As some of you may be aware, Ron Paul never made it past the primaries to get a shot at running for president this year. That means, those of us not satisfied with Obama OR McCain as our two options are once again being asked to "just vote for the lesser of the two evils", perpetuating the idea that only two people can REALLY compete for the presidency at one time, in our nation.

I've heard all the arguments before. "A vote for the Libertarian candidate is a wasted vote!" And "Those guys are just stealing votes away from candidate X and helping make sure candidate Y wins!"

I maintain a different belief. I think we're going to see a situation where no matter who wins, they won't have more than a 50% popular vote anyway. Therefore, if the Libertarian contender can get even 6% or so of the popular vote, it's enough to send an important message to the people in power. It makes them ask questions like "What can we do to earn that chunk of the vote next time around?" It's also the ONLY way to express dissatisfaction with the other popular choices. If you simply vote "lesser of 2 evils", your vote is just as much an endorsement of everything that person stands for as the person who votes for them because he/she truly loves everything they're campaigning for.

So right now, that means I plan on giving my vote to Bob Barr. I sent his campaign a small contribution (can't afford to send much, but every bit helps, I'm sure), and received a bumper sticker for my car in return. Heck, I may even spring for the $11 plus shipping to get one of his yard signs - even if I'm the only one on the block with one!

I see he was a guest on the Colbert Report last night on Comedy Central. I didn't get time to watch it, but I did set my PVR to record it - so I'm hoping it recorded ok and I can check it out soon.

Tags: Libertarian president candidate vote 2008