Stuck between a rock and a hard place

Do you remember that guy from “Survivor?” 

He was from Indiana and wore lots of tie-dye shirts? Rupert Boneham, right?

I bring this up only because he’s running for governor in Indiana, a state in which you might just be registered to vote. 

Survivor Guy for Governor may seem a little far-fetched, but I looked at his website, rupertforgovernor.com, and it turns out his candidacy is not as wild as his bushy beard might indicate.

As governor, Boneham wants to reinforce welfare-to-work programs.

He wants to reaffirm Fourth Amendment rights that were weakened last year in the case Barnes v. Indiana. He wants to help parents become involved in their children’s education.

He wants to change how we treat prisoners, and he wants abortion to be safe, legal, rare and privately funded. 

Admittedly, I got a little bit excited about his candidacy. 

He looks like a real person.  He was speaking my language.

He was great, a glimmer of hope, a chance at something better.

He was a Libertarian. 

The spell was broken. 

I cannot vote for a third- party candidate. I can’t just throw my vote away.

In our two-party system, that’s what voting for the Libertarians, the Green Party or the Anarchists comes down to: nothing.

Except in rare cases, the only viable candidates are Democrats and Republicans. They are the only ones with enough money, name recognition and airtime to be elected. 

Sometimes third party candidates can win smaller elections, but they are hardly ever elected governor. They are a joke when it comes to the presidency.

Of the third party governors in the history of the United States, only five are alive today. Only one is currently in office.

This points to a massive problem in the U.S. political system. 

If Democrat or Republican is the only viable choice Americans have, do we really have a viable choice at all?

There is A or Not A. Choose one.

Voters who are fiscally conservative but socially liberal are forced to value one more than the other.

There is no Moderate Party. There is no real choice, and we can forget about fair.  
There is blue or red. Choose one.

The only way we can open up the field to candidates of other parties is by electing officials who want to do so.

Do you see the problem?

The only electable candidates are from the parties that benefit from our current system. 

There is donkey or elephant. Choose one.

I’m thinking about all the problems we could solve, such as the polarity of this country, political apathy and helplessness, the economy, our society and the world, by actually giving third parties a chance and allowing new ideas into the political sphere.

I am angry that we have become so entrenched in these two dumb parties.

What’s a responsible voter to do? 

­— casefarr@umail.iu.edu