The Dangerous Illusion of a Presidential Third Party in 2024

jordanlund@lemmy.worldmod to politics @lemmy.world – 215 points –
thirdway.org

Really you don't need to read more than one chart:

If you vote for anyone other than Harris, you're voting for Trump:

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I don’t think it’s all that weird to recognize that neither party is what you want or will advance your political goals.

It’s pretty weird to insist on a course of action that won’t result in something you want. If you think both parties are the same, you’re wildly misinformed.

I don’t think anyone suggested both parties are the same.

If they aren’t the same in their view, they they would be sensible to care about which wins. They have a stake in a less harmful result.

But literally throwing away their vote on a third party, they are inflicting harm on themselves, the electorate, and the world.

Who are you talking about?

Third party votes get counted and have an effect. The whole idea of throwing one’s vote away is so nonsensical that it was lampooned in a simpsons bit.

If third party voters are inflicting harm on all the groups you mentioned, does that mean they’re responsible for the harm caused by one or the other party? Would you extend that to people who actively voted for those two parties? To the people enacting those parties policies? Deciding them?

Just how responsible for Bidens genocide in Gaza would you say a person who voted third party or trump in 2020 can be held?

Did you even READ the original linked article?

Seems like not.

Voting third party is the same as voting for Trump. THAT'S the effect that third party votes have. You're deluding yourself if you think they have any other effect in this upcoming election.

Wait how is a third party vote the same as a trump vote, they’re for different candidates?

Third party votes don’t get counted towards trumps total and the president isn’t elected by popular vote anyway.

Did you READ the original article??

Are you being intentionally dense?

I did read the article.

It doesn’t make a convincing case that a third party vote is the same as a trump vote. That’s why I asked you to explain how you came to that conclusion.

The article also claims third parties can’t possibly expect to get any electoral votes but then says if they did then it could create a situation where the house chooses the president.

If dems want third party voters to support them and are in danger of losing for want of third party voters, dems can simply pick up platforms and policies that third party voters want.

I’m at the point where I’m convinced you’re being willfully dense.

Before you asked about the article, I asked how third party votes are the same as trump votes. I explained that the votes aren’t counted for trump so they can’t be the same and that they are counted so they’re not thrown away.

Instead of asking incredulously if I’d read the posted article, why not just engage with what I’m saying?