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.
I don't think there's any harm in voting third party. Turnouts rates are already abysmal and nobody seems to care at all, they're just entirely ignored. But voting for a third party that cares a bit at least puts it in the record that some people care, and though very unlikely, might actually lead to them wielding some minor influence for good.