I live in Illinois, I hope all you folks get a good dose of what we have to tolerate under Democrat rule in your "free" states. Serves your right.
I live in California... I know what it's like to live in a democratic state. I also know what the libertarian party is, and what it stands for. Increasingly, it stands for values no longer represented by the Democrats or the Republicans... values like self-determination, personal responsibility, self-reliance, and ethical conduct. Values of people like me, my mother, my father... everyday Americans who grew up voting Democrat or Republican, whose parents and grandparents grew up voting Democrat or Republican. Everyday Americans who have been betrayed by the parties of our parents and now must stand outside the system and attempt, however ineffectually, to send a message that can be heard over the tumult of our money-driven mass-media political system.
Voting, in other words, for people who actually represent us.
Those are the people I vote for. The people I have voted for since Clinton was in office. The people who aren't fooling anyone, and aren't likely to win, but change the dialog just by doing what our representatives are supposed to do: by representing the people who vote for them. They are our representatives even if they are never elected. And if I can't find such a person, I don't vote for anyone.
If you voted Democrat because that party represents you... then you voted your head and heart and I respect that even as I disagree with your ideals. If you voted Republican for the same reason, again, you have my respectful disagreement. If you voted for someone not because they are your preferred representative but because you thought they were the lesser evil or would serve some narrow focus... I say you didn't vote at all but threw your one means of communicating with the heart of our nation away. You took your chance, and blew it making noise. Noise which overwhelms the signal we are supposed to be sending to the elected when we vote. Noise which gives the elected license to ignore us, because they can point to the only poll that matters, the poll that got them into office, and say they are doing what they are supposed to do...even when they aren't.
I'll take it a step further... you didn't vote, you lied to your republic. You told your republic you want something that you don't want. And that lie isn't just a tactical error -- it is sabotage. It is an intentional destruction of the ideals and values our nation was founded on... a micturition upon the graves of our founding fathers and all who died to create and defend this nation. It goes beyond unpatriotic -- it is evil. You say I should vote for a republican not because he represents my ideals but because he has a better chance of being elected... I say I cannot because I love my country too much. You say you want to vote for a republican not because he represents your ideals but because he has a better chance of being elected. I say you should keep such shameful revelations about yourself private. Do you who lie with your votes really want the world to know that much about your character? I wouldn't if I were like you. Maybe you are so inured to your sophistry that you don't realize how far you have strayed. Maybe you are just being used by the people you think you are using ... you've been fooled by the parties you falsely support into thinking that a lie is the only way.
Lying is not the only way. Even if you've made mistakes in the past, you can still return to the heart of the republic... you can vote honestly next time, vote your head and heart in a way that matters... a way that counts towards truth instead of adding to the noise... a way that, even if you do not win, will tell the elected what you believe. Because it is sending a message that matters... not, "being on the winnings side."