Maybe that wasted vote isn’t so wasted if viewed as crucial in a presidential election:
Glenn went on to say, “You guys are so delusional* you’re going to lead to the Arab Spring. What is wrong with you people? Ron Paul is not running. He’s not running.”
“Please by all that is holy, don’t split that vote,” Pat said in reference to libertarians who want to vote for Gary Johnson.
“If you think he can win God bless you then vote for him. If you’re trying to make some point you’re out of your mind,” Glenn added.
On Obama if he is reelected, Beck stated, “Obama’s going to be worse than he was in the first four years. What do you think when he says I’m going to get a little more latitude when I’m elected the second time? What do you think he’s going to do?”
Are people who vote third party making some point? Yes. So is everyone else who bothers to vote at all. The overriding point in this country seems to be to win, no matter the cost. The point for most third party voters, presumably, is to choose the best candidate they can find on the ballot.
Such a point is not spiteful, as inferred from Beck’s wording. The Ron Paul people were disenfranchised by the republican nominee whose ideology is far removed from theirs. The empty words to the contrary are no longer attractive to those who have found substance in their time.
Besides, when faced with a choice between two people who, to many Paulians, are remarkably alike on domestic and foreign policy, would it really be a victory in their eyes if either was elected?
I’m reminded of the words by Peter O’Toole’s character, Lucius Flavius Silva, in the miniseries, ‘Massada’. Upon reaching the fortress, only to discover the lifeless contents therein, a Centurion proclaims victory for Rome. To which Silva replies:
A victory? What have we won? We've won a rock in the middle of a wasteland, on the shores of a poisoned sea.
*This, I think, can be viewed as healthy progress since in '08 he labeled us domestic terrorists.
