Your position assumes a single method of action, a method I do not subscribe to.
I have no ability to allow or deny anything, but merely a choice to lend my support or not, or to place my support elsewhere. If the republicans do not field a Conservative candidate, I will not support the Republicans. It is really that simple.
You are correct that we are taking two different approaches.
Yours is abstract, as in “support” and so on.
Mine is concrete, as in casting an actual vote that is counted a particular way.
That particular way is within a two-party system where the election is a zero-sum game. Every vote is a vote counted (even if not intended as such) as FOR one candidate and AGAINST the other. So this is where it’s my turn to say “it’s really as simple as that.”
I don’t look at a vote as “supporting” anyone or anything. Since one of the two candidates WILL be elected, then my vote can only have a “single method of action.” It can only help candidate A or candidate B and their respective parties.
You DO have the ability to allow or deny a given result in the election. It’s not about whether you “support” the candidate or the party. It’s about the result of the election, and your vote determines that.