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[kellyasmus]

With this upcoming election, Factcheck.org has really lead me to believe you cannot trust what either of the candidates are saying, especially in the debates, without checking the facts first. Both of the candidates seem to exaggerate the truth - now I'm going to second guess almost everything both of them are saying! Misleading statements and

Comments

[justcodedan]

For the most part I agree with you. However, you might do people a greater service by, instead of talking about who you aren't going to vote for, talk about who you will vote for. Maybe you'll convince someone that your guy/girl would be better than the other two choices.

In general I say if you can convince someone of the following third party candidates would get more support.

1. Ignoring 'chances to win', rank all people who are running in terms of how much you agree with their policies.

2. If you don't even live in a battleground state you can vote for your #1 choice without guilt as your vote won't affect the electoral college. You can basically have your cake and eat it too.

3. If you DO live in a battleground state and are generally willing to vote for what you consider the 'lesser of two evils' can you at least support your favorite 3rd party candidate in local elections? If the green party or libertarian party had enough local support this would trickle upward to the national elections over time.

These are arguments to be made that I rarely see being made by people who vote 3rd party.

On the other hand, for all I know I could convince *you* that this mystery candidate would in fact be a worse choice than either Obama or McCain. I mean, just because Obama and McCain lie/stretch the truth doesn't mean *your* choice doesn't have their own issues as well. Being third-party doesn't make you a saint automatically. Put Choice C under a microscope about all the things they say and they might not seem so great either. Is this true in your case? You haven't said who you support so who knows?

That said, regardless of who you vote for, I don't think you're throwing your vote away. I support the idea of third-party candidates and those who vote for them and I hope in the future they get better representation in governement. If after this election Obama loses and it can be *proven* he lost because of third-party candidates I will bear no grudge against those candidates or their supporters. Your choice might have been the best choice, after all.