“I Vote Green, as Usual, to the Dismay of Some Friends. But What Else Can One Do?”

Reader Patricia Spicer commented on my last piece: “I like the idea of ranked choice and would like to see it in operation. Meanwhile I vote Green, as usual, to the dismay of some friends. But what else can one do?”

A great question.

Here’s what I suggest:

When someone expresses their dismay at you voting Green, or any other non-genocidal party or candidate, say this to them:

Why are YOU voting for a pro-apartheid, pro-genocide party? Because Trump is worse? Maybe. So, here’s the solution: Pair up with a would-be Trump voter and BOTH vote for non-genocidal candidates.

That is the VotePact strategy.

Then, totally turn the tables on them and bug them worse than they’ve been bugging you. This Simpsons bit, with Bart asking Homer for $100 for a comic book comes to mind:

Bart: Please Dad!
Homer: No!
Bart: Please Dad!
Homer: No!
Bart: Please Dad!
Homer: No!
Bart: Please Dad!
Homer: No!
Bart: Please Dad!
Homer: No!
Bart: Please Dad! (And so on…)
Homer: No!!! Now look son we all know that usually when you bug me like this I give in, so I’m not mad at you for trying. It shows you’ve been paying attention. But we all know I’m not going to give you 100 dollars! Now are you going to stop bugging me?
Bart: No!
Homer: Are you?
Bart: No!
Homer: Are you?
Bart: No!
Homer: Are you? (And so on…)
Bart: OKAY!!! (audio)

If Greens really want to win, I think what’s needed is people voting Green to convince a few would-be Harris voters to use this strategy to vote for Stein. It syphons a vote from Harris and a vote from Trump.

Then, as word spreads, it can snowball.

More and more people pair up. It’s a matter of social organization, really. It grows exponentially as people see others doing it.

The establishment has set up massive institutions, the Democratic and Republican parties, media outlets — CNN, Fox, MSNBC, etc. — to keep people caged in their partisan boxes.

VotePact helps them break out. VotePact helps them become free.

It’s love overcoming hate.

It’s a would-be Harris voter finding in a would-be Trump voter not their nightmare, but their salvation. They become each other’s salvation. Even though they disagree. They retain their differences — and use them to save each other from voting for genocide, perpetual war, repression and rule by Wall Street.

It could all start with a Green voter getting a would-be Harris voter to speak to a would-be Trump voter in a way they never have. Perhaps a relative they’ve avoided talking politics with. One agrees not to vote for Harris and the other agrees not to vote for Trump. They are of course free to vote for other candidates. They are free. Because they have each other.

As noted at VotePact.org/about —

Turning the “Spoiler” Question Around

VotePact is in a sense self-promoting; that is, it answers the perennial “aren’t you a spoiler?” question in a direct manner. Independent candidates and others have rarely forthrightly addressed this issue. It does so in part by putting the onus on the questioner—by finding their “political mirror image”—to find a way out for themselves. The question is answered thus, for example: “I understand your concern: you really don’t want the Republican to win, so you’d rather vote for the Democrat even though you really want to vote for me. There’s a way out for you: Join with someone in your life, someone you know and trust, a relative, a friend, a coworker, who prefers the Republican—and both agree to vote for me (or your friend can vote for some other third party candidate). This solution requires work, but it gets you political freedom. There’s a way out of your dilemma, I hope you’ll take it. People all over the world and throughout history have risked their lives and fortunes for political freedom. People in the US today should be able to exert the emotional and mental strength to join with someone they disagree with to emancipate themselves from the two-party duopoly.”