The screams that I have to vote Romney, or I’m in effect voting on Obama are weak. People need to stop and think about that a little. If you make this argument, you should know you make yourself look like a person with a sub-100 IQ.
First of all, a vote for anyone is a vote for that person, not someone else on the ballot, especially in the Presidential race. Voting for Mickey Mouse is a vote for Mickey Mouse, not some back-door, super secret proxy vote for Donald Duck.
No one, and I mean NO ONE, seems to understand that we don’t have one national election for President. We have 50 state elections for people who we will send to the Electoral College to cast the only truly meaningful votes for President. What does this mean for you? Well, the biggest implication this will have on the average voter is that “electability” is a much more local concern than you probably think. I live in Minnesota, the last time Minnesota voted GOP for President was in 1972 for Richard Nixon. The GOP may be “electable” for local and state office, but not for President, as far as Minnesota is concerned. This means that arguing that Romney is electable, but the various right-of-center third party candidates are not is simply smoke and mirrors. A Minnesotan who votes for Romney is casting the same contrarian, protest vote that a Libertarian or Constitution party voter is casting. Those who are voting for “Anyone but Obama” may as well vote for the person best reflecting his/her real values in Minnesota.
On the other hand, if you live in a state like Florida, Ohio, or even Wisconsin (this time around), voting for Romney will actually accomplish something. Those states (and others), swing states, actually have a chance of tipping in his favor. While a vote for Gary Johnson is a vote for Gary Johnson, and not Barack Obama, voting Romney instead may actually make a difference. As close as Florida was in 2000, every single vote may make a difference. Those voting “anyone but Obama” in swing states probably should vote for Romney if they really want Obama out.
On another note, I also like to point out that the argument that “voting for Gary Johnson is the same as voting for Barack Obama” is no more logical than “voting for Gary Johnson is voting for Mitt Romney.” When people make idiotic statements like this, I like to point out that by NOT voting for Barack Obama, I voted for Mitt Romney, even though I filled in the bubble for Virgil Goode (the Constitution Party candidate). Most people then see the inherent problem with their “argument”.