Editor,
I'm all for the point of view of several Independent groups, including the LP and the Greens, but in the presidential race, if John McCain is not your first choice, then a vote for any candidate other than Barack Obama only increases the odds that McCain will win.
Remember Putney Swope? They all voted for him because they figured nobody else would, so it was safe. If you think that way and trust everybody else will vote for Obama, and you vote for your pet mini-party, you're wrong. There is only one possible alternative to seeing McCain in the White House, and that is to actually accrue more votes for Obama. The votes for other candidates just don't count. They just shuck them.
If you are truly for McCain, then vote for McCain. But if you are not for McCain, then your only hope of keeping him out of office is to vote for Obama, no matter whom else you might prefer to see hold the job. If you vote for anyone else, you lean the election a little bit against yourself.
Say you don't like either man: Then if there is one you like less, you'd better vote for the other. You will be served chocolate or vanilla, and not strawberry or pistachio, even if you see it on the menu. Pick one, and vote for him, or resign yourself to take whatever you get and don't bother.
James Post
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