The answer to the first question is that right now, it is clear that voting for a third party would enable Trump by making it less likely for Biden to win. In 2016, it was NOT clear that Hillary would lose to Trump, so supporting her was a reasonable move to enable the center-left over the far right.
It seems that this is an issue of epistemology, not logic.
The answer to the first question is that right now, it is clear that voting for a third party would enable Trump by making it less likely for Biden to win. In 2016, it was NOT clear that Hillary would lose to Trump, so supporting her was a reasonable move to enable the center-left over the far right.
It seems that this is an issue of epistemology, not logic.
The latest CNN poll has Trump leading Biden by six points. To flip your question around, what if the polling indicates that Trump has an insurmountable lead? Why not vote for a third party candidate in that case?
Absolutely! If the evidence shows that Biden has little or no chance, the goal is to elect the least damaging person. But the real issue is figuring out whether and/or when that point is reached. I don't think the general political community has a great track record of making that call.
That's not really my point however. I don't think that Jill Stein has any real hope of being elected in the immediate future. But if your personal beliefs are more sympatico with the Greens does it make sense that you would prefer to see Green candidates serving in the House and Senate as well as in local government? Working/volunteering for the Greens (or any third political party) moves that goal one step closer to reality. Incremental progress is still progress.
And if the question is electability in 44 out of 50 states the results of the election this November are basically foretold. There's no reason not to vote for whoever you want to if you don't live in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin or Pennsylvania.
I agree that it would be great to see a functioning Green party contesting elections and electing candidates in local elections (as it would be great to see the same from the Libertarian, Working Families, and any others) where there is a one-party environment. It's probably more feasible to do that these days now that the national parties have become more politically homogeneous with major issues nationalized.
But I'm not as confident in the short list of swing states. Sure, vote whoever for president if you're in NY, Hawaii, MD, Alabama, TN, WV. But there are places like NC, VA, Maine, Michigan, etc where things are not forgone.
The commonly recognized swing states for November are WI, MI, AZ, GA, NV and PA. Unless the polling is really wrong I think it's safe to vote for whoever you want to if you live elsewhere in the country.
The answer to the first question is that right now, it is clear that voting for a third party would enable Trump by making it less likely for Biden to win. In 2016, it was NOT clear that Hillary would lose to Trump, so supporting her was a reasonable move to enable the center-left over the far right.
It seems that this is an issue of epistemology, not logic.
An astonishing indictment indeed....
The latest CNN poll has Trump leading Biden by six points. To flip your question around, what if the polling indicates that Trump has an insurmountable lead? Why not vote for a third party candidate in that case?
Absolutely! If the evidence shows that Biden has little or no chance, the goal is to elect the least damaging person. But the real issue is figuring out whether and/or when that point is reached. I don't think the general political community has a great track record of making that call.
That's not really my point however. I don't think that Jill Stein has any real hope of being elected in the immediate future. But if your personal beliefs are more sympatico with the Greens does it make sense that you would prefer to see Green candidates serving in the House and Senate as well as in local government? Working/volunteering for the Greens (or any third political party) moves that goal one step closer to reality. Incremental progress is still progress.
And if the question is electability in 44 out of 50 states the results of the election this November are basically foretold. There's no reason not to vote for whoever you want to if you don't live in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin or Pennsylvania.
I agree that it would be great to see a functioning Green party contesting elections and electing candidates in local elections (as it would be great to see the same from the Libertarian, Working Families, and any others) where there is a one-party environment. It's probably more feasible to do that these days now that the national parties have become more politically homogeneous with major issues nationalized.
But I'm not as confident in the short list of swing states. Sure, vote whoever for president if you're in NY, Hawaii, MD, Alabama, TN, WV. But there are places like NC, VA, Maine, Michigan, etc where things are not forgone.
The commonly recognized swing states for November are WI, MI, AZ, GA, NV and PA. Unless the polling is really wrong I think it's safe to vote for whoever you want to if you live elsewhere in the country.
No, then it's the voters fault for not doing enough.
The Party can never fail. The Party can only be failed!