Problem is, voting is none of those things because it is totally ineffectual.

It's worse than that: voting for the dems acts against meaningful change: no one votes for 3rd options, so 3rd options never develop any potential, so no one votes for 3rd options. So they queue up to kiss either cheek of the same ass and say there was nothing they could do.

Voting 3rd party or not voting are far, far better than this stubborn nonsense.