Tactics Against Voting Tactically Jasper Evans

Tactics Against Voting Tactically ByJasper Evans, PPE student at Lady Margaret Hall

Once again, the stumbling husk of American democracy tumbles its way towards a general election. And once again, leftists in the states must ask themselves, can I really vote for the democratic candidate? It seems that they have misunderstood, the cry of ‘could you find worse candidates?!’ in 2016 was one of desperation, not a challenge.

Yet here we are. American’s are fortunate enough to choose from either a 77 year old, mentally ailing white man accused of sexual harassment, or a 73 year old, mentally ailing, white man accused of sexual harassment. And its not just the lack of diversity, but the lack of talent, of initiative. There seem few potential American leaders who have the capacity to deal with these changing times. Donald Trump, a man who doesn’t believe in climate change, is entirely unfit to lead the world’s lone superpower into a period where climate change is its greatest threat. At the same time, Joe Biden, a man who once slipped out that ‘poor kids are just as intelligent as white kids’ is not capable of the radical shift required in American policy to properly address the issues raised by protests currently occurring across the nation. The candidates simply aren’t good enough.

But this has all already been written a thousand times. The real question is not whether there are potentially better candidates (even in America, the law of large numbers requires that in 330 million people there must be some salvageable competency), but whether voters should vote for them. As so often is the case for those of us with the misfortune to live in countries that use first past the post, we must consider tactical voting: voting for those we dislike, to stop those we hate.

According to the economists, or course, voting is pointless. In the history of the modern United Kingdom, but a tiny number of elections have been decided by one vote. Even the smallest majorities in the UK (57 at the last election) are far beyond the reach of the individual. Even if we prevent falling into a pit of electoral despair, we must admit that in terms of deciding who is going to be elected, our vote has little chance of being the decided.

So, adding to a large majority or minority in a constituency will not change much. Both parties know where they stand and where the other stands, and their best effort is to push out their own voters and suppress those of the opposition. What a sizable 3rd party vote does, however, is change that equation. Now a group of voters with clear distinct wants appear, voters that can be courted, wants that can be fulfilled. Big parties, fearing a ‘spoiler effect’ that might lose them the edge they require for the next election, will be more likely to address the worries of these smaller 3rd parties than they will be of the party faithful, who complain, valiantly, from the inside.

To see this we need only look at the most successful British party of the last few decades, UKIP. UKIP had one clear aim, and somehow, without winning a single seat, managed to achieve it. By threatening the right flank of the Tory party, UKIP managed to transform British politics. It’s impact has already ended two Prime minister’s careers, and might well still have bite left in it. We can disagree with its ends all we want (and that, for me, is an awful lot) but we must admit it managed a significant change with insignificant resources. It was not Jeremy Corbyn that killed of May and Cameron, but the Ghost of Nigel Farage.

This is not without distinctions, of course. Perhaps a major party does best represent your views, or perhaps the risk of the other side getting in due to your vote, however small, deserves a tactical vote. This may well be the case in the upcoming American election, however much Biden attempts to prove his inadequacy. But we should remember that voting third party is not a wasted vote, it can often be the most meaningful vote of all.

“Everything can be explained to the people, on the single condition that you want them to understand.” FRANTZ FANON THE WRETCHED OF THE EARTH