Clay, with your permission i am going to share this because you’re making the point much better than i could. i always feel the attack on incrementalism is a way to stop change & is promoted at the core by Dark Money Groups. The real way to get involved is to go to your local major party HQ & volunteer. Then in January run for a local party position 7 start preparing for the next election cycle- bring your Ideas & Positions — but validated by your volunteering. Next figure out how your party of choice works. I spent alot of time at the Dem Convention explaining to first time Delegates-especially Bernie folks- that they were now Insiders. The truth that the Democratic Insiderdum is a lot like the rings of Saturn-impressive from a distance but up close just a collection of rocks of various sizes that some time collide with each other orbiting a group of concepts such as Human Rights & Socioeconomic Uplift for All People. That said I still view the Republican center as the Dark Tower of Mordor only now topped by a sometimes Blind eye.

The problem w/ 3rd parties is that they are filled with intellectually passionate people who don’t want to do the hard work of politics. They would rather write blogs, post to social media,or argue w/people in Coffee shops & Bars. They also love the attention that Demonstrations bring but are unwillng to do the hard work of registering voters, identifing supporters and then Getting Out The Vote(GOTV). The difficulty of setting up that kind of structure means the 3RD Parties can only expect support from 5x5 voters- that is the hard core self turnouting kind. These voters however have certain characteristics- the Swing State versions almost never vote for non viable Protest candidates especially if 1 side is not clearly ahead. Elections are usually won by turning out occasional voters(1x5's,2x5s & 3x5s) & registering new voters who support you(new regs who sign up w/in 90 days of an election have a turnout rate of 85%). Trump has shown a propensity to motivate low turnout voters to turn out & the unregistered to register but he’s losing as many as he’s winning from the first group & losing the new regs by at least 3–1. The fact that the Republican Establishment is dubious of Trump means that its hard for unregistered Pro Trump voters to register unless there are more local reasons to do VR- which is usually already Red areas/States.

Clay I do have 2 quibles with your otherwise spot on thesis.1) Every voter who voted for Nader to send a message to Democrats/Clintons/Gore bares MORAL responsiblity for all the bad deeds of the GW Bush Administration- Ridiculous Tax Cuts for Top Earners, Iraq War- all of it plus ISIL, Katrina Aftermath / Response & the Crash of 2008/Housing Bust/Wall Street Mess. Since 9/11 would still of happened some sort of Afghan Operation/War was inevitable. This is not my idea but that of a Florida Bernie or Bust Delegate from Florida I saw interviewed who said that she was that voter in 2000 & plans to vote for Hillary despite all misgivings that she has about her possible Policies.

2) If you are a regular REPUBLICAN VOTER who would be voting anyway, this one time a vote for a Republican ticket(Johnson/Weld)would be an appropriate reminder to the Dark Tower that you want real Republicans as Nominees in the future- you should not expect either to win. In that sense it is a choice that you’ll have Hillary for the next 4 years.