Quote:
Originally Posted by jay santos
They're a problem in that they can sway a state's electoral votes to the wrong person.
Politician A 46%
Politician B 44%
Policitian C (more closely aligned to B than A) 10%
They're a nuisance. If they can't break the top two, they have no business being there.
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The flaw in your analysis is that you think it's easy to determine who is more closely aligned to whom. It's far more complicated than that. A recent poll of Barr supporters showed 56% prefered Obama over McCain. The reason, I think, is that people who decide to buck convention to vote for a third party guy are doing it because they have long given up the desire to vote for a major party candidate. Even if most Libertarians came from the GOP, that doesn't mean they are more closely aligned. In fact, on many issues (civil liberties, etc.) they are more closely aligned with the democrats right now.