Where does the GOP stand?

[War Eagle!!!]

He is on the ballot in all 50 states.
Frankly, I'm tired of this shit. Why is it a waste?

So why the fuck not?

Because a third party candidate will never win...

[Kaos]

If you're going to vote for somebody off the wall who has no chance like Gary Johnson?  Might as well write a name, any name, on a piece of toilet paper, use it for its intended purpose and then flush it away. 

Sadly that's where we are.  I once voted for Ross Perot just as a means of protest.  Except I wasn't protesting, I was just handing Clinton the election.  It was a stupid wasteful, spiteful vote. 

I won't ever do that again.  I will look at the people who have a legitimate chance and (in the majority of cases) choose between the evil that resides behind door number one and the futility behind door number two. 

Voted for Clinton the second time over Dole. Dole didn't move me and Clinton seemed to be getting things done.

Was I motivated to vote for GW Bush? Not really. I had the misfortune to meet him prior to the election and thought he was one of the dumbest people I'd ever talked to.  But when the other choice is whackadoo Gore?  I'm voting Bush.  Bush vs. Crazy Ass Liar Kerry?  Easy again.   

I thought McCain was an incredibly weak Republican choice.  But versus stuffed-shirt, hazy origin, never-done-anything Obama -- who I was flabbergasted ever even got the nomination he was such a fop -- I'm voting AGAINST him. 

I didn't vote FOR Romney in 2012.  I voted against everything the Muslim-In-Chief had done. Every lie he spouted, every coverup the media assisted in. 

This year I'm reduced again to voting against something.  I don't think the country can survive a Hillary Clinton presidency.  I know it can't survive a lunatic Bernie Sanders occupancy.  So I'm not so much FOR Trump (or Cruzio or Rubuz or whoever) I'm just against whoever wins the other side.

My belief is that Trump happens to be the only candidate with the emotional resonance to stir people to the polls in numbers enough to overcome the entitled masses who will flock to Bernie or Hillary.  The fact that the guy is an avowed socialist -- something we fought against in WW2 -- and people are falling for his failed message stuns me. 

It's sad that we're reduced to that. 

Elections have become almost useless anyway.  When I go to the polls I see all these positions and people I've never heard of and I'm supposed to make a choice?  I typically write my own name in for one and then a few other people in for the others.  I've gotten at least one vote for some office in every election for years. 

[wesfau2]

He is on the ballot in all 50 states.
Frankly, I'm tired of this shit. Why is it a waste? Wouldn't it have been considered a waste to vote for an open Socialist not too long ago? Or a Fascist reality show billionaire like Trump?

WHY is common sense being treated as such a ridiculous notion? I realize I "wasted" my vote in the past. Two reasons I don't care. 1) It was who I agreed with more, and I was voting my conscious. Lesser of two evils is a bullshit notion if they're both evil. 2) I wanted to lay some foundation and try to dispel this notion that a third party can't get any traction whatsoever. #2 was a pretty big fail, as I remember no news coverage even reported on Johnson's numbers.

But I've been fed up with this bullshit for over a decade, and with this clown show going on this cycle I'm beyond fed up by a few lightyears. Everything is out the window now. So why the fuck not?

Florida is often very evenly split (see: 2000 Bush v Gore).  If Trump is the Repub candidate, I can't risk not casting a vote for the Dem candidate. 

[Kaos]

Florida is often very evenly split (see: 2000 Bush v Gore).  If Trump is the Repub candidate, I can't risk not casting a vote for the Dem candidate.

Remind me to come kidnap you for a bachelor party on election day. 

[AUChizad]

Lots of people answering. No one answering my question.

WHY can't Johnson get enough votes to win? In 2016 of all years?

THIS is the year. Bernie and Trump are the frontrunners. Conventional wisdom is that neither of them stood a snowball's chance in hell either, until they did.

Stop voting for these fucktarded villains and vote for common sense.

Fuck these self-fulfilling prophecies. The only reason he may not have a real chance is because everyone is saying he doesn't have a real chance. Again, the same applied to Trump and Sanders until enough people said "Fuck it, I don't care, I'm voting for the guy I want to vote for". WHY can it happen for those two fucknuts but not someone with an actual, nuanced, educated, reality-based platform?

I confidently believe that if you put everything the three of them stood for on three sheets of paper and didn't tell anyone whose was whose or what party they represented and asked the entire country to pick the one they agreed with the most, Johnson would trounce Bernie & Trump in a landslide.

So why not?

[AUTiger1]

He is on the ballot in all 50 states.
Frankly, I'm tired of this shit. Why is it a waste? Wouldn't it have been considered a waste to vote for an open Socialist not too long ago? Or a Fascist reality show billionaire like Trump?

WHY is common sense being treated as such a ridiculous notion? I realize I "wasted" my vote in the past. Two reasons I don't care. 1) It was who I agreed with more, and I was voting my conscious. Lesser of two evils is a bullshit notion if they're both evil. 2) I wanted to lay some foundation and try to dispel this notion that a third party can't get any traction whatsoever. #2 was a pretty big fail, as I remember no news coverage even reported on Johnson's numbers.

But I've been fed up with this bullshit for over a decade, and with this clown show going on this cycle I'm beyond fed up by a few lightyears. Everything is out the window now. So why the fuck not?

Good to know.  Then Johnson has sealed my vote.

I don't see it as a wasted vote.  Like you said, you are voting your conscious.  You are voting the guy you want.

For your #2........we (and I include you) Libertarians are a lot like Auburn.  We are our own worst enemy.  We had a guy in late 2014 up until mid 2015 that was gaining traction in Rand Paul.  He was standing up for individual freedoms and filibustering like a mad man until the White House gave him a yes or no answer to a question.  My god, he was making people tune into C-Span for hours that normally wouldn't watch a second of it.  Somehow he still couldn't get more than 30 or 40% support from those that self identify as Libertarians.  Libertarians are so damn hard headed that it's either all or nothing.  It's not going to happen overnight.  One we need real grass root campaigns and win some house and senate seats.  Two, we need to brush aside this "it's got to be 100%" mentality and elect someone like a Paul that has deep Libertarian tendencies, even if it's not what we agree with 100%. 

He was labeled too Republican or too moderate Democrat leaning and couldn't build on what little support he gained from the more middle/moderate of either party.  Democrats and the Republicans did all they could to dismiss him. McCain, McConnell, Graham and other establishment Republicans trashed him as crazy or wacko-bird, Democrats called him the same and Fox did one hell of a job distorting his policies.  When both sides immediately went on the attack, I knew I had my guy.  I just didn't think they would stop his momentum that he had going the way they did. 

[CCTAU]

I don't see it as a wasted vote.  Like you said, you are voting your conscious.  You are voting the guy you want.

Everybody else does. The left thanks you for your vote.

Sometimes the war is won off of strategy, not just winning a battle.

[AUChizad]

Everybody else does. The left thanks you for your vote.

Sometimes the war is won off of strategy, not just winning a battle.

What you can't fathom is that the idea of a Trump presidency is equally abhorrent, possibly even MORE than a Sanders or Hillary presidency. That's not to say they wouldn't be both terrible, but if they're equally awful, I don't give a shit which side the coin flip lands on. I care more that I voted on principle, and hopefully did what I could to at least contribute to the end of the validity of this argument by at least putting a dent in the electorate.

The common thread in BOTH of the leading candidates is disgust and distrust in "the system". They want "an outsider". Johnson is the ultimate outsider, but actually not a fucking idiot who understands the nuances of government. He is undoubtedly the better candidate. So I'm going to vote for him.

[AUTiger1]

Everybody else does. The left thanks you for your vote.

Sometimes the war is won off of strategy, not just winning a battle.

They are welcome then.  I refuse to vote for someone who will in my opinion bring about the ruin of this country in 8 years instead of 4.  The thing is, they both will ruin the country.  Trump is not the "conservative" that he wants people to believe.  He is very moderate liberal.  Leopards never change their spots.  Both are going to make things worse, but people are either to blind or stupid to realize it.

[Snaggletiger]

They are welcome then.  I refuse to vote for someone who will in my opinion bring about the ruin of this country in 8 years instead of 4.  The thing is, they both will ruin the country.  Trump is not the "conservative" that he wants people to believe.  He is very moderate liberal.  Leopards never change their spots.  Both are going to make things worse, but people are either to blind or stupid to realize it.

You callin' me blind?

[AUTiger1]

You callin' me blind?

Yep.

[Snaggletiger]

Yep.

If I could see you, I'd hit you in the forehead so hard.

[wesfau2]

He is on the ballot in all 50 states.
Frankly, I'm tired of this shit. Why is it a waste? Wouldn't it have been considered a waste to vote for an open Socialist not too long ago? Or a Fascist reality show billionaire like Trump?

WHY is common sense being treated as such a ridiculous notion? I realize I "wasted" my vote in the past. Two reasons I don't care. 1) It was who I agreed with more, and I was voting my conscious. Lesser of two evils is a bullshit notion if they're both evil. 2) I wanted to lay some foundation and try to dispel this notion that a third party can't get any traction whatsoever. #2 was a pretty big fail, as I remember no news coverage even reported on Johnson's numbers.

But I've been fed up with this bullshit for over a decade, and with this clown show going on this cycle I'm beyond fed up by a few lightyears. Everything is out the window now. So why the fuck not?

It's incremental.  It will take a long play to break the two party stranglehold.  Until then, those of us in battleground states (read: not immediately identifiable as red/blue) must participate in the dance or risk an even more unpalatable outcome (trump presidency).

[CCTAU]

What you can't fathom is that the idea of a Trump presidency is equally abhorrent, possibly even MORE than a Sanders or Hillary presidency. That's not to say they wouldn't be both terrible, but if they're equally awful, I don't give a shit which side the coin flip lands on. I care more that I voted on principle, and hopefully did what I could to at least contribute to the end of the validity of this argument by at least putting a dent in the electorate.

The common thread in BOTH of the leading candidates is disgust and distrust in "the system". They want "an outsider". Johnson is the ultimate outsider, but actually not a fucking idiot who understands the nuances of government. He is undoubtedly the better candidate. So I'm going to vote for him.

I KNOW the left will continue to ruin it. There is proof of that.

I, nor you, have any idea what Trump will do.

That is in and of itself is scary. But the perfect storm has come. The establishment created this monster, not Trump. I don't think folks are so high on Trump as they are down on ANYONE who has held office.

[AUChizad]

It's incremental.  It will take a long play to break the two party stranglehold.  Until then, those of us in battleground states (read: not immediately identifiable as red/blue) must participate in the dance or risk an even more unpalatable outcome (trump presidency).

The incremental part is exactly why I'm voting for Johnson NOW. It's why I did voted Libertarian the last two cycles. Gotta start somewhere.

But it's not like the Socialist party was getting substantial votes in America before this year...

You've got to start to start.

[CCTAU]

The incremental part is exactly why I'm voting for Johnson NOW. It's why I did voted Libertarian the last two cycles. Gotta start somewhere.

But it's not like the Socialist party was getting substantial votes in America before this year...

You've got to start to start.

You guys are idiots. Your party is not offering free shit. therfore your party will not grow. So its a wasted vote.

Sure you want to legalize weed, but the slackers smoke that anyway.

So its a lose-lose for you!

[wesfau2]

The incremental part is exactly why I'm voting for Johnson NOW. It's why I did voted Libertarian the last two cycles. Gotta start somewhere.

But it's not like the Socialist party was getting substantial votes in America before this year...

You've got to start to start.

I'm saying that the "start" will have to happen in states with a predetermined outcome.  The immediate stakes in my battleground state are too high.

[GH2001]

Lots of people answering. No one answering my question.

WHY can't Johnson get enough votes to win? In 2016 of all years?

THIS is the year. Bernie and Trump are the frontrunners. Conventional wisdom is that neither of them stood a snowball's chance in hell either, until they did.

Stop voting for these fucktarded villains and vote for common sense.

Fuck these self-fulfilling prophecies. The only reason he may not have a real chance is because everyone is saying he doesn't have a real chance. Again, the same applied to Trump and Sanders until enough people said "Fuck it, I don't care, I'm voting for the guy I want to vote for". WHY can it happen for those two fucknuts but not someone with an actual, nuanced, educated, reality-based platform?

I confidently believe that if you put everything the three of them stood for on three sheets of paper and didn't tell anyone whose was whose or what party they represented and asked the entire country to pick the one they agreed with the most, Johnson would trounce Bernie & Trump in a landslide.

So why not?

I'll be honest man, if you had not told me I wouldn't know he was even running. Some of that is the media. I get that. But I read a lot. I stay into with ear to the ground on politics. I have several friends and family members involved in politics more than I (meaning working on campaigns, for current office holders, etc) and they didn't know either when I mentioned it. He's almost like a black hole.

WE!! Is right. It's hard for third party to get traction with out millions of dollars in the bank. That's the advantage of running in one of the main 2 parties. You get the exposure and money. Why didn't Johnson run on the GOP side? There may have been an opening for him this year. Esp seeing how well Kasich has done.

Rand Paul was a disappointment. I really liked him and hate his campaign really never took off.

[Snaggletiger]

A lot of weed talk in here today.  Can somebody hook a brother up with a little for my glaucoma?

[wesfau2]

A lot of weed talk in here today.  Can somebody hook a brother up with a little for my glaucoma?

You didn't put in on this.....man!