people act like they are literally forced to vote for, say hillary clinton. when push comes to shove, are you going to vote for hillary or jeb? lesser of two evils, etc. no one else can win. but in this and in some other cases, you really are voting for exactly what purport most to repudiate, for exactly the hierarchy you say is the problem, with a slightly different rhetorical patina that somehow engages your social identity, though with no sincerity.
another thing that's supposedly forced in this system is that candidates - and again hillary is and will be an extremely clear case - have to, really have to, float with the polls, or the polling of the party base in the primary process. i am telling you, none of this is forced at all. or: hillary has no choice but to raise billions; she needs to do whatever she needs to do to accomplish that. people who suddenly found gay marriage when it hit 52% in the polls - oh, barack and hillary, for example - will then pay tribute to the memory of martin luther king, an example of moral courage for us all, etc. but you did not have to be a king to endorse gay marriage in 2008, you just had to not be a complete moral coward. they're ready to march over the edmund pettus bridge now that there's absolutely no risk involved. back then, they'd have been telling you that king was too extreme. they try to put passion in their voices so as to inspire you with the fierce urgency of let me focus-group that.
i think people want to feel forced in order not to make even a mildly hard decision. voting third party is not an excruciating choice with terrifying consequences. really it's not. it obviously is not if you live in a state that is clearly going one way or the other, which is most states. and of course it's a self-fulfilling prophecy that just makes it impossible to effect any significant change through the electoral process at all: it makes democracy nothing, really. and then, the idea that obviously a candidate can't possibly honestly represent their real beliefs places extraordinarily low moral standards on politicians. no, guess what: they can say whatever they like. i think in some cases they might be surprised by a good response to that. but if not, then the worst that happens is you lose the election. that is not an unfaceable personal calamity. it's not like a choice where you're picking who has to die or something. anyone can decide to do that anytime they like, and i hope that you expect better than that from any neighbor, colleague, spouse, etc.
also don't let anyone tell you that a vote for a third party is a vote for the republican (or the democrat). i really did prove that false mathematically long ago. and any way you look at it, a vote for, say, bernie sanders in the democratic primary cannot be a 'wasted vote' any more than a vote for hillary clinton, no matter who wins. indeed, if she's going to win no matter who you vote for, a vote for her is certainly wasted. and really, if you vote for a person whose real positions or whose persona you don't believe or believe in, or in the worst case whose positions or persona you on reflection repudiate, you are certainly wasting your vote.
