If we could get everyone to do this (vote for the best person, not the lesser of 2 evils) I believe our votes would count. But unless everyone does it (highly unlikely) it doesn't make any difference at all. Our country is in a sad state for sure.
I, along with a number of friends, have done write-in votes multiple times for many different offices. You can write in a choice for ANY elected office you want. I've never seen one of my write-in votes actually put anyone into office, but I felt better knowing that I voted for the person that *I* felt best suited for the job. (I believe my brother has written in Mickey Mouse a number of times for President because the choices on the ballot were SO horrible).
I totally understand your point in the article. If you don't vote YOUR conscience, then you have truly wasted your vote and it DOES NOT COUNT.
I do always vote for the person I think is the best choice. Then I have to vote party lines because even if primary winners aren’t the best choice they are better than the other party choices.
I don't agree that the primary winners are always better choices than the other parties or candidates. In 2016, I voted for neither Trump nor Clinton because I thought neither to be a good choice, and there was a candidate who was on the ballot in most states who was a far better selection. I wrote him in. Did my choice of candidate win? No. Did my vote count? Absolutely! Because I voted for who I thought was the best of all available candidates.
I totally disagree. The damage done by both major parties to our country is astounding. Voting "party lines" is one of the worst things anyone can do. Possibly the best thing anyone can do is to vote *against* the incumbent no matter which party they are.
I almost always vote against the incumbent in primaries. Once the primaries over though if the incumbent won I’m not giving up the party seat because he’s not perfect.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you saying that, at that point, you will choose party over policy? I ask because I personally would still choose the candidate I believe best suited for the position, regardless whether I believe that candidate can or will win.
No I’m choosing policy because there aren’t any Democrat policies I even agree with. And if there was even one that I agreed with it would mean I get subjugated to all the other immoral socialist crap they stand for with that one possible thing we might meet in the middle on. So if you want to see it as choosing party rather than policy go for it. I see it as the best choice to get more policies I agree with.
Rebecca, I understand your point, and I can see how that makes sense. What your answer still shows though is that you're still thinking in binary - that there are only two choices. Granted, for many races, there may be only two; you may not have a third option, especially for many local races. And I agree that I don't believe I could ever vote for a Democrat because of what they stand for in general (unless someone was running as a D who wasn't truly a D or didn't embrace the D platform - believe it or not, it happens). But if there is a third option, I would prefer that, even if it is a write-in (for instance, I voted for a libertarian against John Cornyn at least once, because I want him gone). If you continue to support the binary system, it will never change. If people instead withhold their votes, vote for a third party, or write in an alternative (even if it ends up not tallied), it sends a message.
Think of how Democrats in 2020 claimed (because of the ludicrous number of votes Biden allegedly received, among other things) that the people had given them a "mandate" to bring about change, or to implement their party's policies. By not providing votes in either direction, we show lack of support for the policies and candidates of both parties. This could send a strong message that they need to change, not that the people want their policies. Since it seems writing, emailing, and calling our representatives doesn't send enough of a message, perhaps taking away their votes will.
For myself, there are perhaps 10% of concepts promoted by the Democratic party that I support and 90% that I oppose. For the Republican party there are perhaps 25% of the concepts that I like and 75% that I oppose. Thus I could never see myself aligning with a *party*.
In fact I detest the whole way the government politicians work: "You vote for my pork projects and I'll vote for your pork projects" - bad for everyone, but politicians are motivated to get votes and re-elected not to promote the best interests of the citizens. The major parties have such dominating control over who gets elected that politicians have overwhelming pressure to "vote party lines" even if what the party is promoting is tyranny and terrible policy.
Over thirty years ago I heard these exact same words: “you have to vote for the candidate who can win in the general election.”
The two party system is a disaster. We have "party" people who only care about "winning" not whether or not the candidate will actually do a good job or is the best person for the job.
Make your vote count by either: a) refusing to vote, thus demonstrating a lack of support and confidence in the system. or b) Anyone except the major party candidates.
If we could get everyone to do this (vote for the best person, not the lesser of 2 evils) I believe our votes would count. But unless everyone does it (highly unlikely) it doesn't make any difference at all. Our country is in a sad state for sure.
I, along with a number of friends, have done write-in votes multiple times for many different offices. You can write in a choice for ANY elected office you want. I've never seen one of my write-in votes actually put anyone into office, but I felt better knowing that I voted for the person that *I* felt best suited for the job. (I believe my brother has written in Mickey Mouse a number of times for President because the choices on the ballot were SO horrible).
I totally understand your point in the article. If you don't vote YOUR conscience, then you have truly wasted your vote and it DOES NOT COUNT.
I do always vote for the person I think is the best choice. Then I have to vote party lines because even if primary winners aren’t the best choice they are better than the other party choices.
I don't agree that the primary winners are always better choices than the other parties or candidates. In 2016, I voted for neither Trump nor Clinton because I thought neither to be a good choice, and there was a candidate who was on the ballot in most states who was a far better selection. I wrote him in. Did my choice of candidate win? No. Did my vote count? Absolutely! Because I voted for who I thought was the best of all available candidates.
I totally disagree. The damage done by both major parties to our country is astounding. Voting "party lines" is one of the worst things anyone can do. Possibly the best thing anyone can do is to vote *against* the incumbent no matter which party they are.
I almost always vote against the incumbent in primaries. Once the primaries over though if the incumbent won I’m not giving up the party seat because he’s not perfect.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you saying that, at that point, you will choose party over policy? I ask because I personally would still choose the candidate I believe best suited for the position, regardless whether I believe that candidate can or will win.
It's impossible to "mind read" but my assumption is that Rebecca essentially considers "party = policy".
No I’m choosing policy because there aren’t any Democrat policies I even agree with. And if there was even one that I agreed with it would mean I get subjugated to all the other immoral socialist crap they stand for with that one possible thing we might meet in the middle on. So if you want to see it as choosing party rather than policy go for it. I see it as the best choice to get more policies I agree with.
Rebecca, I understand your point, and I can see how that makes sense. What your answer still shows though is that you're still thinking in binary - that there are only two choices. Granted, for many races, there may be only two; you may not have a third option, especially for many local races. And I agree that I don't believe I could ever vote for a Democrat because of what they stand for in general (unless someone was running as a D who wasn't truly a D or didn't embrace the D platform - believe it or not, it happens). But if there is a third option, I would prefer that, even if it is a write-in (for instance, I voted for a libertarian against John Cornyn at least once, because I want him gone). If you continue to support the binary system, it will never change. If people instead withhold their votes, vote for a third party, or write in an alternative (even if it ends up not tallied), it sends a message.
Think of how Democrats in 2020 claimed (because of the ludicrous number of votes Biden allegedly received, among other things) that the people had given them a "mandate" to bring about change, or to implement their party's policies. By not providing votes in either direction, we show lack of support for the policies and candidates of both parties. This could send a strong message that they need to change, not that the people want their policies. Since it seems writing, emailing, and calling our representatives doesn't send enough of a message, perhaps taking away their votes will.
That makes sense Rebecca.
For myself, there are perhaps 10% of concepts promoted by the Democratic party that I support and 90% that I oppose. For the Republican party there are perhaps 25% of the concepts that I like and 75% that I oppose. Thus I could never see myself aligning with a *party*.
In fact I detest the whole way the government politicians work: "You vote for my pork projects and I'll vote for your pork projects" - bad for everyone, but politicians are motivated to get votes and re-elected not to promote the best interests of the citizens. The major parties have such dominating control over who gets elected that politicians have overwhelming pressure to "vote party lines" even if what the party is promoting is tyranny and terrible policy.
Over thirty years ago I heard these exact same words: “you have to vote for the candidate who can win in the general election.”
The two party system is a disaster. We have "party" people who only care about "winning" not whether or not the candidate will actually do a good job or is the best person for the job.
Make your vote count by either: a) refusing to vote, thus demonstrating a lack of support and confidence in the system. or b) Anyone except the major party candidates.