While I agree--we don't owe the Republicans our votes--we sure as hell don't owe our votes to the clintons.
But that precisely what you'd be doing--placing a de facto vote for hillary clinton--if you vote for a Perot, or if you sit out the election because of a Perot-surrogate issue.
You are conflating two issues, and in the process, deluding yourselves.
The first issue is policy. As long as DC is run by the professional pol, we will have policy that serves... surprise... the professional pol. It doesn't matter if that pol is a conservative or a liberal, a Democrat or a Republican or a Bull Moose.
You are deluding yourself if you think otherwise. (Think 'Barrett Report redactions loophole.' It is proof certain that not one honest, courageous politician exists in either the Senate or the House.)
The professional pol is a self-selected subgroup of Homo sapiens marked by mediocrity, corruptibility and dysfunction. The answer to the current mediocrity, entrenched power and lack of courage is not to help elect even more defective professional pols (or even less defective ones, for that matter). It is to begin fielding outstanding citizen-politicians. Just like the Founders envisioned.
The second issue is the '08 election. That is what I am addressing here. (The '06 election will set the stage and is, therefore, almost as crucial.) It is self-evident that a Democrat--and especially a clinton--would be fatal for America. Now is not the time for us to indulge our indignations.
Is it really asking too much to wait until we dispense with the clintons for good? Imagine how good you would feel, how many possibilities would suddenly open up, if we could deliver the coup de grace before '08 and remove them from the political stage... for good....
Fear is a powerful master and the only tool available to those who have no demonstrable record on which to stand. The fact that the Republicans must resort to fearmongering simply underscores their lack of accomplishment. I refuse to respond to the "The Evil Dem would be so much worse". Without demonstrable progress on domestic issues, Republicans will not get my vote.
Withholding my vote or casting it for a third party is significantly different than casting it for a Dim. It is not, as you allege, "a defacto vote for Hillary." It is merely one less that she must counter. If the Republicans want my vote, they simply must earn it. That point is non-negotiable.
Incorrect. The first issue is principle. First. Last. And always. All else is candy-coated compromise, ideological prostitution.
If the GOP offers up a cheap, watered down bowl of cold leftover democrat lite stew and the Dems bring a steaming (yes, I chose that word for its imagery) hot bowl of their stew right off the stove, which one is going to appeal more to voters?
We can't beat them by shouting that we are a cheaper version of the Dems. The cost to the taxpayer is seen to be the same. Why wouldn't that take the real deal instead of the cheap version?
I will feel real good when I know that the GOP is committed to fighting the Dem/socialist party and not emulating it. The American people are looking for an alternative to the Dems, not a shadow of it.
The sooner that we have that assurance and that difference, the better off we'll all be.