Seriously, what exactly is going on with third party candidates? Are they all just daydreaming or something? Are they living in some sort of fantasy world? I'm not even trashing their politics, because I know next to nothing about them. I'm just trying to figure out just what the hell they're thinking.
I remember reading somewhere that the Green Party candidate got almost seven percent of the vote in the 2008 presidential election. The members of the Green Party? They were ecstatic about that. And I just can't figure that out? What are they celebrating exactly? The fact that it was more than last time?* Well, sure, that sort of makes sense, but seriously? Seven percent?** You're really going to get excited about that? That's like a little kid being happy that his mother didn't try to kill him on his birthday again this year.*** Kind of depressing.
I just can't puzzle out what exactly they're trying to accomplish. It can't be to win. Their being happy about those numbers doesn't make sense if that's the case. And they have to realize that it's impossible to win if almost everyone voting doesn't even know you exist, right? RIGHT?
Right...
*They got about four percent in the 2004 election, if I recall correctly.
**The actual number was something around 6.8, but shut up, I'm trying to make a point.
***Sleep tight tonight.
In a two party system, you just diverted 7% of the vote from one of the other candidates. Not only does that show that a significant portion of voting Americans care about what you do, but that the two main nominees should probably take some of your issues into consideration in order to capitalize on your voter potential.
ReplyDeleteThey realize that they aren't going to win, everyone knows that. The point of a third party is not to win an election but to raise awareness of the issue of the third party. The Green Party was happy for an increase to seven percent because that means that they have increased the awareness of more people to the ideas/causes they believe are important.
ReplyDeleteYou'll learn more about them in US Hist.
I think there's definitely some sort of idea that they want to just influence people's decisions and general. I KNOW that, but I thought it would be funnier not to bring it up at all.
ReplyDeleteAnd still, you could argue that even if they're trying to get their ideas out there, this probably isn't the best way to do it. A lot of money is being wasted on these campaigns that could be diverted to working towards getting the laws they want passed.
They can't pass any laws unless the lawmakers see that people vote for those ideas and ideals. A politician is not going to draft an anti-smoking bill unless he/she sees that there is a large amount of people who believe in that type of bill being passed and vote for people who are anti-smoking. Running in an election is one of the best ways to raise awareness because there is more coverage and politicians will actually take notice that a good percentile of eligible voters voted for that party.
ReplyDelete....Which is seven percent.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention that your scenario seems to imply that there is a link between smoking and political party. While I'm sure there might be, I'd say it's tenuous at best.
It is also astonishing to me how you can consistently miss the point of every single thing that I say. And take things way too seriously.
I feel like you're just completely missing the joke of this entire site.