Third Party - Not a Wasted Vote

Week 4 of my marathon training is now complete!  I have logged 144 miles so far in my training.  I have 12 more weeks to prep for the 2016 NYC Marathon.  I am using the Brooks Hanson Training program I have used ever since 2009 (See June 14, 2009 post for a review of the program).  I am confident that it will have me prepped and ready.  The big difference this time is that I am also incorporating Hill Repeats and circuit weight training three times a week into my routine.  I don't want another hamstring injury.  I am hopeful that the strength I am building up on the circuit weights will help prevent that.

I have been thinking a lot about the upcoming Presidential election when I am out there logging my miles.  It is really hard for me to believe that out of the 300+ million people in this great country of ours these are the two best candidates for the office.  As Kenneth Galbraith said, "Politics is not the art of the possible. It consists in choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable."  I am not going to go into a long diatribe of why I don't think either major party candidate should be elected President.  Instead, I am going to make the point that despite what I believe is a choice between two bad options everyone should go out this November and vote.  If you are curious about my political leanings you can find two posts that will make it clear - March 30 and July 8, 2010.

Regardless of my personal political beliefs, I feel strongly that it is our duty as citizens of this country to go out and exercise our right to vote.  I intend to vote according to my own personal conscience. Unlike many people, I don't believe that I am required to vote for one of the two large political parties.  There are other choices out there.  Third party candidates are not a wasted vote as many people will tell you.  In 1854 the two major parties were the Democrats and the Whigs.  That year was the first time the Republican Party came into being having its roots in the anti-slavery Liberty Party formed in 1840, succeeded by the Free Soil Party in 1848.  Just six years later in 1860, the "third party" Republicans won the election after the Whig party had ceased to exist.

It has become clear to me that this country and who we get to vote for in the major elections is simply the result of the power of corporate money.  The Super PACs and PACs wield unreasonable power over which candidates make it to the forefront.  This money also influences the mass media.  In addition, recent changes to ballot access laws restricting many people's right to vote and other road blocks have had much to do with the inability of  third parties to break through.  Ralph Nader was the last third party candidate to gain any traction and he only received 2.8% of the vote in 2000.  In 1860, there was a huge issue facing our country.  The fact that third parties cannot garner any support may be because there has not been a major issue that our existing two-party system cannot solve.

As you have probably guessed, I am planning to explore each of the 3rd Party Candidates and choose one of them to vote for this November.  I read a compelling argument as to why vote 3rd party from John Uebersax who is running for US Congress this year in California's 24th District.  While some of his language is tougher than I might choose, I am going to quote his outline as to why a 3rd party vote is not wasted in its entirety:

• Today we effectively have a staged elections, in which the Establishment (a.k.a. the System, the power elite, the military-industrial-banking-oil-media-complex), presents two status quo (Republican and Democrat) candidates.
• To prevent voters from voting for a non-Establishment (e.g., a Libertarian or Green Party) candidate, the Establishment uses a divide-and-conquer strategy: (1) choose Republican/Democrat platform issues that polarize voter opinion as closely as possible to a 50/50 split; (2) have horrible, frightening candidates for both parties; (3) by this means, manipulate voters such that, to keep the more feared candidate from winning, they must vote for the other candidate; (4) crucial to this strategy's success is to have several 'hot-button' issues (healthcare, gay marriage, taxing the rich, etc.), to scare voters on both the left and right, and for news media focus on these issues so as to maximally inflame emotions.
• As a result, virtually everyone (98% in the 2012 presidential election) votes for the Democrat or Republican candidate, maintaining the Establishment power elite. Nothing changes: wars, poverty, bad economy, no jobs, poor quality of life, continued erosion of values and morale. Wealth transfer continues from citizens to corporate owners.
• Nomination of horrible Republican and Democrat candidates also means many voters will simply not vote, which again works in the Establishment's favor.
• The racket will continue as long as it works; it will stop working when a substantial proportion of Americans vote for third-party candidates.
• Voting for the Democrat or Republican candidate cannot be justified on the principle of choosing the lesser evil. Regardless of which mainstream candidate is elected, the short-term (say, 4 to 6 years) outcome will be more or less the same. Nothing much will change as long as the two big parties, and the same Establishment interests they represent, control our country. But voting for third-party candidates now will potentially hasten the arrival of a time — perhaps 10–20 years hence — when we do have a real choice, and real issues. Thus, the genuine 'lesser evil' choice is to vote for a third-party candidate, even though one knows that the candidate won't be elected.
• Voting for a third-party candidate, therefore, will not throw your vote away. It will make a definite statement, both to the Republican and Democratic parties, and to your fellow citizens.
• Even though they represent the same vested interests, there is enough rivalry between the Democratic and Republican parties that, if third parties receive a sufficient proportion of the vote, they will begin to modify their platforms, making more concessions to citizens.
• Further, voting for third-party presidential candidates will help third parties reach the critical threshold of 5% of the popular vote — at which point they will qualify for public campaign funding assistance.

Every nation gets the government it deserves.  Joseph de Maistre

No matter who you support in this election, I encourage you to vote.  There are many people in this world who do not get the privilege we enjoy here in the United States.  No vote is wasted.  I hope to see you at the polls.

July 25 – 6.20 miles (1:07:02, 10:49 pace) - Hill Repeats
July 26 – 6.20 miles (57:37, 9:18 pace) - Speed Work
July 28 – 8.20 miles (55:52, 9:05 pace) - Tempo Run
July 29 – 6.20 miles (58:57, 9:31 pace)
July 30 – 12.20 miles (1:58:46, 9:44 pace)
July 31 – 8.2 miles (1:15:44, 9:14 pace)

Total Miles:  47.2 miles
2016 Total Miles:  1,111.7 miles