Unfortunately Ron Paul said he wouldn't run as a third party candidate.

And living in a purple state doesn't really give me the option of writing him in. :-(

At this point, voting for Gary or Ron is a vote for Barack. And if that is your intent, shouldn't you vote for Barack and cut out the middleman?

I'm not saying Mitt will drag us kicking and screaming to financial sanity. He won't. But the journey of 1,000 miles begins with the first step. More of the same isn't it.

I R A,

I quite agree. It's a shame Bloomberg or other left-leaning, progressive type didn't decide to run as an independent. Obama would have been screwed.

Enough with the "a vote for a third party is a vote for [whomever I don't support]" nonsense. A vote for Gary or Ron is a vote for Gary or Ron, by definition.

You're not going to trick me into voting for your Obama clone just because he has an (R) in front of his name.

I'm with Chris. It's not my fault I'm surrounded by numbskulls who believe D's and R's are our only choices. It's those D's and R's who got us into this mess - and high time we stopped settling for them. You fools want to keep voting for them, you go right ahead and pat yourselves on the back for being PART OF THE PROBLEM.

With Ron Paul out of the race, I'm voting for Gary Johnson. I don't care what his personality is like.

Everyone should check out the survey at ISideWith.com which asks issues questions and then compares the results with the candidates. The feature showing results by state is down for a couple of days while they play catch up with the nearly 1.2M surveys taken, but a while back, people had analyzed the results (via winner take all electoral college votes) and Gary was obliterating Romney and was neck and neck with Obama in terms of people agreeing with him.

I think this is a "perfect storm" for the Libertarians this year. This is the most experienced Libertarian candidate ever (2-term Governor) and I think he has more momentum than I've seen any previous candidate have. Romney is running on "I'm not Obama" and Obama is running on "It would have been worse without me". Unfortunately, even with this "perfect storm", the most we can realistically hope for is 5%, but that would be an order of magnitude better than usual and would take us to a new level.

But, this can't happen if we fall for "A vote for Johnson is a vote for the worse Obamney." To Romney fans I say, go convince the luke-warm Obama supporters who will never vote for Romney to check out Johnson. From your perspective any vote that isn't for Obama is a vote for Romney, right? (this, of course, applies to Obama supports trying to peel votes off of Romney, too)

You're not going to trick me into voting for your Obama clone just because he has an (R) in front of his name. -- Chris at July 30, 2012 7:09 AM

If you are in a solid blue or red state you can vote for whoever you damn well please.

Those of us in the swing states are stuck unless the third party can come up with about $300-500M, a bunch of supporters, some good stumping, and TV ads for the next 99 days.

I like him but he is not yet on the ballot in my state. I've signed a petition supporting that option, but likely - he won't make it on.

I think this is a "perfect storm" for the Libertarians this year. This is the most experienced Libertarian candidate ever (2-term Governor) and I think he has more momentum than I've seen any previous candidate have. Romney is running on "I'm not Obama" and Obama is running on "It would have been worse without me". Unfortunately, even with this "perfect storm", the most we can realistically hope for is 5%, but that would be an order of magnitude better than usual and would take us to a new level. -- Dwatney at July 30, 2012 10:01 AM

Don't you realize the parties rigged the system years ago?

Right on the top of the Federal Election Committee Members page:

The six Commissioners, no more than three of whom may represent the same political party, are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The Commissioners serve full time and are responsible for administering and enforcing the Federal Election Campaign Act. They generally meet twice a week, once in closed session to discuss matters that, by law, must remain confidential, and once in a meeting open to the public. At these meetings, they formulate policy and vote on significant legal and administrative matters.

You have six people essentially deciding who and how a candidate can run for federal office. The maximum of three from any one party means the rest are going to be from the other party.

The problem is the Constitution was written without parties being considered. And there is a difference between a Kennedy Democrat and a Carter Democrat. Just the same as there is a difference between a Reagan Republican and a Bush Republican.

So 15% get behind Johnson and say he should be included in the debates. Then the FEC/R/D parties say the popularity has to be 17.5% -- you're screwed this year. Four years later you get to the 17.5%, they'll change it to 19% -- you're screwed this year.

The other problem is that the memory of the large part of the American population is distracted. They have kids, and jobs, and bills, etc. and don't remember the lies they have been told. A perfect example of that can be seen on Jaywalking.

Sorry for the long rant -- but the third party is screwed until both the Dems and Repubs abandon the corrupt parties. I think the U.S. will fall first.

It may not mean much, but Dwatney's right about ISideWith.com... It's a lot of fun.

(Ron Paul, it told me.)

(But seriously, it also told me I agree with Obama about "science," which seems highly unlikely. It's like being told you agree with John Gotti about cunnilingus.)

A vote for Romney is a vote for huge deficits and more stimulus (albeit in the form of defense spending and a shiny new war with Iran). Gary Johnson is the only person with any fiscal credibility.

If you are in a state that it may matter, please vote Romney. Many years ago I purchased two lifetime memberships in the Libertarian Party. I guess it wasn't based on my lifetime. I do not know if I am wiser, but I am sure older. I'll vote Romney to slow the train to destruction. Sometimes I hope my children do not have children.