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Does voting third party or abstaining somehow increase the count of votes for Republicans? I realize I've been out of school a while, but my understanding was it did not.
Would this be more or less irrational than actively perpetuating the problems with a party and its candidates by guaranteeing them your vote for no reason other than they're not as bad as a different party?
No, I'm only describing the spoiler effect here.
It would be more irrational, because if the "shoot me in the leg, I guess" party loses, everyone dies, and nobody gets to have opinions about anything ever again.
I think we can both agree that voting to avoid bad outcomes rather than to select good ones is fucked.
Then the question still applies: in what way would a spoiler increase the count of either establishment candidate? My understanding of basic math is that it cannot.
That's certainly one opinion on the matter... coincidentally one perfectly aligned with a partisan propaganda viewpoint and, thus far, is nothing but alarmist hyperbole.
We sure can.
Correct, and to claim otherwise would be absurd. Have I done that? The absolute count of votes is immaterial. Elections are decided by the proportion of votes cast for each candidate. That's what admits the spoiler effect. Thanks, FPTP.
It's no coincidence. This is the means by which the establishment perpetuates itself. Doesn't mean both parties are the same.
I'm tapping out after this, but I appreciated the discussion. Have a great weekend.
Sure, let's play that game.
Candidate A: 50/100 Candidate B: 50/100 Candidate C: 0/100
If one abstains, there is no impact: Either candidate has 50/100 = 50%.
If one votes Candidate C, there is no impact: Candidate A and Candidate B are now both at 50/101 = 49.5%.
There is no spoiler.
Sure, and I'm not saying both parties are the same.
I'm saying one isn't obligated to vote for Party A for them merely being less awful than Party B - that doing so perpetuates the awfulness of either party; that trying to convince voters to do so is to perpetuate the awfulness of a given party.
You, too.