Reply #35: it's very unrealistic, at best, to think it would work that way [View All]

[enki23]

kerry will do no such thing, and would not do any such thing if every leftist in the country voted for him. swing voters, centrist and otherwise, are worth double. so long as the potential defectors to republicans are *half* as numerous as potential defectors to third-party candidates, they will be courted preferentially during the general election campaign.

the one way greens and other leftists could have any chance to even the score would be to credibly threaten to vote for the republican candidate. to make that credible, they'd actually have to do so in significant numbers a time or two. though attempting to sabotage the democratic party in crucial swing states might also work to some extent. you don't get attention until there are consequences for not giving it to you. and... for the angry sorts... that's no more "holding the democratic party hostage" than what the swing voters are doing. don't like it? don't do it. i'm not. but it's pragmatic. it's what would have to be done.