So-Called Spoilers by James Jaeger

06 July 2007

TYPICAL STATEMENT FROM A CONCERNED CITIZEN:

"I wish there were time for voters to be re-educated because I really like Ron Paul however the reality is that Dr. Paul has zero chance. I have wasted votes in the past. The fact is that Nader cost this nation a great deal, including the lives of many young soldiers. Ross Perot might have cost Bush Sr. an election. Therefore I will choose not to vote for a "spoiler" again only because I don't want to see the worst candidate win."

The above statement could have come from you or 50 million other people: whether or not to vote for the better candidate, even though you believe it's "impossible" for them win. If you feel voting for the better candidate will thus WASTE your vote (because then your vote won't be available for some other candidate who you feel is the lesser of the evils), then you may be inclined to avoid voting for the "spoiler" candidate.

This is a tough decision, especially in today's moral- and ethical-challenged society -- the idea that one should NOT vote for who they feel is the best candidate. This "decision" would have been totally ALIEN in early American society, yet today people discuss it as if it had some kind of valid moral or ethical basis.

It's true, if you vote for "spoilers" things WILL probably be bad in the short-term, but how do you think things got so bad in the first place? They got bad because you as a citizen have shirked your responsibility to do the right thing -- vote for the candidates your conscience dictated regardless of the short-term consequence.

In the future, if you make it your firm policy to vote for the candidates you know in your heart will be best for the country (the so called "spoilers"), things WILL eventually improve -- the "spoilers" WILL get into office and spoil things for the entrenched incumbents. The improvement will come over the long-term because, with every election, the best candidates will GAIN in the percentages and the candidates that are in there simply to maintain the status quo will fade.

The slower, less ethical people in society will eventually notice these gains and, if you spread the methodology advocated in this article, people will eventually realize WHY it's happening. MOST PEOPLE WILL EVENTUALLY ALSO REALIZE THAT IT WAS IMMORAL FOR THEM TO HAVE VOTED FOR ANYTHING OTHER THAN WHO THEIR CONSCIENCE DICTATED IN THE FIRST PLACE.

And eventually people will realize that to continuously AVOID voting for the "SPOILERS" will eventually SPOIL the country -- for the calculus of such an irrational voting "strategy" will eventually relegate the country an eternity of steadily worsening conditions. Then, as history shows, there will be a bloody conflict to "correct" the long-standing "political market." If people realize that we didn't get into this condition over night, and they realize that they are part to BLAME, they will be more willing to bite the bullet, a bullet that they deserve. Even though it will be hell in the short-term, at least there WILL be a light at the end of the tunnel.

But there's another positive note for all of those of you who are hesitant about voting your conscience. With the velocity of today's information flows things can change at EXPONENTIAL rates rather than LINEAR rates. This means, if you vote for the candidates that are the best regardless, AND you pass this voting philosophy on to others, the percentage increase the so-called spoilers will get in each subsequent election will increase exponentially. Thus, you will see change far more rapidly than you may expect. BUT you must be willing to invest your courage in your conscience and in the LONG-term -- not just the instant mashed potatoes short-term.

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