Even if I vote for a candidate who doesn't have a chance of winning, enough of those votes would have an influence if more people would vote. In the 2000 election, Karl Rove expected 19 million religious conservatives to support President Bush, but only 15 million actually cast those votes. The combined total for Pat Buchanan and Howard Philips was much less than half a million. Where did the other 3.5 million go? I can only assume that they didn't vote or that some even voted for Algore. I think both of those strategies are counterproductive. If those 3.5 million voters had voted for Mr. Buchanan or Mr. Philips, it would have been a huge story. If even a thousand or so were in Florida and had voted for Algore, their voting for Mr. Buchanan would have prevented the recount debacle and made the strong conservative showing the biggest story of the election. I rarely cast a true protest vote, but even when I do, I see it as important.
Typically, I vote Republican. I've voted for a few independents and third party candidates. In some local races, I've voted for Democrats, particularly when party is not shown on the ballot.
Tomorrow, I'm voting for Republicans in our US House and US Senate races. I haven't found anything that says that we have a state legislative race. I'm voting for a Republican district judge candidate, but I don't think the ballot will show party in that race.
WFTR
Bill