Between a flip-flopper who is still under FBI investigation and a hatemonger with supposedly fake hair, it wouldn’t be outrageous to consider voting for other presidential candidates.
Under the bipartisan system, picking a third party is viewed as a fruitless and laughable action. But this line of thought is just another way to undermine and suppress voices in the United States when, in reality, all votes matter.
It’s a common pattern to see the candidate of the third party lose in general elections. U.S. voters, however, need to quit voting for the two parties that they feel don’t represent them. There is always another choice.
People criticize those who vote for third parties. It’s either because they don’t want the nation’s current political norm to change, or they’re afraid of “wasting” their vote by not using it on the two parties that commonly produce presidents.
Third-party politicians continue to try because the two-party system was never intended to reign supreme. George Washington’s Farewell Address even noted the dangers a bipartisan system can bring.
Third parties exist because citizens can vote for whomever they like. Despite the little media coverage and attention they receive, their presence ensures nearly every U.S. citizen has a platform to get behind.
Third-party politicians, despite their views or affiliations, are why the nation was founded, why people have the right to participate in politics and, most crucially, vote.
With the recent state of things, the Democratic Party and the GOP have become polarized to a point where they are equally useless.
Just eight days after the Orlando nightclub shooting, proposed pieces of legislature on gun control were shot down en masse in the Senate by senators voting, for the most part, along their party lines.
Everyone on Capitol Hill is to blame for failing to compromise — from Republicans attempting to cut off a live video feed of the chambers to Democrats attempting to use a place to pass legislation as an area to protest. None of these actions resemble finding a middle ground to accomplish work and better the nation.
These politicians have become too worried about fighting each other. They’re not finding a solution.
Voting for a third party isn’t about getting a third-party candidate elected. It’s about getting the Democrats and GOP to see a sizable number of citizens have a choice to place their faith and vote in another party.
Use your vote to help the main party leaders overcome their ignorance.
Assistant opinion editor Thomas Dwyer is a broadcast journalism sophomore and can be reached at [email protected]
