pinyaka comments on The Two-Party Swindle - Less Wrong
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I'm not sure if it is necessarily the case that they are competing for my vote. Listening to some of the debates from the Republican Presidential candidates, it is rather clear that they would rather appeal to their base than cater to "the enemy". But yes, I intend to vote third party, since my vote is pretty much a throwaway in this state anyway. Split the Republican vote between a write-in and the official candidate, and they still get more than the next guy.
That seems unlikely. They get their base to vote for them no matter what. They have to worry about the edge cases. I suppose it's possible that they're trying to get their base to vote, as opposed to not voting.
I don't pay that much to politics, but I would suspect that, if the circumstances point to a Democrat winning, for instance, the Republicans will try to move more towards the middle ground so they still have a chance.
It's not really catering to the enemy. It's just the middle ground. And that's only if you're talking about the effect of voting for one of the main parties. I very much doubt that Republicans would call Libertarians the enemy, for example.
I don't know that this is true. The primaries effectively screen out candidates who aren't blue or green enough for the base. From this anchor point, the winning candidate may moderate somewhat to try and attract swing voters, but they aren't starting from a position of trying to get undecided voters.