As somebody who voted for Nader in 2000, that sounds about right to me.
Maybe, maybe not. But Badnarik is not the Libertarian president who would be a great thing for this country.
I’ll admit I don’t know a lot about Badnarik personally, but I really like the Libertarian platform. If he’s their spokesperson, so be it. I’d like to see the party get more respect/interest.
What don’t you like about Badnarik? I am genuinely interested - i.e. I don’t intend that to be a confrontational question…
Impossible.
I just want to know which one is the douche bag and which is the crap sandwich! 
Kerry, being 6’4", is clearly the giant douche. I leave it to the reader to surmise the identity of the turd sandwich (Hint: it ain’t Badnarik.)
Something tells me that if there was an “I vote for you all to die you evil, two faced, money-grabbing politicians” option on the ballots voter turnout would be a lot higher 
I have been lurking here for a while, but figured I should get a guest account and post on this. I have actually come to a similar opinion. But I have come up with a solution without comprimising or refusing to vote at all. I am going to vote in other elections normally, but for the big one I am voting “none of the above”. Not original, kinda cliche, but fits just right. It eliminates all the problem of just putting in a joke write in, and if enough people do it you see that people just don’t want any of the options. This isn’t to say those from other parties are bad, but they don’t stand a chance and are often seen as akin to voting for mickey mouse.
In an election this critical to the USA, why would anyone with a half a brain throw their vote away on some third party person who doesn’t stand a chance of winning? I don’t get it and never will----a vote for a third party candidate is effectively a vote for George W. (Weasel) Bush. How can you help the worst president we have ever had get a second term and still sleep well?
That has been fairly cold consolation for the past four years. I’m looking for something new and different to whine about, 'till 2008, when I plan on voting for Cthulhu.
If I work this right, I might never cast a vote for President that means a damn thing in the grand scheme of things.
(Kidding about the Cthulhu thing. Still not kidding about the T-shirt.)
welby, it’s a reference to “Citizen Kang” from The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror VII from 1996. Aliens, Kang and Kodos, kidnap and impersonate presidential candidates Clinton and Dole. Their disguises are revealed just before the election, and of course the everyone is shocked, but Kodos taunts them, “It’s true, we are aliens. But what are you going to do about it? It’s a two-party system; you have to vote for one of us!” Someone in the crowd says, “I believe I’ll vote for a 3rd party candidate!” Kang replies, “Go ahead . . . THROW your vote away!” (Imagine this in a grandiose conquering-alien type voice.) Later, after Kang wins the election, and Marge complains about being enslaved, Homer says, self-righteously, “Well, don’t blame me. I voted for Kodos.”
That beautifully encapsulates my feelings about the political process and my dilemma as a non-mainstream voter.
For better or for worse, what you say is untrue for many voters, due to the electoral college. Given that my state will go to Kerry, I could vote for Kerry, Nader, Badnarik, Cthulhu, Josiah Bartlett or John Sheridan or whoever I want and it simply will not affect the election results one whit.
In my case, I vote for [whoever] is still a vote for Kerry.
Hell, a vote for Bush is a vote for Kerry!
There is no conceivable way that Bush could possibly win this state. And some people are stuck in states that will inevitably go to Bush. In either position, you can safely vote for a 3rd party candiate as a way of, uh, making your voice heard (althought it’s nïave assumption that anybody is listening) without feeling any responsibility for who wins or loses.
I find that perverse and intensely frustrating, but that’s how the system works, and I don’t know that I could come up with a better one. (Using a direct popular vote has its drawbacks, as well.)
He’s a decent, strong, good man, who’ll make a decent, strong, good president.
Since a douche bag is not only harmless, but can actually do some good, and a crap sandwich is disgusting and potentially harmful, I’d say the crap sandwich is the man who’s been responsible for 1,252 coalition deaths, and over 100,000 innocent Iraqi deaths.
I’ll vote for the man who’s killed 1 (that we know about).
No, you’re thinking of J. Edgar Hoover…
The above sentiment equally confounds me. I think you should always vote for the candidate you would most like to see as president whether or not he is “likely” to carry your state. With the above attitude, there will never be a 3rd party president.
I also disagree with the statement that “a vote for a third party candidate is effectively a vote for George W. (Weasel) Bush”. A vote for Badnarik is, well, a vote for Badnarik! Why would I vote for Kerry or Bush if I don’t want to see either as president?
And by the way, I don’t have half a brain - I have a whole one! Thus, the fact that I’m voting Libertarian!
No, you should vote in a way that furthers your political beliefs, and changes the political landscape to match what you would like it to be. Nader voters in Florida in 2000 did the exact opposite - it pushed the political middle away from them rather than pull it towards them.
What’s this “third party” thing of which you speak? We don’t see those in Indiana!
We are pegged Republican an hour before the polls close every time. Indiana hasn’t gone Democrat since the 60s, I think. In fact, I had never seen/heard a presidential campaign ad in all of my 24 years until we went to Kentucky in August and had time to watch some bad TV movies before going to bed.
So no 3rd parties on the ballot in Indiana?? That’s fucking criminal. This is another reason why I think the Electoral College is such a horribly bad, antiquated idea.
You should consider yourself lucky not to see those horrible campaign ads. Nothing but mudslinging…
Actually, the Libertarian party is alive and well in Indiana, and feature prominantly on our ballots.
If you honestly believe that the country is equally fucked either way, then please just do me the personal favor of voting for Kerry.
I think you’re on to something. I think it’d be cool if it was an “Election to the Death” arrangement and eliminate term limits. You think you can take the incumbent? BRING IT ON! If the incumbent hasn’t got the sense to step down (and live) in the presence of a clearly superior opponent, or if some halfwit thinks he can get over on the public just because he’s a lot taller but not substantially better, then the alligators swimming in The White House moat get fed.
We could make it a reality show! Tons of hype, tons of participation, lots of skin and Pepsi sees a humongous boost in sales! Embrace the future! It’s where we’re headed anyway!