Live free

Tomorrow is Election Day, a day on which the United States voting public elects our nation’s president as well as many other state and local officials. The choices we make now can have wonderful or disastrous consequences not only in the next four years, but also for generations to come.

The simplest way to interpret this truth is that one must choose wisely between the two mainstream candidates. After all, they are the only ones that have a real shot of winning, right? With some stipulations, you the voter have two choices: A candidate who believes in civil liberties and modern science (usually marked by a letter “D”) or a candidate who believes in something resembling free enterprise (usually an “R”). You might every now and then be concerned that despite the sheer diversity of opinions that naturally exist in a free society, we somehow make it work with only two parties. After all, the newspapers and networks all seem to only address two candidates, even going so far as to use phrases like “both candidates” to imply that there are only two. The Commission on Presidential Debates, as of writing this column, has only invited two candidates to any of their presidential debates, with the exception of the 1992 debate with Ross Perot. It seems odd, even wrong, but it makes total sense in a system where supporting any third-party candidate is at worst a spoiler vote and at best a drop in the bucket.

On both sides of the aisle, the destiny of our country seems to hang in the balance. In such a hostile partisan environment, even the mention of the third-party is met with hostility. I remember seeing a lovely Facebook post from one of my friends insisting that “a vote for Gary Johnson is a vote for Barack Obama.” I would contend that, given the current political situation, such an assertion is irrelevant. Here’s why.

Much of the selling power behind the Romney/Ryan ticket is their promise to reign in entitlement spending, specifically their promise to repeal Obamacare. To this goal I say: fat chance. Even if Romney wins the election and the Republicans retain the House, the Senate will almost certainly remain in Democratic control thanks in part to Todd “legitimate rape” Akin. If the Dems retain control, Romney has no chance whatsoever of passing meaningful entitlement reform.

Likewise on the Democratic end, an Obama win would quickly devolve into a continuation of the current lame-duck session. The Dems have no chance whatsoever of picking up the House, and even have a slim chance of losing the Senate. Either way, Obama will be hard-pressed to actually accomplish anything in his second term. Those of you adamant about gay rights, repealing the PATRIOT Act, etc. are sadly destined to be disappointed.

Gary Johnson is not a spoiler candidate. His record as governor of New Mexico shows that he is a man who made libertarian principles work beautifully in the real world, and he has greater moral integrity than either of the two main candidates. Unfortunately, he has no chance of winning this election. … So why vote for him? Why did I vote for him?

I voted for Gary Johnson because I am naïve enough to actually believe that our political process is about voting on principle and not out of fear. More to the point, I believe that a lot more can be said and done with one’s vote (even for a losing candidate) than stating a preference for the immediate election. I don’t expect Gary Johnson to win; I don’t even expect him to come close. What I hope for is in the longer term. All he needs is 5 percent. Five percent of the vote makes the Libertarian Party a major party according to federal regulations, giving them automatic ballot access in every state as well as $90 million in federal election funding for 2016.

Such a standing would undoubtedly force the other major parties to take libertarian ideals seriously. More importantly, however, it would cut them just deeply enough to remind them that even a god can bleed. It will force a more honest political discourse, because the Republicans and Democrats will realize that they are not unconditionally on top. Maybe the Libertarian Party will run the show or maybe the other two parties will finally have to shape up. Either way, the result is better for all of us.