The first time Ross Perot ran, I think he had a fairly decent chance - he did get a surprisingly large % of the votes - what hurt him were several things, one of which being people didn't think he'd win even if they voted for him, so they didn't, which was tremendously unfortunate.

Where the problem comes in today, I think, is that the non Republican/Democratic candidate isn't nearly as well known, if they are, they aren't liked (Nader), or really do have a snowball's chance in hell, so voting for them really does end up voting for the "other party." less

Last election I was pregnant. Like, really about to pop pregnant. As I'll only vote for someone I really believe in, which tends to be Libertarian, I opted not to vote. Standing for an hour on swollen feet to vote for someone who wasn't gonna win seemed like a waste of my time. I was on bed rest at the time, too. Wasn't risking my kid just to throw a vote away.

This year I'll be more likely to vote, again probably Libertarian. I still feel like I'm a wasted vote though. less

It looks like the Libertarian Party is going to throw their weight behind Gary Johnson for the presidential election. Like Ross Perot and Ralph Nader before him, he has a snowball's chance in hell of winning. However, the Libertarian Party is touting that he can be a spoiler in the 2012 election:

Gov. Gary Johnson Could Cost Romney 5 Battleground States, 74 Electoral Votes Needed to Win in 2012

Do you think a vote for anything other than a Republican or Democrat in a presidential election is a waste? (multiple choice) less

The first time I voted four years ago, I did so with my folks and we had a great conversation about this topic. They thought I was throwing away my third party vote because there was no way a third candidate could win. They advocated the "vote for the lesser of two evils" case, which drives me bonkers. There is no lesser evil: a bad candidate is a bad candidate, and if our reigning two-party political system cannot offer me a viable option, then I should not have to choose from bad apples. I made the case that the best way I could share that dissatisfaction was by choosing a third party candidate. My person might not win, but as more people vote for a third option and the statistics increase for people NOT voting Democrat or Republican, then we may be able to signal our unhappiness with the system. Maybe--with much time and effort--the system will change.

(Granted, four years later I'm complete mystified by the system, believe that corporate America has rendered the average citizen a political mute and wonder whether voting in general is a huge waste. But I still pull for the best candidate, regardless of party.) less