this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2024
-15 points (28.6% liked)
Libertarian Discussion
251 readers
4 users here now
Place for discussion from a Libertarian perspective, meaning less top-down control and more individual liberty. In general, the intent is discussion about issues and not a discussion on libertarianism itself or any of its branches.
Be sure to respect the instance rules, and please keep discussion civil and backed by high quality sources where possible.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
That's pure BS. Your vote only matters in a handful of states, so if you're in the majority that lives in a state that consistently supports one candidate, there's pretty much no risk to voting for a third party.
Why? Biden doesn't represent my interests, and neither does Trump.
I voted for Biden last election because a credible independent candidate (Evan McMullin) had a chance of winning my state (Utah) but no chance of winning the presidency, so I thought it would be funny if my state flipped Dem for one cycle. But no, Trump still won by ~20%, though he got <50%, so I was happy with my vote.
So I'll go back to voting libertarian this year. Trump will likely get 60% in my state, Biden will probably get 30%, and third parties will fill out the rest. With any luck, the Libertarian Party will get >3% this year, I'm hoping for 5%.
That's not how voting works.
Trump will win my state, that's pretty much a guarantee. So far, there's no realistic challenger to get the conservative vote in my state. Whether I vote for or against him has absolutely no bearing on national election results. I'll get far better results by campaigning for whoever the libertarian is than campaigning for Biden. That's a political reality in my state.
My vote for a third party indicates that people want another choice. People here claim to be libertarian, at least enough for Mike Lee (one of my senators) to give lip service to it (but he's not a libertarian by any stretch of the imagination). Most people I talk to want less government, hence why they vote Republican (they think Rs actually want smaller government).
So my vote for the Libertarian Party gives people who more clearly approximate my beliefs more clout, which means more of the "libertarians" in my area may consider voting for them instead of the Republican. It's literally the best option I have for political change without actually running you office or campaigning for a candidate (I have young kids and a full-time job, so neither is particularly feasible).
So no, get out of here with your "a vote for X is really a vote for Y," that's just nonsensical, especially in my area.
Whatever you say. I have just as much beef with Republicans as I do with Democrats, but I will vote against fascism every time. In my case, I think voting third party will have the biggest impact long term, and voting for a major candidate will have no impact.