But it does. Every vote that does not go to the Republican opponent is one less vote that the Democrat needs to win the election. Say you have an election with three people and nine voters. Four vote for the Democrat and three vote for the Republican. The other two decide not to vote, but would vote for the Republican if they did vote. Are you telling us with a straight face that it makes no difference to the outcome if they stay home or vote for the third party candidate?
Yes, since they had not intention of voting for the Republican anyway. Why do you think that 3rd party voters are stealing votes from the current Republicans? If the third party didn't exist, they wouldn't even vote.