Because our political results never seem to get better, many voters have come to feel that their vote makes little difference. What all voters need to understand is that your vote can make a difference, but only if you use it to vote for what you truly want.

If you're really convinced that either Bush or Kerry are likely to lead our nation in the directions you want, then you should vote that way. But, as is true of a great many Americans, you believe that either of them is likely to produce more disastrous results, then find a candidate whose beliefs do match yours, and vote FOR that candidate. For a large number of Americans, the beliefs held by Michael Badnarik, the Libertarian candidate, DO match their beliefs. If you're not sure, here are a quick 20 points you can use to help you decide:

1. Badnarik is a peace candidate.
2. Badnarik will reduce the size of government.
3. Badnarik will reduce taxes.
4. Badnarik will support our Constitution.
5. Badnarik will end the War on Drugs
6. Badnarik will stop the persecution of medical marijuana patients.
7. Badnarik will support the 2nd amendment.
8. Badnarik will support Parents' Rights.
9. Badnarik will punish government officials who violate our civil rights.
10. Badnarik will eliminate unlawful detention.
11. Badnarik will rule out a military draft.
12. Badnarik will support restitution to effectively reduce crime.
13. Badnarik will stop the meddling in other nations' affairs.
14. Badnarik will bring our troops home where they can defend us.
15. Badnarik will eliminate regulations that force up the cost of health care.
16. Badnarik will end the discrimination that regulations and licensing have imposed upon minorities.
17. Badnarik supports equal rights for gays.
18. Badnarik will veto deficit spending bills.
19. Bush and Kerry don't deserve your vote.
20. If you ever want a viable 3rd choice, you have to demonstrate that.

Many people I talk to are fed up with our election system, and long for a greater number of viable candidates. I know that many of you have sufficient reason to vote for Badnarik, but you will respond that he cannot win, so why waste your vote on him?

Look at reason 20 again, and consider it well. The only way our nation is EVER going to have an additional viable candidate is if those of you who honestly prefer those candidates will actually vote FOR them. For example... according to a poll by Rasmussen Research, 16% of Americans -- about one of every six voters -- strongly agree with the libertarian position on issues, compared to only 13% who hold a staunchly liberal viewpoint and 7% who consistently support conservative positions.

More agreement with libertarian positions than with either liberal or conservative positions, yet libertarian candidates have never really been competitive in election returns. There are votes that have nothing to do with ideology, such as by those receiving some sort of subsidy from government... voting simply to protect their checks, or votes by members of huge government unions, voting to continue their well-paid jobs... but among those voters who agree with libertarian positions, many will choose to vote for the "lesser of two evils"... either the Democratic or Republican candidate. They believe that only one of those two candidates can win.

The ONLY way our (or any other third party) can ever field a candidate with a chance at winning is if the voters begin to vote for who they WANT, regardless of the chance of victory. In the last presidential election, 111 million people voted.

If even HALF the voters who support libertarian positions were to actually vote for Mr. Badnarik, it would send a ripple of change throughout our political system.

That would be 8.88 million votes for Badnarik, an amount that would change election results all over the nation. More importantly, it would be a clear signal to Washington that an enormous number of Americans are dissatisfied with both the Democratic and Republican parties. The result would be great pressure on the new administration and legislature to modify their actions.

Politicians of the Democratic and Republican parties will do anything to get votes. They will flip-flop position statements depending on who they're addressing at the moment, and issue other statements that are so vague as to be meaningless. How do you think they would react to losing almost 9 million votes that have a clear message? At the very least, they would change their rhetoric toward the message sent by those votes, but they would also begin to change their actions. They would do whatever they could to re-capture those 9 million votes before the next election. They would know that if they didn't do so, that 9 million could grow to a level that could really threaten their parties. That is the leverage that we voters have, but only if we have the sense to exercise it.

If America ever hopes to regain control over our government, we MUST have a viable 3rd party in the political mix, and that IS up to the voters. If we continue to vote for one of the two major partys' candidates, we can never have another viable choice. Several parties have gone to a great deal of work and expense to give you a choice in November. Take it while you can. Do not assume that those extra choices will always be there, waiting for the voters to get around to supporting them.