Campaign quick hits for Friday

1.  Chuck Muth of Citizen Outreach reprises what we know here as the "Dondero strategy" of supporting Gary Johnson only in deep blue states and calling on Libertarians to do "vote-swapping" everywhere else.  This is a strategy born of desperation on the part of Romney supporters, who are now beginning to realize that (A) the LP has actually nominated a credible candidate who is running a real campaign; (B) that the "wasted vote" or "spoiler effect" argument is rapidly losing credibility with disenfranchised independents; and (C) Gary Johnson has the potential to tilt the election in wildly unpredictable ways.  So Chuck pats Libertarians on the head and tells them to be good negroes who have now been emancipated but should not actually expect things to be any different.

2.  More realistically, Art Carden at Forbes explains that the only way to waste your vote is not to vote for the candidate you believe in, regardless of what you are told about his or her chances.  Statistically speaking, even in Florida in 2000, one vote or a dozen votes or six dozen votes are not decisive.  Voting for Gary Johnson or Jill Stein won't make Barack Obama or Mitt Romney win or lose the election; it will contribute to a wider, more participatory democracy.

3.  Lane Filler at Newsday shares much of Carden's view:  Libertarians have to quit accepting the idea that they owe anything to either of the two big parties.  Take a lesson from Ron Paul and use the existing party structure for yourself  in guerilla fashion, but don't vote for them.

4.  Jill Stein, presumptive Green Party nominee, thinks the Affordable Care Act is actually class warfare and wants to dump it.  Yes, Dr. Stein believes in Medicare for All as the way to go, but it is certainly nice to see a principled progressive willing to call a dressed up pig a rump roast.

5.  Massachusetts polling numbers from PPP:  Obama 53%, Romney 38%, Undecided 4%, Stein 3%, Johnson 1%.  Hardly surprising a Libertarian is not doing well in Massachusetts.  Time for George Phillies to get to work.