[quote=@Jotunn Draugr]
<Snipped quote by Vilageidiotx>

Until there's a major shift in the zeitgeist, a vote for a third party is a vote wasted.
[/quote]

I always found that idea a tad narcissistic. Realistically I'll never decide an election, so voting based on the idea i'll decide an election is silly. But I can contribute to post-election statistics about independent voting patterns and groups a major party has to earn later down the line. Vote for your party regularly and nobody has to do anything for your vote because you'll give it to them no matter what, but if enough people vote for a third party then that put pressures on the major parties. So to me, I see the function of the Libertarian and Green parties in the US not so much to be winning elections and more like being ways voters can tell the parties "You are veering too far to the center and I don't like that."