I'm going to singlehandedly change the face of American politics...

[beef curtains]

Or maybe not... (this is taken from my livejournal)...

I mailed off my ballot to WA on Friday. I voted for Kerry, and chose every Libertarian local candidate I saw. To be honest, I wasn't that thrilled with the idea of voting for Kerry, I would have rather voted Libertarian, but something kept me from doing it. Since everyone is afraid to vote third party in this election, it would have been a waste to vote that way.
Let it be said that I voted for Bush in 2000. I'm not upset with that vote, nor will I be upset with my vote for Kerry this year...in the end none of it really has mattered. Yes, policy has and will be implemented based on both of those votes, however, I didn't singularly elect either candidate (it looks more and more like Kerry's going to win...)

I've been thinking A LOT about why voting has been such a disappointment these past 2 times. Neither candidate has been very close to my views, but I've had little other choice. Voting third party when no one does is a waste, and voting third party when people are can lead to what (people think) happened with Nader and Gore.
I've come up with a rough idea for 2008, even though I realize its a long ways off. Perhaps getting started early will allow me proper time to procrastinate on it, but I want to start a campaign. I'm not running for any sort of office, I'm far too lazy and not generally political or savvy enough. However, I would like to start a website, and hopefully a movement for a unified third party vote in 2008. The goal wouldn't be to win the election obviously, it would be to get that 5% + national vote that allows for governmental funding for candidates. If third party candidates have never been viable, then maybe for 2012, they can be. With national money and the public seeing that people DO vote 3rd party, we might get the first third party candidate in office someday. In the same way that people were urged to vote for Kerry, or "Anyone But Bush (but we really mean not third party please or Bush might get back in again)" the public can be urged to make a strategic third party vote. With third parties knowing that not running, or taking the side step in an important movement for an election to allow a different party to get the spotlight, we could legitimize third parties for the first time in history.
So I'm proposing a unified vote. If the greens are too liberal, or the libertarians too conservative, how about the Independents. As long as they don't nominate some psycho for 2008, what if everyone just voted Independent?
It might seem like a long shot but isn't it worth it? If your opinions don't match that of either Bush or Kerry 100%, imagine having a third party that MIGHT. Or having a third party that would force the Republicans to be more conservative, or the Democrats to be more liberal to fall closer to your views. Imagine a shift in US politics that would CREATE CANDIDATES THAT ACTUALLY MATCH THE VIEWS OF AMERICANS, and thatt give Americans an actual choice between viable candidates, instead of just picking between the lesser of 2 evils.

Originally posted by So very sad about me
I mailed off my ballot to WA on Friday. I voted for Kerry, and chose every Libertarian local candidate I saw.

This is how you REALLY can effect change. None of this pie in the sky bullshit that Nader supporters think about when they vote "oh...if enough people vote 3rd party for president, then maybe the two major parties will pay attention." No, they won't. The only way to get any third party action is to vote them in locally. Unfortunatly, it will take time.