Question of the day

Today's question has a long set up and it comes from Splotchy. He already asked this on his blog but I did not answer it then because he sent it to me for "Question a day" and I wanted to answer it here. Here's the set up and the question:

There are three major candidates for an upcoming presidential race.

Candidate A shares some of your principles, but doesn't share others. Some of the principles that Candidate A does not share with you are a little bothersome to you. You think A would make an okay president, but you have your doubts.

Candidate B is virtually the polar opposite to you with regards to the principles you hold. You are relatively certain that Candidate B's presidency will have a negative effect on the country in a variety of ways, but you are not sure to the degree of this negative effect.

Candidate C seems in agreement with virtually all of your principles. They have interesting ideas, and address issues not dealt with by Candidates A or B. You believe that Candidate C would make a good president, and have a positive effect on the country.

Candidate A and B together have the majority of the vote. A and B's campaign are in a dead heat. The projected votes are split evenly between them.

Candidate C is a distant third.

The question is, assuming you are going to vote for one of the candidates, who do you vote for?

I vote for candidate C because I vote my conscience every time I vote. While I care if my candidate wins, I care more about voting for the person who I agree with on the issues, even if he or she is a third party candidate. Some would say this is a "wasted" vote but in reality, no vote that is cast is wasted. In 1980 I voted for John Anderson because I felt he was what the country needed, he lost miserably but my conscience was clear. In 2000 I was suffering from Clinton/Gore fatigue and there was no way I was going to vote for that asshole Bush, so I voted for Nader. Was I wrong to do so? No. Do I regret voting for a candidate that had no chance of winning? No. Do I regret that Bush won that election? He actually lost the popular vote and he had to get the Supreme Court to stop the recount in Florida and that sealed his stolen victory so nothing I did caused him to be elected, I voted in TN not Florida. Would I, looking back with 20/20 hindsight, vote differently if somehow I could go back in time and vote again in that election? Yes.


Thanks for sending in the question Splotchy.


I'll answer most any question you may have all month long this month. All you have to do is send them to me at monkeymuckATgmailDOTcom. I'll answer one a day every day all January long. I'll answer most any question on most any topic, so fire those questions at me kids.