Yup, but...

Post #85,049 by Another Scott 3/1/03 9:53:47 AM Reply	Yup, but... Consider a 3 way race: Pat Robertson vs Anita Bryant vs Mohammad Omar. Who would your choice be? I could not vote for any of them for any office. I suspect you're the same way. "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice" - "Freewill" - Neil Peart. :-) Sometimes, not voting for the major candidate, or writing in someone you know has no chance, is the best choice. Voting for Nader as we did in the last presidential election was effectively the same as not voting. It had no impact on who won in my state of Virginia, and I don't think it affected the outcome in Washington state either. It might have, accidently, affect the outcome in Floridia (due to mistakes some people made in filling out their ballots) - but that assumes people who voted for Nader would have voted for Gore rather than staying home (something I don't think is a good assumption). I suspect that if you believed that it was important for your vote to always have a positive impact on who won, you would always vote for one of the top two major candidates. But you didn't, so you don't. Right? My $0.02. Cheers, Scott.
Post #85,060 by tjsinclair 3/1/03 11:44:01 AM Reply	What about "None of the Above"? Wasn't there a proposal in some state to add this choice to the ballot? Tom Sinclair "Man, I love it when the complete absence of a plan comes together." - [link\|http://radio.weblogs.com/0104634/\|Ernie the Attorney]
Post #85,061 by bepatient 3/1/03 11:47:44 AM Reply	Brewsters Millions Richard Pryor movie...and a pretty good one at that. You were born...and so you're free...so Happy Birthday! _{Laurie Anderson} [link\|mailto:bepatient@aol.com\|BePatient]
Post #85,303 by jb4 3/3/03 1:08:24 PM Reply	Nevada In the late 70's, Nevada toyed with it. In fact, IIRC several local elections did indeed have a "none of the Above" choice, and it never won more than about 4%. the problem w/ None of the Above is: What happens if it wins? since Nevada cannot dictate how such an outcome should apply to a federal election (and the Powers That Be would never allow that level of choice to the plebians), the idea sort of died on the vine. You know, sorta like shit-canning the Electoral College.... That doesn't mean that None of the Above isn't an ide whose time has come.... jb4 "Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning." Rich Cook
Post #85,086 by Brandioch 3/1/03 2:21:55 PM Reply	You answered your own question. Sometimes, not voting for the major candidate, or writing in someone you know has no chance, is the best choice. You can write in someone who more closely reflects your views. Even if that person has no chance of winning. Voting for Nader as we did in the last presidential election was effectively the same as not voting. No it was not. If nothing else, it reduced the percentage of the total vote that went to either Bush or Gore. In my previous example, 100 million people vote. For 100 million different people. The winning candidate receives 2 or 3 votes. Yep, he's still President. But the situation is very different than if he had received 66% of the votes cast. I suspect that if you believed that it was important for your vote to always have a positive impact on who won, you would always vote for one of the top two major candidates. But you didn't, so you don't. Right? But having a "positive impact" does not always mean voting for the person who won. Again, in my previous example. The "positive impact" would be the realization that the winning candidate would be replace by someone who could muster FOUR votes. As for Gore or Nader, it isn't whether they'd have not voted if Nader hadn't won. They got up and the voted. The issue for the Democrats is "how do we get these people to vote for our candidate in the next election". Getting someone who's already going to vote to vote for you -is much easier- Than getting someone who wasn't even going to vote to get up and go vote and to vote for you.
Post #85,331 by screamer 3/3/03 3:12:35 PM Reply	Anita Bryant? Of orange juice fame? That's a name you don't hear bantered about much anymore! But she would definately receive my vote (if I voted)... Just a few thoughts, Screamer Living is easy with eyes closed misunderstanding all you see, it's getting hard to be someone but it all works out it doesn't matter much to me J. Lennon - Strawberry Fields Forever

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