Hello Bob,   
      
    LL>> Voting for candidates who are not a Democrat or a Republican   
    LL>> is viewed by many as being a wasted vote.  However, Jesse   
    LL>> Ventura and Minnesotans would tell you otherwise...   
      
   BK>There are a lot of officials on the local level with little or   
   BK>no connection to the parties, but on the national level they are   
   BK>few and far between. I believe two or three in congress at the   
   BK>same time is the most in recent memory.   
      
   Jesse Ventura won election at the statewide level, having been   
   elected Governor of Minnesota.  He later toyed with idea of running   
   for President, but his wife knocked some sense into his head thus   
   bringing him back down to earth.   
      
   Ventura did make an interesting observation.  The largest group   
   of voters are not Democrats or Republicans, but Independents.   
   And if a politician (such as Ventura) could tap into that base   
   of voters, it would be lights out for both the Democratic and   
   Republican candidates.   
      
    LL>> that way.  If you believe in the principles of the   
    LL>> Libertarian Party, then register as a Libertarian and   
    LL>> participate in the political process as a Libertarian.   
    LL>> Voting is only a small part of the political process.  A   
    LL>> very small part.   
      
   BK>That is the real reason to participate by belief. That plus a   
   BK>meaningful proposal by an outside party can change the course of   
   BK>a major party.   
      
   It often has.  For example, the ideas of Norman Thomas strongly   
   influenced the decisions that Franklin Roosevelt made.  Especially   
   in regards to domestic policy.  Of course, that helped America in   
   a positive way.  On the down side, the ideas and philosophy of the   
   Tea Party would undoubtedly influence the future presidency of Mitt   
   Romney.  But I guess things could be worse.  Just imagine the ghost   
   of Ayn Rand influencing the future presidency of Paul Ryan.  Or   
   would that be too much of a nightmare?   
      
   --Lee   
      
   --- MesNews/1.06.00.00-gb   
    * Origin: news://felten.yi.org (2:203/2)