A Vote for Ideals Is Never Wasted

The refrain which many people mindlessly repeat about Libertarian candidates in nearly any race is that they are a “wasted vote.” That is certainly false since it presumes that the voter’s only objective is a mere candidate’s election, but voters can have influence well beyond that, which is why voters Upstate should consider Dr Jo Jorgensen, the Libertarian Party’s candidate for President.

Dr Jorgensen – a self-made businesswoman and academic, on ballot in all fifty states – represents in many ways the ideals of both the Democratic and Republican parties which could not make it into the General Election. For example, Dr Jorgensen favors discontinuing the War on Drugs, which some critics observe has disproportionately impacted minority communities. Many Democrats favor this proposal, yet federal support for recreational marijuana was diluted out of their national platform. Dr Jorgensen also favors fiscal responsibility, yet the Republican national platform extols costly foreign policy initiatives which any rank-and-file Republican knows will astronomically balloon the deficit.

In our state which is 3-to-1 Democrat, Republican voters have to realize that New York is going blue, no matter what. Voting red for President is exactly what the GOP expects, so you are letting the party take your vote for granted. If, however, you cast your vote for Dr Jorgensen, you signal to the GOP that you want the party to value fiscal responsibility the way it claims to.

For Democrat voters, even if every one of you voted for Dr Jorgensen, the blue wave Downstate and in every other city in New York (Buffalo, Syracuse, Ithaca, Newburgh, Rochester) will still carry the day, so your vote will not prevent New York’s electoral votes from going blue, but it will show to party brass that you are fed up with lofty promises and compromises which leave so many Americans vulnerable.

Voters Upstate do have other Libertarian candidates on ballot – notably Dr Victoria Alexander in the NY-19th Congressional – but if you do nothing but cast one vote this election, please consider Dr Jo Jorgensen for President!

”Liberty Minded with Dan Donnelly”

October 20th, 2020, published in The Mountain Eagle, distributed in Schoharie and Greene counties