What defines this election season might be voters’ uneasiness with the leading candidates. One is every bad stereotype about his party on steroids while the other is so much the embodiment of politics in general that her own personality no longer exists. Indeed, our dilemmas mirror one another. The Republican establishment will do anything to thwart its frontrunner, even dividing the party if necessary. The Democratic establishment, on the other hand, will go as far as admitting on television that they have guards in place to undermine grassroots candidates like Bernie Sanders, an admission that ironically works in Hillary Clinton’s favor. To be sure, they try to discourage voters from dividing the party by invoking the lesser of two evils scare tactic. That our respective problems so perfectly align is perhaps the most poignant indicator that the Republican and Democratic parties are more similar than they are different. Sure they diverge on social issues, but the very essence of both parties is to persuade voters that they have our best interests in mind while behind the smiles and rainbow or confederate flags we find the same billionaires who manage to get richer no matter who is in office.
So what are we, the voters, supposed to do? Sure, the lesser evil game is pretty persuading, if you have only two choices. But keeping Trump (or Clinton) out of the White House loses clout when you realize there are two more candidates. A republican with eight years’ executive experience is guaranteed to be on the ballot and many Republicans accept a false premise and express that they would vote for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump! With two terms as governor of New Mexico (of all states) under his belt, Gary Johnson is running again for president as the Libertarian nominee. Libertarians are the ones who want small government to actually be small, as in letting same-sex married couples protect their marijuana with guns, knowing the NSA isn’t spying on their pornographic internet searches. Okay, fine, so you are a social conservative. All the more reason to ask: really Donald Trump? I tend to support more of a social safety net than Libertarianism advocates, so this is not me telling you to vote for Johnson. But be informed. By the way, David Koch was on the Libertarian Party’s 1980 ticket as Vice President. (The Republicans are the ones who like the Kochs, right?) Further, given the importance of immigration this election, voters on the Right ought to at least do some research on a candidate who knows something about living in a border state, not to mention governing one.
On the left as well, people like Jim Webb feel the need to choose Trump over Clinton. Bernie backers think they must support Hillary to keep The Donald from nominating Supreme Court Justices; or support Trump to keep Clinton out of the White House. But what if you take Bernie Sanders’ platform, refine it a bit, fill in a couple holes here and there, and give it a more eloquent voice while consoling the White Feminists because that voice is a woman’s? That too-good-to-be-true candidate is Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party likely nominee who also ran in 2012, making her already the most successful female presidential candidate to date. During that race Dr. Stein was arrested trying to get into the debate with President Obama and Mitt Romney! Politics aside, everyone, Trump and Clinton supporters and Libertarians included, should appreciate her advocacy for ranked-choice voting and open debates.
Whether you actually like Gary Johnson or Jill Stein, consider this: Democrats and Republicans make up barely half of Americans; the other half is independent in some way. Yet, the Republican and Democratic establishments have bullied 98% of voters into choosing the lesser evil. Why should the two parties allow things to change when voting statistics are in their favor? Even if you love Donald Trump or find it in you to vote Blue no matter who(m), do you really only want two choices in an election? The best way to make a difference this year may not be to vote for the lesser of two evils; instead, irritated voters have the option to stop playing the game altogether, whether we realize it or not. The dominant parties will have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in vain to find that we, the people, have realized a way out.
