>>>>>>>>>>Devil's advocate is your way of living ;-) I remember you saying you didn't vote for Obama and took it to mean you voted for McCain. Maybe you threw your vote away.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>C'mon Mike, everyone's vote is their own...
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>I wasn't suggesting otherwise. It's just that voting for someone other than the two serious candidates is, in fact, throwing your vote away.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Not if a majority does it, it isn't.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Good point. And when was the last time that happened?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>I have my utopian moments but a change in our two party system isn't one of them.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Why not?
>>>>>
>>>>>I didn't mean I dislike the idea. I just don't consider it at all likely. The two party system is deeply entrenched here.
>>>>
>>>>And I suppose it's likely to stay that way unless you change from a 'first past the post' voting system......
>>>
>>>First past the post?
>>
>>Where the guy with the most votes wins. Period. I think that tends to lead to a two-party system even when it didn't start out that way - based on the logic you mentioned earlier that voting for a middle-ground candidate is seen as a wasted vote.
>
>I think that no vote is wasted. Sometimes, not voting has value.

Some years ago there was an MP by-election in this constituency. Since a general election was due within a few months there was a lot of national interest on the outcome. I remember seeing one old guy being asked on TV how he was going to vote. He said "Oh - I don't do that - it only encourages them"