parties that can compete for the presidency, Congress and even seats on your local school board. Do not pick someone just because of the (R) or (D) next to their name. “I kind of don’t care if Donald or Hillary wins”. When it comes to foreign policy, Mr. Trump is a blank slate, and much of his success or failure will depend upon his ability to get good advisers and then listen to them. Each quiz question offered four viewpoints, each of which aligned with a publicly stated view of Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Gary Johnson or Jill Stein.

This has been a bellwether year for the Green Party. Chances are, if you can’t stand Trump or Clinton, a third party candidate would be right for you. Stein is most likely the candidate your hippy next door neighbor told you about after detailing to you the benefits of Kombucha.

“I wish we had this in 2000 in New Hampshire and in Florida”, Devine said. And though Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has been more vocal in addressing the phenomenon, some locals are dissatisfied.

The only justification for casting a vote for Stein is to protest the absence of climate change from the presidential debates. This year, Johnson is his pick for president. Those who vote for him are hoping that they will get a sober, responsible and thoughtful President Trump as exhibited in his Gettysburg speech this past Saturday, rather than a crass, egotistical, impulsive and insensitive Mr. Trump. We certainly should have known that as it got closer to the election and the Thurmond or Wallace supporters realized the hopelessness of their cause, they would look about for what they regarded as “the lesser of two evils, ‘ and there is no doubt but what the ‘lesser of two evils” to a Thurmond or Wallace supporter was more apt to be Truman than Dewey. It means the party can leap over the undemocratic barriers to ballot access for independent parties in many states, and help us lay the groundwork for a truly competitive challenge to the two-party system and the corporate rule it perpetuates. She is doing more than muttering the cliché that both major parties are the same, which we hear endlessly without so much as a qualifying word. “Privilege to know that even if Trump is elected, you won’t feel the direct results”.

Many people feel stuck between two bad choices. Joel Mathis and Ben Boychuk, the RedBlueAmerica columnists, debate the issue.

Daniel Lutz of Clear Creek County served in Iraq. “I guess me voting for Gary Johnson is some sort of subconscious effort to vote for Hillary without actually voting for Hillary”. For instance, there is nearly no chance of him obtaining the goal of term limits for Congress, since the lawmakers would have to vote for it – and previous efforts for such a measure have gone nowhere.

“Me and my trading partner are complete strangers outside of communicating about this, so meeting in person allows us to confirm that neither of us have cheated the other”.

Advertisement

As you can see, you have more than two viable options this election season.

From left Gary Johnson Donald Trump Hillary Clinton & Jill Stein