I've been debating to myself whether or not voting for a third party candidate (Either PSL's de la Cruz or Green's West, regardless of my criticisms for both) would be the most "effective" use of my time in election season this year. The argument for "not" is that maybe voting at all is bad because it legitimizes this system, even if a third party candidate getting a record turnout would grab more attention (and piss off Blue MAGA cultists) than simply not going since it's not like abysmal turnouts, even by this country's historical standards, are newsworthy at this point. So I guess I have to ask how you people rationalize voting or not this year?
I fully understand that this is more symbolic than anything else and won't materially affect change for a while but it's still something to think about.
Either West or the PSL candidate depending on who’s on the ballot. I never thought the “voting at all only legitimizes the system” argument was valid because it makes the false assumption that TPTB are dependent on voter turnout to legitimize the system. The turnout could be twenty percent, they’d still push a “shining beacon of democracy” message and the consent will be manufactured.
Now I know there’s zero chance a third party candidate will win, but I’ve noticed that non-voters don’t even get discussed in the narrative. They may demonize third party voters, but at least they talk about them.