ISideWIth...

[wesfau2]

Your hanging chad hates him.

Balance must be achieved.

[The Prowler]

Bernie Sanders 85%
Jill Stein 84%
Hillary Clinton 77%
Gary Johnson 68%

Rafael Cruz 55%
Marco Rubio 51%
John Kasich 27%

[jmar]

Sanders 85%
Clinton 80%
Vulgarwindbagflipflopper 75%

[AUChizad]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article64842377.html

Keith Larson: Voting to get a good night’s sleep

“So, who are you voting for then, Larson?”

I’ve been asked that many times since recently describing the top five presidential candidates as a lying socialist, another liar, a Republican with about as much experience as Senator Barack Obama, an insider-wolf in outsider-sheep’s clothing, and a circus ringmaster.

Having worn no political jersey for decades and with candidates as described, I’ll not be participating in the primary. Unless there’s been a dramatic change, in November I’ll vote for Gary Johnson, the former two-term Republican governor of New Mexico. He’s running as a Libertarian as he did in 2012 when he received slightly less than one percent of votes cast, including mine.

Johnson will get more this year, maybe much more. But he won’t win, an acknowledgment which leads to the next question I’ll be asked.

“So, how you gonna feel throwing away your vote, Larson?”

I will not be throwing away my vote. I will be following the command of Henry David Thoreau: “Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it.”

For me, this means government that follows strict constitutional limits, ensures free markets, secures borders, and has fair immigration policies. It means a strong military for defense but not endless interventions. It means a balanced budget and term limits on congressmen.

The government that would command my respect would itself first respect that people are endowed to live free – to worship as they want, speak as they want, arm themselves if they want. It would recognize that people are sovereign and adults have the liberty to do things others might not agree with – to marry whom they want, make decisions about their own bodies and what they put in them, and generally live as they want as long as no harm is done to others.

These are also many of Johnson’s stated beliefs. He represents the government that would command my respect more so than any other candidate, so he’ll get my vote. Thoreau knew political change begins when people decide to stand for something, even if at first they’re only part of the slightly less than one percent.

My vote will count because every vote counts, not just those of the victors. It will be cast fearlessly for what I believe in, not reluctantly for the “lesser of two evils.” After all, the government we have today is the result of decades of voting for the lesser of two evils, as Johnson often says.

Our Founders didn’t choose the lesser of two evils. They chose freedom and liberty, for which they fought with no guarantee they’d win. They risked losing, for what they believed. People today go to the polls and vote for less than what they believe, afraid that otherwise their jersey will lose.

I will once again vote my beliefs, and I will sleep well. We are all free to vote as we choose, and sleep as those choices allow.

[WiregrassTiger]

I will sleep well, after I vote for Trump.

TRUMP! TRUMP! TRUMP! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEWEE!

[CCTAU]

You can quote Ghandi if you want, but you are still throwing your vote toward Hitlary!

But you can sleep well at night knowing you didn't vote for that devil Trump. (although the devil hitlary seems to be OK)!

[Kaos]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article64842377.html

So Johnson has two votes now.  Only about 64,999,998 to go! 

[AUChizad]

http://reason.com/blog/2016/03/24/gary-johnson-could-pull-support-from-bot

Libertarian Gary Johnson Could Pull Support From Both Clinton and Trump
The Libertarian Party candidate got double digit support in a new poll, pulling hypothetical voters from both the Trump and Clinton camps.
Elizabeth Nolan Brown|Mar. 24, 2016 3:17 pm

A new national poll from Monmouth University explores how things would shake out in a three-way contest between Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and libertarian hopeful Gary Johnson. While support for Clinton and Trump far outpaces love for the Libertarian Party (LP) candidate, Johnson did wind up polling in the double-digits, with support pulled from both the Trump and Clinton camps.

In a hypothetical two-way race between Clinton and Trump race, 48 percent of poll respondents chose Clinton and 38 percent chose Trump. But enter Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico (as a Republican) and the current frontrunner among LP presidential candidates. With Johnson in the mix, Clinton earned just 42 percent of the hypothetical vote and Trump just 34 percent.

Johnson, meanwhile, was the top choice for 11 percent of those polled. His highest vote share came from Republican-leaning states. 

Neither Clinton nor Trump were rated terribly favorably, with just 30 percent of respondents reporting favorable feelings for Trump and 60 percent viewing him unfavorably. Clinton was viewed a little better overall, with 40 percent rating her favorably and 51 percent rating her unfavorably. Johnson was viewed slightly more unfavorably (15 percent) than favorably (9 percent), but the biggest proportion of respondents said they didn't know enough about him to form an opinion.

"A vigorous third party campaign is a very real possibility this year, but it is not yet clear what the impact could be," said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, in a statement. "Including Johnson’s name in our polling seems to be more of a placeholder for voters who are not particularly thrilled with either major party choice right now."

The poll of 1,008 American adults was conducted March 17-20, 2016.

Now imagine if he was participating in debates or the media gave him 1/100th of the attention they give Trumplary...

[Kaos]

http://reason.com/blog/2016/03/24/gary-johnson-could-pull-support-from-bot
Now imagine if he was participating in debates or the media gave him 1/100th of the attention they give Trumplary...

Or imagine if he got off the donkey and quit tilting at windmills.

[AUChizad]

http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2016/03/26/libertarian-candidate-gains-in-polls-gary-johnson.cnn

[Kaos]

http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2016/03/26/libertarian-candidate-gains-in-polls-gary-johnson.cnn

Henceforth thy name shall no longer be Chaddeus, it shalt be Thaddeus.

[AUChizad]

Henceforth thy name shall no longer be Chaddeus, it shalt be Thaddeus.

11% vs. 42% & 34% is not a lost cause. If he gets to 15% he gets on the debate stage. If he does that with two HISTORICALLY unlikable candidates on both sides and destroys them both, I see no reason to believe he can't win the presidency. If a self-avowed Socialist has made it this far, probably to be edged out by someone currently under federal criminal investigation, while the other side runs a fascist blathering idiot reality show star, why is it so hard to believe that a rational, reasonable, likable, successful two term governor candidate can make a realistic run? I'm certain there were people, yourself included, that the current frontrunners were "lost causes" as well.

[Kaos]

11% vs. 42% & 34% is not a lost cause. If he gets to 15% he gets on the debate stage. If he does that with two HISTORICALLY unlikable candidates on both sides and destroys them both, I see no reason to believe he can't win the presidency. If a self-avowed Socialist has made it this far, probably to be edged out by someone currently under federal criminal investigation, while the other side runs a fascist blathering idiot reality show star, why is it so hard to believe that a rational, reasonable, likable, successful two term governor candidate can make a realistic run? I'm certain there were people, yourself included, that the current frontrunners were "lost causes" as well.

It's never gonna happen. 

All this guy is going to do is hand the election to Hellary.  He's not going to pull any black votes.  He's not going to pull any latino votes.  He's not going to pull any gay votes (well, maybe one... ).  He's not going to pull any gimmedat votes.   



If he continues down this pointless path the only votes he will siphon will be those that would have gone to the anti-Hillbillary candidate. 

He. Cannot. Win. 

He can only guarantee that the dimbulbocrats do. 

He needs to get out. 

[AUChizad]

It's never gonna happen. 

All this guy is going to do is hand the election to Hellary.  He's not going to pull any black votes.  He's not going to pull any latino votes.  He's not going to pull any gay votes (well, maybe one... ).  He's not going to pull any gimmedat votes.   

U don't read gud.

In a hypothetical two-way race between Clinton and Trump race, 48 percent of poll respondents chose Clinton and 38 percent chose Trump. But enter Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico (as a Republican) and the current frontrunner among LP presidential candidates. With Johnson in the mix, Clinton earned just 42 percent of the hypothetical vote and Trump just 34 percent.

Johnson, meanwhile, was the top choice for 11 percent of those polled. His highest vote share came from Republican-leaning states. 

Without Johnson in the race, Clinton crushes Trump 48 to 38. With Johnson in the race, he pulls 6% from Hillary and 4% Trump. I know "the under educated" are Trump's wheelhouse, but 6 > 4. He's pulling more from Democrats than Republicans. He narrows the gap between the two.

You're wrong.

If there were no third parties on my ballot, I would hold my nose and vote for Hillary, then take a Silkwood shower. Because I'm a reasonable rational person that recognizes Trump for the dangerous clown that he is. There are hundreds of thousands of voters in the exact same position as me. Right-leaning, proponents of liberty who hate both of the current candidates, but would at least prefer to vote for the one who can string coherent sentences together if it came down to that Sophie's choice.

You'd think you'd want Johnson to siphon votes away from people like me.