Top 10 Best Reasons to Vote Third Party in 2020
You've heard it before. "A vote for a third party is a wasted vote." But let's be honest. How much longer are you supposed to play cheerleader for a system that treats you like a benchwarmer?
Maybe you're sick of the never-ending loop of promises that vanish faster than your paycheck. Maybe you're ready to support candidates who actually act like they've read the Constitution. Or maybe you've realized that putting your name behind a party that doesn't just recycle old ideas isn't throwing your vote away. It's putting it to work somewhere else.
This list is about those reasons. The bold. The practical. The idealistic. The deeply logical. Some are about policy. Others about principle. Scroll through, vote for the ones that speak to you, and see what other voters think actually deserves attention beyond the red and blue echo chamber.
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The two leading parties are hypocrites
Republicans state that they believe in small government, yet they support actions such as:
- Going to war without the consent of Congress
- Criminalizing drugs and prostitution
- Abolishing gay marriage
- Expanding the PATRIOT Act
Democrats state that they want to weaken wealth inequality and corporate power in politics, yet they:
- Accept millions in corporate donations
- Support laws that grant corporations subsidies and protection from competition
- Support laws which allow undocumented immigrants to take American jobs
And, of course, I could go on.
Really, the last president that held conservative principles was Coolidge, and the last Democrat was Johnson, if you're going by the two parties' definitions.
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Neither side brings change
Every single Republican or Democrat promises change, yet we've never gotten any. For instance, President Obama stated that he would close Guantanamo Bay, make health insurance more affordable, pull the U.S. out of Middle Eastern conflicts, and repeal most of Bush's policies.
The same goes for the current President. He promised to grow the economy, expand health insurance, lower the crime rate, etc. So far, not only has he not accomplished any of this, but he pursues goals that directly conflict with his campaign promises. The current GOP healthcare bill would strip healthcare from millions, which would impoverish more people and contribute to a rising crime rate. Also, even after the massive tax cuts that the Trump campaign promises, many economists project that it would bring little growth. Some even project that the economy would contract under his proposals.
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Third parties have some good ideas
For instance, the Libertarian Party wishes to:
- End U.S. involvement in conflicts that do not threaten us
- Simplify the tax code
- Remove government interference in people's lives
And the Green Party wishes to:
- Reduce wealth inequality through a more fair tax system
- Make areas such as education and healthcare more affordable and available to all
- Protect the environment
Wow, now that I think about it, Libertarians are the real conservatives, and Greens are the real liberals.
I agree, the Green Party would be a good choice. If the two leading candidates are terrible again, we could vote for a candidate that actually matters.
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The world has suffered under two-party leadership
Under Republican administrations:
- The national debt has massively increased
- Unnecessary wars have been declared
- Civil liberties have been eradicated
- Poverty rates have increased
Under Democratic administrations:
- The tax code has grown increasingly complex and unethical
- Bank bailouts have become increasingly common
- The education system has been crippled
- The Constitution has been continuously violated
I think you get my point.
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Third parties have an incentive to accomplish as much as possible
Since Democrats and Republicans are practically guaranteed the election every four years, they don't have a very strong incentive to accomplish their goals. Third parties, however, do not have that same safety net, so they are more likely to be more efficient in passing legislation in order to draw voters in the next election.
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Third parties are growing more popular
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Voting for the lesser of two evils is still immoral
Imagine having to choose between Hitler or Stalin. Who would you vote for? Neither, of course! They're both murderous madmen! But, in today's society, that logic doesn't apply. People feel compelled to vote for the candidate that they dislike the least, which leads to bad politicians being repeatedly elected.
If this type of thinking withered away, and most people voted for politicians that they actually believed in, or abstained from voting at all if they could not find a match, then the world would be a much better place.
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The Founding Fathers warned against a two-party system
The founding fathers warned against the type of system that we have today, stating that it would lead to corruption. They weren't too far off the mark. They tried their best to prevent such a system from taking form, but they accidentally began the system themselves by having a heated debate over the Constitution and the role of the federal government. This led to the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists, and the two parties evolved over a long period of time to become the two parties that we have today.
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Electing a third-party candidate would increase competition between candidates
With more competition for the position, the two parties would have to reform their platforms in order to attract more voters. Candidates would actually have to keep their promises and would have a greater tendency to avoid scandals.
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Electing a third-party candidate would make voting more popular
Most don't vote today because they dislike the notion of voting for a lesser evil. If third parties had a chance of winning, more people would come out to vote. This would make our people more inclusive in the way that government is run and would decrease corruption.
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Both Trump and Biden are bad
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Third parties have more rational ideas