not voting for hillary clinton is a vote for donald trump
But also THERE ARE MORE THAN TWO CHOICES IN THIS ELECTION pls people, I know it seems unlikely, but if everyone who didn’t want either candidate wrote in a name, someone else would stand a chance [and we could live with ourselves, not having voted for one or the other]
no they wouldn’t, literally do not do this
please educate yourself about nader and the 2000 presidential election before encouraging this literally terrible idea
People on both sides say “Not voting for my candidate is a vote for the other guy” No, it’s just not a vote for your fucking candidate. Vote for who you actually believe in, otherwise you might as well not vote. If Hillary actually gave a damn she would try harder than just say “Vote for me cause I’m not Trump” No bitch, how about you show me something I can believe in. God damn, no wonder so many people don’t fucking vote.
*sigh*
Let me explain why they say a vote for a 3rd candidate or not voting for Hillary is voting for Trump:
The United States does not have a direct democratic voting system. We have an indirect system called the electoral college.The electoral college is a compromise between election of the President by a vote in Congress and election of the President by a popular vote of qualified citizens.
To win the Presidency you do not need a popular majority; you need the majority of votes of the electoral college.
The way the college works is that the two parties select the delegates that will serve as electors, and the electors pledge to vote for the candidates, depending on their party affiliation, of either the democratic or republican party. So, when people go vote, they are actually going to vote for electors that have pledged to vote for a specific party/candidate.
Each state is allocated a different number of electoral seats, and so not every state is truly worth the same given that every candidate is racing to secure 270 seats (minimum required to win the election).
What’s important to note is that the electoral college is a winner take all vote in 48 of the 50 states, meaning that the candidate with the higher number of votes in a given state will get ALL of the seats. This is one of the reasons why third party candidates are a wasted vote.
Based on our country’s history, most States around the country have already been defined as either red or blue, because the majority of the people that go and vote in said states tend to stick to either one or the other no matter who is on the ballot. It becomes a bit of loyalism to a party or, more accurately, just a strong distaste towards the ideals of the other party. However, there are a few swing states that really define the elections, for each election cycle they tend to change depending on who is on the ballot.
Now, third party candidates, which is often used as a protest vote, have never worked because a) they are not written into every state ballot, meaning that there are states that don’t offer these candidates given that they did not qualify b) have rarely gotten enough votes to even be up for electoral seats c) ALWAYS end up hurting one of the two candidates, for, in close runs, they can make one of the other two candidates lose a SWING STATE.
This is what happened with Ralph Nader in 2000. The votes that he received hurt Gore in certain states, particularly florida, which led to Bush winning as he had the majority of electoral seats even though he did not have the majority in popular vote.
Now, in the latest poll, it shows that the race between Hillary and trump is very close, and, when third party candidates are involved, it actually HURTS Hillary’s chances.
Now, if it hurts her enough, Trump can obtain the much needed swing states. If he gets over 270 seats (and thus more than hillary) he WILL win the goddamn election.
This is not a year to vote for a third party candidate. This is not a man you want in the oval office of the most powerful country in the world.
There is nothing NOTHING you can pull out that will make Trump the lesser of two evils.
We live in a country that has a two party system, so yes, a vote for a 3rd party candidate or a non-vote IS actually a vote for trump.
Gonna reblog this until people GET IT!
If Hillary actually gave a damn she would try harder than just say “Vote for me cause I’m not Trump” No bitch, how about you show me something I can believe in.
You could start here.
The thing is, people are not actually looking at Hillary, they are looking at what people SAY about Hillary. Which, no matter what she does, people who don’t like her make hateful. If she says something she’s “pandering/only doing it because Bernie.” If she doesn’t put something forward, she’s “not making an effort.” Damned if she does, damned if she doesn’t.
Look, I understand progressive frustration. I’ve understood it since 1992, the first election I could vote in. But the thing is, third parties cannot spring fully formed into a presidential election. And even if a third-party candidate DID manage to win the Presidency, they would still have to work with a Congress full of Democrats and Republicans who could block a whole damn lot of anything they wanted to accomplish. You want to make a Green or Libertarian or socialist candidate 1) win and 2) able to actually fucking ACCOMPLISH anything, get your ass to your city council meetings, your county and state legislature, and get your candidates elected there, to create coalitions and ground organizations to get US representatives a campaign organizations. Build a damn party. Only caring about this every four years is like playing an instrument once a week and then expecting to be first chair in an orchestra.
And in the meantime, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, think about the vacant Supreme Court seat and the 3 justices over 75 years old right now. Think about Donald fucking Trump appointing 3 young conservatives. Think about Citizens United, and Kelo, and think about the possibility of 30 fucking years of this kind of jurisprudence privileging the rich even more. Think about reproductive rights, marriage rights, think about Miranda and search and seizure, think about voting rights. And while you are preparing the ground for your perfect candidate, make sure it will even be POSSIBLE for that perfect candidate to compete in the future.
Reblogging (again) because all of this.
Republicans want to pass legislation to allow discrimination against lgbtq people, restrict abortion access even when the woman’s life is at stake, give corporations more power, reduce access to healthcare, take away benefits that people rely on, deport people who’ve built their lives here, and fuck knows what next.
Trump will pass those bills.
Hillary will do her damndest to stop them.
Lives are actually at stake, and you are going to waste a vote because it makes you feel good?
Your idea of “voting your conscience” is to not stand in the way of people actually dying?
I don't usually reblog political posts, but this is too important.
