"Stay home, Ron Paul people!"

[Chieppa1]

Um...I'm writing in Ron Paul. Protest vote. Either way they win. Might be last time I vote for president for a long time anyway. My statism days are over after the disgusting last year.

 

[atomicsink]

Stay home? Why not vote Gary Johnson? That way your vote will be counted.

For me the strategy has always been:

1) Increase the liberty movement's presence in the GOP
2) Get Ron Paul delegates
3) For for Gary Johnson in the general election if Ron Paul is not nominee.

Let the GOP know they lost your vote with a pinko like Romney as the nominee.

 

[atomicsink]

I'm going to walk in, take the ballot, hold it up in the air, rip it up, throw it in the trash, then walk out.

Nobody will know you did that. Vote Gary Johnson and it will be counted.

 

[Ekrub]

Wonder how many of those who claim they will vote for Obama are mad at Rand for "selling out"

We all play politics.

That said, I understand why you would maybe do that, however know whether you are in a swing state or not. No reason to give Obama a +1 in a state where Obama or Romney will win no matter what.

As for me, my libertarian/conservative conscience tells me
To vote for GJ. My libertarian/conservative head also tells me to vote GJ

 

[atomicsink]

Wonder how many of those who claim they will vote for Obama are mad at Rand for "selling out"

We all play politics.

That said, I understand why you would maybe do that, however know whether you are in a swing state or not. No reason to give Obama a +1 in a state where Obama or Romney will win no matter what.

As for me, my libertarian/conservative conscience tells me
To vote for GJ. My libertarian/conservative head also tells me to vote GJ

100%. It's insane that any Ron Paul supporter would vote for Barack Obama over Gary Johnson. Just goes to show why the liberty movement will never run the show. There is no unity. The level of infighting I have seen is ridiculous. If Ron Paul supporters can't even protest vote for Gary Johnson, what hope is there?

 

[Romulus]

Nobody will know you did that. Vote Gary Johnson and it will be counted.

Not true, there will be a few old blue hairs in the room.

 

[atomicsink]

Not true, there will be a few old blue hairs in the room.

LOL, not to make light of the tragedy of death but they won't be around long so I wouldn't try too hard to impress them.

A vote for Gary Johnson makes a statement that the non-blue hairs will get.

 

[sailingaway]

100%. It's insane that any Ron Paul supporter would vote for Barack Obama over Gary Johnson. Just goes to show why the liberty movement will never run the show. There is no unity. The level of infighting I have seen is ridiculous. If Ron Paul supporters can't even protest vote for Gary Johnson, what hope is there?

Gary Johnson isn't Ron Paul. Voting for him is voting for HIM. Voting for Ron by write in or otherwise is voting for Ron.

 

[Maltheus]

Gary Johnson isn't Ron Paul. Voting for him is voting for HIM. Voting for Ron by write in or otherwise is voting for Ron.

I thought we were voting for liberty here.

Write-ins aren't counted. Do it if it makes you feel better, but it's kind of silly.

 

[Liberty74]

Actually, you are dead wrong. Polling shows Romney and Obama are neck and neck and shifting the lead, and the 10 to 14% who poll 'undecided' with that choice don't like either of them, and DO like Ron Paul. I think it was CNN that did a compilation of their undecideds over multiple polls to get a sufficient sample and tried to figure out 'who we are'.

Oh please, to quote CNN? These are the same douche bags that put out a fake poll (purposely left out Independents to give an illusion of a rise) against Ron Paul in Iowa that showed "team player" Santorum rising. The rest is history...

Rasmussen has Romney 48 to Obama 44. Romney also wins Iowa.

Another poll just out today showed Romney beating Obama in Wisconsin.

You are right that many don't like either and Rasmussen put out a survey last year in which 65% of Americans would like a viable Independent option and would consider voting for such person. Guess what? Ron didn't take that route as I wanted him to take and many delusional RPF members are all gun ho on fighting within the two party criminal system and within the Republican party where we are despised and hated. Yet "the people" are leaving both parties in droves. There is a big opportunity for us to spread our message of real limited government, no more aggressive wars, audit the FED, no more bailouts, bring the troops home, phase out the IRS, etc but this fixation on the Republican party is going to destroy any opportunity to fight the establishments. You put pressure on the system by not fighting within but a true revolution of people from the outside, hence the Indy route. It doesn't have to be Ron Paul. Someone just needs to be charasmatic and carry our message.

If you don't give those 10-14% a viable third option, the vast majority will vote for Romney by default. This is the anti-Obama year just like it was the anti-Bush year in 2008 although he wasn't even running. It's simply the way things operate in a two party system pushed on the voters by the elites and the establishment.

 

[Liberty74]

100%. It's insane that any Ron Paul supporter would vote for Barack Obama over Gary Johnson. Just goes to show why the liberty movement will never run the show. There is no unity. The level of infighting I have seen is ridiculous. If Ron Paul supporters can't even protest vote for Gary Johnson, what hope is there?

Anyone who votes for Barack over Gary are insane. They apparently aren't philosophically driven - "I'm Ron Paul all the way. What? He didn't get the nomination? I'm voting for Obama then." WTF?

I will be voting for Gary Johnson. I voted for Ron Paul in the primary but I am not going through the hassle of asking for a blank ballot that probably won't get counted anyway. Gary will be the best option listed on the ballot IMO.

 

[Barrex]

SPLITTER....What happened with Popular Front?


Splitting up dissipates our energy and makes any attempt destined to fail.

 

[ShowMeLiberty]

100%. It's insane that any Ron Paul supporter would vote for Barack Obama over Gary Johnson. Just goes to show why the liberty movement will never run the show. There is no unity. The level of infighting I have seen is ridiculous. If Ron Paul supporters can't even protest vote for Gary Johnson, what hope is there?

The liberty movement is and has always been a loose affiliation of individuals who have some goals in common. To expect all these individuals to behave like a herd for any purpose other than trying to get Ron Paul in the White House is an exercise in futility.

 

[Athan]

Whatever you fellow patriots are selecting you better seriously analyze and coordinate your voting block and tell the rest of us what your are doing so we can vote lock step with you.

 

[Intoxiklown]

Exactly. If Romney wins, they'll rightfully conclude that they don't need the Ron Paul supporters. Romney needs to lose by the same percentage that the LP gains.

This.

I made a thread a few days back regarding this, in that we need to be looking at a "safe" place to put our votes to ensure they are counted. 42 states allow and count write ins, but 8 do not. If you live in one of those 8 states, the best protest vote you can cast is one that will be counted, so there is hard data to reinforce why the GOP needs us. More so, I firmly believe we should try to consolidate these protest votes in one party to maximize the % increase when compared to 2008 numbers.

Honestly, it doesn't matter who the vote is for, as long as we document beforehand where that support came from and why. For instance, I'm not a huge fan of Johnson, but if we all can agree that is where those 8 states should cast their votes, I just don't want Johnson trying to act like he was some magnet of support for the LP. He would just be the guy on the ticket we decided to vote for, because we want our votes documented, and with a candidate that we know can't win. More so when you are honest in that no 3rd party has a snowball's chance in hell of winning. I mean hell, if he was on the ballot, I would say vote for Vermin Supreme.

As a side note, I'm in no way advocating for the LP, simply using them and Johnson as an example since they are thrown around here a lot. I stand firm though that writing Paul in within a state that does not count those write in votes is not seeing the big picture, and thinking about the liberty movement in future tense. But if we can all get on the same page, and actually look at where we are trying to get to, we organize for 42 states to write Paul in (since they count them), and the 8 states that don't count write ins we organize under one 3rd party. People have to understand, we HAVE to demonstrate and document how large a voter block we are. People already know we are part of what is considered the most feared grassroots movement, internet army, and active political process participants. Now we have to demonstrate how many votes we actually represent as well. More so when you consider how those numbers wil compare to the 2008 numbers.

 

[libertariantexas]

NOTA is a good option when there are no decent candidates. It sure would have been nice to have a "NOTA" option in 2008.

However, in this case, I'll vote for Gary Johnson.

 

[tremendoustie]

True, not voting at all can be a vote for liberty, but its so much more funny when you vote 3rd party.

Whats more of an embarrassment? Low voter turn out, or having all the 3rd party candidates at up to like 25% of the votes cast???

Would make for a smashing media black out to watch.

Exactly. Third party is a WAY more effective protest vote. Sitting at home is just lazy.

 

[tremendoustie]

Whatever you fellow patriots are selecting you better seriously analyze and coordinate your voting block and tell the rest of us what your are doing so we can vote lock step with you.

I say vote Gary Johnson. Not because he's perfect, but because if he gets a solid percentage, everyone knows exactly what that means. Romney is no liberty candidate, and until the GOP starts caring about liberty, they'll continue to lose.

 

[tremendoustie]

I'm going to walk in, take the ballot, hold it up in the air, rip it up, throw it in the trash, then walk out.

Ha! That's a new one -- much better than sitting at home, that's for sure. Just make sure people see you do it.

 

[ProIndividual]

Vote Obama, so we can get a liberty candidate in 2016. It's game theory mathematics people, stop writing people in and shit out of emotion.