Why won some Americans vote for a third party even if they despise both Republican and Democratic candidates for POTUS?
A frequently recurring theme when I was searching for an answer to your question was that voting for a third party is a waste of a vote, since historically no third party candidate has ever come close (for a view on that check out: http://observer.com/2016/07/why-third-party-candidates-cant-win/). Another (and I believe lesser) reason is that its possible that even though they dislike the candidates themselves, they may stand closer to their own views on issues and policy than the third party candidates.
Some Americans will not vote for a third party even when they despise the choices within the two-party system because some Americans have internalized the rhetoric used by mainstream politicians and the establishment parties to portray themselves as the “logical” and “safe” choice.
The use of fear politics is also a major contributor to many Americans voting for the “lesser of the two evils” and not for the candidate who they believe will be the best for the country. People fear that which they do not know. The way that the establishment parties maintain power is by playing off of these fears of the American populace. Republican and democratic candidates often speak about how little experience third party candidates have in actually holding political office. But, if people are afraid to vote for third-party candidates because they are constantly reminded by democrats and republicans that the third party candidates are a bad choice because they have not held political office, then those candidates will never be a good choice because they will never hold political office.
So, I think it’s important to think about why people don’t vote for third-party candidates in a way that takes into consideration how political power is something that is intentionally maintained and perpetuated by those holding the power. If the democrats and republicans cease to attack third-party candidates as being poor choices because of their lack of holding official political offices, the democratic and republican party would be giving away power. Giving up power would not be in their best interest because power is what allows the democratic and republican party to survive. The democratic and republican parties get their power from the people. If people begin to vote for third-party candidates then the democratic and republican parties would lose power and ultimately be put into the position of third-party candidates of not having enough power to become powerful.
“Life is a game played on us while we are playing other games.” – Evan Esar
The easy answer, which I hear a lot, is that people would rather not vote than to “throw away their vote” on a third party candidate. This I do not understand.
In the most recent election, the third party candidate (Libertarian Gary Johnson) had MORE political experience than the GOP candidate (Trump), so I don’t find the argument about experience to have validity. I believe the answer lies in the lack of media coverage of third party candidates. Most people didn’t even know there was a third choice!
