Quote:
Originally Posted by VPI97
Is it solely because they are the only two options and the system forces us to choose a lesser evil?
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I think that's probably part of it. Not necessarily the "only two options" thing so much as that politics writ large is kind of a Prisoner's Dilemma. If everybody votes for a third party candidate instead of a Republican or a Democrat, maybe things change (though "change" doesn't necessarily imply that it's a beneficial change). If, on the other hand, some people vote their self-interest - vote the "laundry," if you will - then their "team" wins while everybody else is left wondering wtf just happened.
Without a third party viable as a going concern without that sort of electioneering, people maybe feel trapped. If we had proportional representation in Congress instead of the system we have, maybe a third party could establish itself well enough to change the dynamic at the Presidential level.
On the matter of "choosing a lesser evil," that probably depends on how you want to parse it.
Even as I'm adamant that Trump needs to lose, I can't really say I'm excited about Hillary Clinton, either. But you know what? Neither Trump qua Trump nor Hillary are what's ultimately making my November decision for me.
That would be the behavior of Congressional Republicans for the last six years, and I refuse to reward that. Any of it. I'm not going to be happy about voting for Hillary Clinton, but I'm not going to lose one second's sleep should she be elected President.
The reaction from contemporary Republicans over watching their bogeywoman of the last 20 years enter the White House just as there's a Supreme Court vacancy waiting to be filled will sustain me just fine over the next four years.
Hopefully by 2020 the insanity which has gripped the GOP since 2001 will have abated, and maybe I'll have an actual choice again instead of having to metaphorically slap the hands of impertinent children.