Who in the %$&! am I supposed to vote for?

Okay, so I've been watching the debate tonight, while at the same time researching third party candidates. Now I've come to a definite conclusion...I don't know who to vote for.

I don't want to vote for a Republican or a Democrat. To me, they represent corporate politics and represent no change for American government/politics. They have been selected by wealthy and powerful politicos and have been set out for us to choose. The current party system works to perpetuate itself and maintain barriers to entry for other parties. For this reason alone, I feel compelled to vote outside the norm.

On the other hand, all of the "third" parties that are on the ballot here in Nashville have serious things that make me hesitate to support them --

- Libertarian Party: I thought this was going to be my party when I first started reading the Libertarian views. The idea of protecting personal liberty and property and minimizing the government's involvement in the lives of the citizenry is really attractive. The thing is that I think it is actually good to have some government involvement to help take care of members of society that need aid and to prevent damage to the whole society by individual parties. The Libertarian idea of eliminating government regulations would encourage increased oil drilling rather than helping to drive the economy toward new energy resources. I really thought I was a free market guy until I read their platform.

- Green Party: I really do like the social justice and sustainable living aspect of the Green Party. I really would love to have the country be more influenced to move in that direction. What really holds me back with the Greens though is the amount of spending and programs that they are in favor of. I don't see it as additional spending, but I really feel like the government needs to drastically reduce spending and drastically reduce the tax burden on the people.

- Constitution Party: Similar to the Libertarians, these folks are primarily concerned with personal liberties. They do believe that if government is left unchecked, it is in its nature to usurp the liberty of its citizenry and become a major violator of human rights. The Constitutees are interested in addressing some so-called social issues with federal legislation (e.g., marriage). Gun rights are huge for them.

Anyway, I feel stuck. I'm still checking out Nader...maybe he'll be the guy.

In the meantime, consider a third party candidate. Break the cycle of the status quo!