(Authors note: This article originally appeared in Lone Voice on 07MAY20. Because of a recent Facebook thread on my friend and sister Amy Moratto’s timeline, I have decided to republish the article. Originally this was titled “Voting Third Party is NOT a Vote for Clinton.)
So, in watching various social media feeds and listening to talk radio, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend among the talking heads, Pro Trump crowds and Establishment types.
The message is clear. If you don’t vote for Trump, you’re actually voting for Clinton. This is a lie and isn’t even intellectually honest. I’s an attempt by them to silence dissent and shame those of us choosing to vote our conscience into voting for their guy. It’s a slimy and underhanded tactic the establishment types have used to keep us voting the party line for decades.
It’s the mindset that prevents parties like the Libertarian or the Constitution parties from taking off. People who might otherwise have joined choose not to because of this misbegotten belief, spawned by he GOP, that a third party vote is a vote in opposition, or that by joining a third party means your voice won’t be heard.
Let us therefore remember another third party…
In an age where the United States was horribly divided…A time where the nation seemed on the verge of tearing itself in two…
There were but two major parties who held power in the country. As tensions grew within the country and Abolitionist sentiments began to take hold and flourish, many in the Whig Party grew dissatisfied with the party and left to form a new party.
When the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed, the party tore itself apart, largely over the issue of Slavery. By 1850, the party was was deeply divided over the issue.
In 1850, when President Zachary Taylor died, Millard Fillmore became the President. In 1852, the abolitionist faction of the the party prevented Fillmore from getting the Whig Party nod and instead gave it to General Winifield Scott.
Many of the leadership subsequently left the party. Some joining the pro-slavery democratic party, some joining the ‘Know Nothing’ party, some remained with the Whigs and many joined the newly formed Republican Party.
By 1854, the Whig party was all but dead. In 1856, the Know-Nothing party had run Fillmore as their candidate but lost to Buchanan.
Now, just how did that newly formed party fair? Well, in the midterm elections in 1854 they picked up just 13 seats in the House of Representatives…13 of 296. Afterwards, they were able to appeal to other dissatisfied groups and convince them to join their cause. In 1855, the Republican Party had gained 3 Governorships.
In 1856, the Republican Party took a beating in the General election, Right? I mean, conventional wisdom says a third party doesn’t stand a chance!
Not so much~ In 1856, the Democratic Party received 174 electoral votes, the Republicans received 114 electoral votes and the ,Whig Party? Just 8 electoral votes. The total vote count was for the Dems; 1,342,345 for the Republican Party Candidate and 873,053 for the Whigs.
We all know how the 1860 Election turned out. My point here is that in less than 10 years, a third party was able to gather enough support to go from a grass roots movement into a powerhouse that has dominated American Presidential Politics since.
Since the parties origins in 1850, there have been 28 presidents. Of that 28, 18 have been Republicans. You might want to let that sink in for a bit.
Next time someone tells you that voting for or joining a third party is throwing away your vote, that by joining a third party means you’ll never have a voice? Remind them of how the Republican Party got it’s start.
Oh, but that could never happen now…
You know what? With that mind set, you’re correct! Back in the mid 17th century, men stood up for their principles….Right or Wrong, they made a stand and were not afraid of doing so. They were men who understood such concepts as Sacrifice, Hard Work and Risk.
Oh how the years have changed us. We’re becoming cowards. We’re so afraid of controversy, so enamored with popularity and so terrified of scandal that most people just shut up, rather than to speak their minds.
The GOP remembers it’s roots and that terrifies them. They’re terrified that we, the voters, will do to them what the first Republicans did to the Whigs.
So, like an abusive spouse, they’ve conditioned us to believe that voting for a third party or worse, joining a third party, is throwing away your vote and your voice.
They NEED you to believe this because they know that if enough of us vote our conscience, the the power they cling to is gone.
It’s why they’ve worked so hard to crush the TEA party movement and when they couldn’t crush it, they co-opted those the TEA party elected to Congress.
It’s why they infiltrated us and replaced as many people in our organizations and NPO’s with GOP Schills as they could.
So GO! Vote your conscience, vote your principles and when someone tells you that you’re throwing away your vote and your voice…Call them out for the liar that they are and remind them of how our party got its start.
~S
(Background for this post: This post, as with many others from the 2016 election cycle reflect how deeply torn I was when President Trump became the GOP nominee for President. I was an Ardent supporter of Ted Cruz and Trump winning the nomination was something I saw as something of a Catastrophe. I did not like him as a candidate, I did not believe he would be good for Conservatives and I believed he would stab us in the back.
Ultimately, I ended up voting for President Trump, albeit reluctantly. I had spent months in prayer for guidance and for the first time in my life, I had no idea who I was going to vote for until an hour and a half before the polls closed.
Melissa and I usually fill our Ballots out together, we discuss candidates etc…This time, we sat down, I held her hand and we prayed. After we said Amen, we set to filling out our ballots and it struck me that as we did, it was silent. Neither of us said a word until we sealed our ballot envelopes. When we went out to the car to drop them off, she asked who I voted for and I remember looking at her and saying, “God help me, I voted for Donald Trump.” She kinda grinned and said me too. I said, “For me it came down to religious liberty and I believe that Trump will support it.”
Over four years have passed since I wrote this post. During that time, President Trump has shown me that many of my fears were unfounded and he has done a far better job than I had believed he would. He has weathered a hell of a storm of investigations, unprecedented obstruction, an unconstitutional impeachment and through all of the crap that has been flung at him, he’s still working his tail off for the American People.
It is encouraging to see a president who truly loves our nation, loves our military, loves our first responders and shows them respect and honors them daily. It is such a welcome change from the previous despot who occupied the Oval Office and viewed America, it’s citizens, our military and first responders with nothing but barely concealed (if not unconcealed) contempt.
My views on the president have changed dramatically in the last four years, but the point of this blog…the point about voting your conscience and Principles still holds true today.
