[Blackfork]

The protest vote thread opened and closed without making the point that NOW is the time to hammer your (or the) elected officals with your message. Just because you are sick of politicians and the silly season doesn't mean its time to slack off. I'm telling them I didn't vote for them and will NOT vote for them NOR send money to anything but the party that reflects my values. If that means I vote Libertarian, then so be it, and God Bless a party that stands on American values.

They will get the message and NOW is the time to send it. When voting rolls around in two years we can be more pragmatic, if need be, but IMHO, this is the time to tell your Republican candidate or office holder that you voted Libertarian, (or didn't vote), because the Republicans failed as the lower taxes, smaller government, 2nd Amendment party.

If they ask for money, tell them you would love to, but you sent it to the Libertarians instead. Then go beef up you NRA membership and add the GOA, or SAF, or JFPFO. Put some money where your heart is. Don't freeload.

[rbernie]

Equally as important for punishing the losers might be to drop each of your elected officials a note letting them known what values you expect them to champion in the upcoming sessions. Let the winners know why they won.

[velojym]

I also voted against the republicans for other reasons, such as the boondoggle
Drug War, those pesky noses in my bedroom, and government involvement in marriage. (among other things)
Naturally, the Democrats failed to get my vote on the 'other' half of the equation.
Six of one, half a dozen of the other....

[armedandsafe]

I agree, that we need to keep this subject open. If we plan our fight only in the last few weeks of an election cycle, we might as well plan to lose right now.

Voting only for a party is not the best way to vote, in a blanket sense. Voting only to send a message is not the best way to vote. Voting for the person who best represents the majority of your values is, in my opinion the best way to vote. However, that is only part of the equation.

During the off-cycle, YOU (and I) need to put values and issues which are important to you in front of your hired hands on a regular basis. Well thought out messages, written in relatively clear English, without vitriol need to be sent often. Every time a subject comes up in the media or in a politician's speech, or on the floor of a legislative house, a message must be sent to those who were hired to represent you stating your desires and beliefs.

It is acceptable to be a pest. :D

Pops

[rbernie]

If we plan our fight only in the last few weeks of an election cycle, we might as well plan to lose right now.That was the end result I was trying to reach in my other thread, but it got locked before it could reach critical mass.

It would seem to me that a lot of folks think that voting somehow sends some obvious message to the .gov regarding what they do to make us happy or sad. I don't see that to be true.

To me, a protest vote without prior written dialogue and a followup to the losers and winners doesn't do much good.

[Art Eatman]

I'm all in favor, but let's wait until, say mid-January. Let folks calm down some from the elections so they can think instead of emote.

Right now, I think too many will chime in here with reasons they're against some particular Rep. or Sen., and that's a waste of time and bandwidth.

Plus, we'll maybe have some more info about what's likely to be in the hopper. Get some info from such as GOA or NRA about pending bills.

Short run, I think about the only useful action would be to write the RNC folks with some polite comment to the effect that if Dubya doesn't veto anti-gun legislation, the Republicans will lose a lot of votes in 2008. Snail mail preferred, as the researchers say each snail mail is representative of some 300 like-minded people.

If you want to start now with a campaign for that, I'm okay with it.

I'm not the only mod a bit weary of heavy-duty politics...

Art