Why I vote third party

There are so many people who think a vote for a third party candidate is a wasted vote. I think nothing could be further from the truth. My vote is not based on "well, golly, I don't really like this candidate, but at least he's better than the other guy". I vote for the candidate that I believe would do the best job. And that is neither the Democratic or the Republican candidate.

I don't want to vote for the lesser of two evils, because then I'm still voting for evil. So many people are unhappy with the way the system is currently run, but very few people are willing to do anything about it. Most people count a third party vote as a throwaway vote, and just go with one of the two main candidates because they think that's the only kind of vote that makes a difference. But what if everyone who was sick of the system voted third party?

Two thousand years ago, a Roman senator suggested that all slaves wear white armbands to better identify them.
"No," said a wiser senator, "If they see how many of them there are, they may revolt."
slaveuprising.com

Our country is not doing well right now. That much is obvious. I think Obama is right in that we do need change. But he's wrong about him being the one to bring change about. Watch Ron Paul's message to Obama.
How about these kinds of changes:
"The United States is properly a free and sovereign republic which should strive to live in peace with all nations, without interfering in their internal affairs, and without permitting their interference in ours. If I were President, I would begin the process of safely extracting our troops from Iraq. In the first place, our troops are no longer fighting a war, they are an occupation force, which occupies a sovereign country. And this is being done without a Declaration of War. The Iraqi people resent our occupation as much as we would resent another nation stronger than ours invading and occupying America." (Chuck Baldwin, Constitution Party)

"We want the power to determine our destiny. We want an electoral system that allows true representation and that ensures that all votes are counted. We want an economic system that provides opportunity, security, and dignity for all. We want an end to all spying on U.S. citizens. We want respect for human rights as the bedrock consideration in all the political deliberations of this country.
We believe that we will not be free until we are able to determine our destiny. We believe that free and fair elections are not possible in the current climate in which electronic voting machines, special interest money, corporate control of the two-party system predominate." (Green Party Draft Manifesto)

"Parents have a duty to raise and educate their children, but without choice for alternatives to government schooling, the ability of parents to fulfill that role is severely limited. Education involves not just practical learning, but the transmission of moral values, making it even more important to return authority to parents for deciding their children’s schooling without interference from government." (Bob Barr, Libertarian Candidate)

To keep this post from getting too long (I know I always lose interest when blog posts get too long), I'm going to leave you with links to a couple of youtube videos that you might find interesting:
Adam Kokesh breaks it down (yes, the music is a bit annoying)
Ron Paul smear campaign (this makes me angry--and yes, I know that Ron Paul was not a third party candidate, but he is a Libertarian (as am I)).

And a couple quotes that I hope you'll think about:

"Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost." -- John Quincy Adams

" . . . whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." Declaration of Independence

So again, am I throwing my vote away? I think not. I'm making the only vote I can make with good conscience. Imagine how different things would be if the rest of the country did the same.