posted August 8, 2016 #
Interesting read from Clay Shirky entitled
There's No Such Thing as a Protest Vote. I don't entirely agree with his take on third parties but I can't argue with the notion that voting
against someone is a meaningless gesture. These two quotes in particular spoke to me:
The system is set up so that every choice other than 'R' or 'D' boils down to "I defer to the judgement of my fellow citizens." It's easy to argue that our system shouldn't work like that. It's impossible to argue it doesn't work like that.
...
Citizens who vote for third-party candidates, write-in candidates, or nobody aren't voting their conscience, they are voting their ego, unable to accept that a system they find personally disheartening actually applies to them.
I can certainly see the article stirring some conversation but I enjoy the sentiment that voting
against a candidate is missing the point (for me).
