Of course I have an ulterior motive - I seek an alternative to the two-party system that has divided us into warring tribes and convinced most of us of the imperative of a political binary with no other choice.
This is an especially important issue in Pennsylvania, which has been historically hostile to third parties. There is no Green Party on the ballot here, no Cornell West, and God forbid no RFK, Jr., whose bid to get on the PA ballot was rejected shortly before he withdrew from the race, citing in part his inability to get his message out in a partisan media environment where CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN and MSNBC afforded him only two interview opportunities in 18 months.
In PA only the Libertarian Party has sufficient history to remain on the ballot as an alternative to Harris' unacceptable progressivism and Trump's asshattery. I have no desire to help determine the winner; each advocates for a future I cannot and will not support. I will vote down ballot as I always have for the candidates that best reflect my positions. I will then vote for Chase Oliver, not in a bid to waste my vote but to support the only alternative that exists in PA today in opposition to the destructive tribalism of the two major parties.
RFK, Jr said when he withdrew from the race that the Democrats seek to defend democracy by dismantling it, by keeping third parties off state ballots, by harnessing their media to silence such alternatives, and by weaponizing the legal system to both protect then-incumbent Biden and subject the other party's candidate to partisan prosecution.. Meanwhile, the sh-t currently going down in newly-progressive Brazil suggests to me that the next step in how the state in the hands of Democrats intends to dismantle democracy is to seek to deny forums for the exercise of the free exchange of ideas to those the government decides are facilitating "disinformation". Yes, this worries me.as a slippery slope to a future that scares the hell out of me.
I am sick for the future of American democracy under either Harris or Trump. Don't be so wrapped up in TDS that you miss the dire threats to democracy that the Democrats pose. Neither party deserves my vote for President this year and I see no reason to enable them. Geddy Lee is right - it is a choice to decline to drink the Kool-Ade.