A Wasted Vote

[saturneptune]

The way I'm reading some of the post.... it seems the link was not read or was ignored:

Clearly voting your conscience and principals in this election is not now nor ever shall be 'wasting your vote' when there is a choice. And we DO have choices ....more than two. In the hamburger/hotdog analysis.... steak is also on the ballot but many don't know....... and many of those who do know....as seen in this thread, are of the opinion that they are the exception so why bother and vote for steak when the majority will select either hotdogs or hamburgers.

The Bible says:
The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing [the outcome] thereof is of the LORD. Proverbs 16:33

Yes someone will win and someone will loose.... but by the logic of some in this thread.... it confirms what Baldwin wrote about..... If a vote is 'lost' because your candidate "couldn't" win... then it is lost if your candidate didn't win..... and for certain either a Democrat or a Republican is going to loose the challenge for the Presidency. To blame those who choose a third party for the loss of one or the other is also false. .......It is presumming a knowledge which only God has. Chances are great that a third party vote will get a split of dissatisfied voters from both major parties as well as decidedly independant voters. Some of the third party tally will include people who would not have voted at all.

As for the outcome of this election: I'm voting for Baldwin as he represents my Christian principals over the politics of the other two candidates. Registered in 47 or 48 states.... is a potential for winning...... but the faithless, and double minded, and doubters will not see this: On the ballot in 37 or 38 states, acceptible as a write-in in 10 more states, and not available for choosing in Oklahoma nor North Carolina.... means most Christians will have little excuse for not considering him.

In the end: I trust God and no man. And whoever wins I trust what the Bible says: The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whitersoever he will. Proverbs 21:1

Totally agree with you. It was not until this election that it dawned on me that voting for liberal Republicans, or the "lesser" of two evils gets our country nowhere. No doubt the concept has been there all along, but the performance of George Bush for the last eight years after voting for him twice crossed the "lesser" of the two evils line with me.

The American people, slowly but surely, are tired of being ripped off by and enriching crooked politicians from both parties, as they have robbed every American taxpayer for years. It may take a few more election cycles, but one or both of the major parties are going by the wayside.

If we want to spend tax money, lets start building a new prison that will house all the present politicians, corporate thugs, and lobbyists for terrorizing the American economy and people.

 

[Tom Butler]

No one seems to be able to explain how voting for an evil philosophy, whether less evil or not than the other, compared to voting for someone who at least shares 90% of our view points, is a wasted vote. Who will probably win is not relevant. To vote for one evil to keep another evil out of office makes no sense.
.

Your point is well taken. However, we are rarely, actually never, given a choice between the evil candidate and the perfect candidate. All of them are flawed to some extent.

Voting for the third party candidate who most nearly reflects our views is still voting for the least flawed.

I will concede at this year, a vote for a third party candidate will actually have an influence on the election. I will cause the election of Obama.

 

[windcatcher]

So are you saying there are not enough 'righteous men in Sodom' to turn this election?

So are you saying God is too small to empower enough voters to make a difference.... either by electing a candidate who acknowledges Christian principals and the rule of law as governed by the Constitution?

So are you saying that a vote spread of ......lets say 144,000 difference between Obama and McCain which allows one to win over the other where 144,000 were casts for a third party ........that all of them came from a Republican/McCain camp?

Let's not forget, there are Democratic Christians who aren't satisfied with Obama just like there are Republican Christians who aren't satisfied with McCain.

It is presumptive that you know how many would have voted for a leading candidate had there been no third party....... when many of that third party vote might not have voted at all...... now that is a lost vote.

It you neither like the leadership or party platforms of the Demopublicans or the Republicrats how do you expect to get people interested and running unless they are supported by those whose principals they represent?

Before you throw blame.... when you're candidate looses....check your justice against God's knowledge and standards of righteousness. It will not be because fewer people voted........ but because more didn't know they had a choice!

 

[LadyEagle]

Reminder we are on page 9. This thread will be closed soon. Thanks, LE

 

[saturneptune]

Your point is well taken. However, we are rarely, actually never, given a choice between the evil candidate and the perfect candidate. All of them are flawed to some extent.

Voting for the third party candidate who most nearly reflects our views is still voting for the least flawed.

I will concede at this year, a vote for a third party candidate will actually have an influence on the election. I will cause the election of Obama.

You might want to retype that last sentence, the first word.

If Obama is elected, thats where the chips fall. If he is elected, it is because George Bush and the Republican Congress failed to govern this nation by conservative principles and ran the country like a bunch of Democrats on steroids.

There is nothing sacred about the GOP, nor conservative. If the Republicans had done their job, this would not be a problem, would it? There is a difference between a flawed candidate, (which we all are) and an evil one.

 

[Analgesic]

Let me use your logic for a minute. Say here in Ohio I start campaigning for Baldwin. Due to our efforts, Baldwin receives...say...10,000 votes. Obama wins Ohio by 8,000 votes. Was my effort for the better of the USA and our unborn children? NO! The next president may have the opportunity to appoint a couple supreme court justices which just may swing the vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. I'm in it for the big picture, not to punish or send a message to the GOP.

Except that the "big picture" would seemingly involve not supporting a GOP candidate. Face it: the GOP cannot get elected without Christian support. They know it, but they also know you don't have any alternatives that have a chance at winning, so they take advantage of that fact by claiming to be all for Christian values and then in practice failing miserably. Call their bet. Raise their bluff. Sure, you don't have any alternative to vote for, but they don't have any alternative voters to elect them. Turn the tables.

The fact is, the GOP needs the Christian right far more than the Christian right needs them.

 

[saturneptune]

Except that the "big picture" would seemingly involve not supporting a GOP candidate. Face it: the GOP cannot get elected without Christian support. They know it, but they also know you don't have any alternatives that have a chance at winning, so they take advantage of that fact by claiming to be all for Christian values and then in practice failing miserably. Call their bet. Raise their bluff. Sure, you don't have any alternative to vote for, but they don't have any alternative voters to elect them. Turn the tables.

The fact is, the GOP needs the Christian right far more than the Christian right needs them.

There is nothing Christian or right about recent Republican nominees anyhow, only to collect Christian votes. Then, after elected, they act like the liberals they are.

 

[billwald]

Every vote in a national election is a wasted vote because every candidate with a chance of winning is already bought and paid for.

 

[Reformer]

When asked why they will not vote for a third party candidate, many people will respond by saying something like, "He cannot win." Or, "I don't want to waste my vote." It is true: America has not elected a third party candidate since 1860. Does that automatically mean, however, that every vote cast for one of the two major party candidates is not a wasted vote? I don't think so.

In the first place, a wasted vote is a vote for someone you know does not represent your own beliefs and principles. A wasted vote is a vote for someone you know will not lead the country in the way it should go. A wasted vote is a vote for the "lesser of two evils." Or, in the case of John McCain and Barack Obama, what we have is a choice between the "evil of two lessers."



More Here

Well, we must think a lot alike.... I just started this same thread, I guess I missed this one when I looked. OH well, my bad.

 

[LeBuick]

There is nothing Christian or right about recent Republican nominees anyhow, only to collect Christian votes. Then, after elected, they act like the liberals they are.

yep, a good AMEN goes here.... :thumbs: :godisgood:

 

[Tom Butler]

If Obama is elected, thats where the chips fall. If he is elected, it is because George Bush and the Republican Congress failed to govern this nation by conservative principles and ran the country like a bunch of Democrats on steroids.

There is nothing sacred about the GOP, nor conservative. If the Republicans had done their job, this would not be a problem, would it? There is a difference between a flawed candidate, (which we all are) and an evil one.

Oh, I agree with you. My frame of reference is 1992, when Republicans were unhappy with Bush 41 ("Read my lips") because he raised taxes when he said he wouldn't. Enough of them voted for Ross Perot to cost 41 re-election.

The 2006 Congressional elections support your point. Republicans lost control of the House and Senate because they acted like Democrats and their voters punished them.

If you plan to vote 3rd party to send a message, have at it. If you want to keep Sen. Obama from being president, voting 3rd party won't get it done.

Political parties have one reason for existence--to win elections. If you have no use for either major party this year, that's okay, they've earned your contempt.

The fact remains that a vote for a third party ensures the election of Barack Obama.




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[Revmitchell]

I have already cast my vote for Chuck Baldwin. Not to send a message, not to defeat Obama, but because he is the only conservative candidate with godly principles.

 

[Tom Butler]

Here is a political cartoon which I think hits all of us one way or the other.

http://defendingcontending.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/rr-pick-one.jpg