There's a lot of talk in the media about Barr stealing votes from McCain and Nader stealing votes from Obama. Did they ever -own- the votes? by Stefan Fargus
(libertarian)
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Contrary to what is very often cited in the media, I find the very notion that a vote can be "stolen" absurd. Likewise, it seems strange that candidates that most often get far less media exposure, yet still yield a percentage in the polls, such as Barr and Nader are referred to as "spoilers".
"If Barr is successful in his home state of Georgia," they might say, "it may very well take the state away from McCain and hand it to Obama." Statements like this give the impression that somehow, McCain deserved the vote and Barr came in and took it away. The fact that McCain's platform bears a tremendous resemblance to that of Obama couldn't possibly have anything to do with why genuine conservatives won't pull the lever for him, could it?
Then, of course, there's the line cited by both major parties and their supporters in the corporate media declaring that a vote for Barr or Nader is just a wasted vote... They can't win anyway. This is how they keep people trapped into the duopoly, how they silence voices of dissent and how they retain their stranglehold on power. The big-shots of both parties want you to believe that your voting for a third party candidate is a waste because they know that the vast majority of Americans are fed up with both of them, their corruption and their non-stop lies. The fact of the matter is that they're scared to death of people like Ron Paul and Bob Barr and anyone else who wants to tell you the truth. If you knew the truth, after all, you'd probably vote 90% of the incumbants out of office.
The bottom line, the most important bit of information I want to convey here, is that you should vote for the person who you believe will best serve our nation. The talking heads, the party leaders, the pundits and talk-show hosts are all in it for the profit. Don't let them decide who you should vote for. If everyone just voted for the best person, instead of the lesser of the two evils that the major parties run every four years, perhaps they might get shaken up enough to start tackling real problems and doing what needs to be done to get this country back on track.
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Posted By: Michael P. Weinheimer
Date: 2008-06-15 07:18:32
If we were to use MSM logic, then it could be perceived that McCain is stealing conservative votes away from Bob Barr because many people believe Bob Barr is more conservative.
