To all of those who intend on voting Third Party...

[Hippo_Tron]

It has become apparent over the past several months that all of you have very strong beliefs and reasons as to why you will not be supporting the democratic nominee. So I ask that if you do intend to support a third party candidate I ask that you support that candidate as an anti Bush candidate and not an anti democratic nominee candidate. Even though the views of the people on this message board differ so greatly that not 100% of us will be able to agree on one candidate, I hope that 100% of us want Bush out of the white house in 2004.

[bluestateguy]

1. Well, OK

but you only need a plurality to win a state's electoral votes. If we all scatter among third parties you allow Bush to win with 40-45% of the vote.

If people here must vote Green or Third Party at least don't do it if you live in a swing state. I won't yell at people in Kansas who vote for Nader, but a vote for Nader in Florida is just a vote for Bush.

[Dookus]

2. who cares WHY they vote third party?

Whether it's anti-Dem or anti-Bush, any vote for someone other than the Dem nominee directly helps Bush. There's no essay question on the ballot for explaining why.

[MurikanDemocrat]

3. Like putting lipstick on a pig

It's still a pig

[Rowsdower]

4. isn't that being a little selfish?

why don't you want people to vote for whichever third party candidate they want, instead of the third party candidate YOU want them to vote for? if I was voting, I sure as hell wouldn't want anyone trying to tell me what to do or think.

[maxanne]

5. funny

I was under the impression that in a democracy my vote was mine to cast - not yours to command or direct.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[maxanne]

7. perhaps you should pass

your sentiments on to the management.

[0rganism]

8. Then perhaps you should donate to Democratic Underground

...since you think it's apparently the roost of John Kerry supporters, and only John Kerry supporters, even before the primary is over. With a big enough donation, you might convince the administrators to rename this site "Kerry Underground".

[Vickers]

10. Hahahahahahaha! I thought you were serious!

Wait....you WERE?

:thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown:

[corporatewhore]

9. Blah blah blah dems dont own my votes andps maybe some ofus live in a safe

state

[acmavm]

11. So exactly how does voting for a third party candidate get Bush* out

of office? Right at this point in history I really don't think making a 'statement' is a politically wise thing to do. But I say, go ahead, vote your conscience, your vote DOES belong to you. But sometimes there are bigger issues that need everyone to make some compromise, in this case getting those criminals out of the White House. Or do you think that losing the next election is worth four more years of this? I can absolutely guarantee you that the next four would make this four look like a cake walk. There will be nothing left. Sometimes you have to take small steps to get to where you want to be. I hardly think handing Bush* the next election will get anyone here anyplace that they want to be. Unless you have already booked your plane tickets for another country.

I wanted Clark to win the nomination. I was heartbroken and sick when he dropped out. I still am. But so help me, for the sake of my children, my grandchildren, and the rest of this country, I will vote for whoever takes the nomination because I understand that this election is not all about 'me'and my candidate getting the nomination. This election is not all about me at all. This election is the election of our life times. Maybe one could even say the most important election since the founding of this country.

[maxanne]

12. how many times have we heard

that - while being told to hold our noses and vote for a terrible candidate?

Until action is taken, we'll be doing it every for years, indefinitely.

It's nice that you say vote your conscience - but then you go on to trowel on a big guilt trip. No one should be treated with contempt for voting as they see fit. Perhaps instead of insulting people who do vote, we could work on motivating those who do not.

[acmavm]

13. No one insulted anyone, and if there's a 'guilt trip' going on here, maybe

it's because what I said hit a nerve. Yeah, I said vote anyway you want, I mean it. But what I didn't come right out and say is when Bush* is re-elected, I surely hope those that don't vote for the democratic nominee feel that they have the right to bitch about it. We need unity now. I don't like some of the things about each of the candidates, and there is one or two that I don't like a lot of things about. But there is no question about holding my nose. I've been holding it for over three years now, and I need to come up for air. Give these clowns four more years and there won't be any decent air for anyone to breath. Or water to drink. Or an opinion that you can express without possibly landing in a jail somewhere.

Of course we should motivate those who don't vote to get out to the polls this year. That's a given. I don't know what that has to do with anything I posted though. What I posted about is the fact that so many people here have decided to go their separate ways if their candidate is the 'chosen one'. Mine won't be. Dennis Kucinich won't be be, and he's an extremely moral, righteous, worth candidate. Even Dick Gephart was preferrable than the pResident we have now. His supporters must be as downhearted and unhappy as I am. But this election is not about picking the party apart, it's about standing together and kicking those pricks that are running this country into the ground out of Washington, and hopefully out of public life forever. Get a dem in there and maybe, just God Help Us maybe, we can get a true picture of what they have done and the methods and schemes with which they pulled it all off, and start working on trying to clean up the filthy mess they have made of our government and our country.

[maxanne]

14. do tell me

how will forming up in the queue and voting like a good little lamb effect any change in the Democratic party?

As the Dems swing further and further to the right, good old fashioned liberals like me are being squeezed out - or told to march in lockstep. Why should I - if my point of view isn't even welcome? Why should I continue to vote in a hold my nose cycle? You chose to ignore my question - but how many times have you been told to hold your nose and vote? This surely isn't the first election - nor will it be the last if we all follow directions. Why should I continue to support a party that does not support me?

To suggest that people voting their conscience is some sort of sour grapes is insulting, to say the least. Most of the people here at DU are seasoned, thinking political observers and participants. I've been a Democrat my whole life - the first campaign I worked for was McGovern's, before I was old enough to vote. My first presidential vote was for Jimmy Carter. I ran for office myself in 2002.

I'm taking a hard, honest look at the party I've supported for 30 years, and I don't like what I see. In fact, I'm going through a terribly painful examination of my values vs. party values. I may have to make some wrenching decisions before I'm done. I'm not doing this lightly. I am insulted at your trivializing this process, and your passive aggressive insistance that anyone who doesn't vote as you suggest is some sort of traitor.

[Samantha]

15. I don't think you hit a nerve -- the DLC hit a nerve

when it came out and said while it didn't choose whom the party would run, it had a lot of influence over who that candidate would be. This statement was made at a time when it was sending verbal signals to Gore to bow out in 2004. This happened about the time Barney Frank made his infamous statement for Gore to get out of Kerry's way (that's the same Barney Frank who would run for Kerry's seat should it be vacated for some reason).

Along comes Howard Dean, endorsed by Gore. Dean gets the Gore treatment both from the media and the party machinery. Starts to look like a pattern, doesn't it?

Since the DLC would not allow an anti-war, anti-party platform, insurrectionist to take the nomination (I assume you read the Washington Post article quoting the high placed Democratic officials who were alarmed at Dean's rise in the polls who threatened to stop him if that trend continued), it appears the Democratic party has in fact taken on shades on the Republican party's mo -- it's our way or the highway. And we are taking a sharp right.

The gut reaction from many who publicly stated they would never support any candidate who voted yes to the Iraq Resolution is that there is only one viable avenue left --the third-party highway.