http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/29/opinion/is-a-third-party-vote-a-wasted-vote.html 2016-09-28 21:21:30 Is a Third-Party Vote a Wasted Vote? Readers disagree. One chastises “holier-than-thou lefties” with a “Downton Abbey” quote. Another says, “It’s never unprincipled to vote one’s conscience.” === To the Editor: Re “ I don’t pretend to understand why people are supporting Donald Trump. Yes, I know that they are working harder than ever at low-paying jobs, that jobs have gone to Mexico and China and that politicians are a miserable lot. What I don’t understand is why they believe that Mr. Trump really cares about their overdue car payment. I don’t know why being a serial liar is irrelevant and why ignorance of constitutional basics is not disqualifying. However, what makes my blood pressure skyrocket from just a little elevated to stroke level are those holier-than-thou lefties who plan to vote for a third-party candidate or not at all. As Maggie Smith’s character on “Downton Abbey” asked: “Does it ever get cold on the moral high ground?” In your editorial, you quote Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, as saying: “I will have trouble sleeping at night if Donald Trump is elected. I will also have trouble sleeping at night if Hillary Clinton is elected.” Really? It’s all the same to her? And how about all those die-hard Bernie Sanders supporters who are now ignoring him when he says that it is not the time to vote for a third-party candidate? At this point, I can only hope that those Americans with a modicum of sense will come out to vote and that there are more of them than there are Trump supporters. JANE POINDEXTER Oaxaca, Mexico To the Editor: Re “ As a scare tactic to encourage young voters to support Hillary Clinton rather than Gary Johnson, Mr. Krugman urges them to read the Libertarian Party platform, which, he says, would “eliminate environmental regulation, abolish the income tax, do away with public schools, and dismantle Social Security and Medicare.” Actually, Mr. Johnson calls for reasonable environmental regulations as an essential function of government, for reforming Medicare and Social Security by introducing greater means testing and raising the retirement age, for returning more control over public schools to state and local governments and, as many economists have advocated, for replacing the income tax with a consumption tax. These are hardly radical measures that should dissuade any citizen, young or old, from voting to change the destructive course on which both major parties have placed our country. Indeed, as Mr. Johnson observes in his Op-Ed essay, his combination of fiscal conservatism and liberalism on social issues provides a fresh approach that should hold tremendous appeal for all voters. KENNETH A. MARGOLIS Chappaqua, N.Y. To the Editor: Re “ For the past 30 years, Hillary Clinton has been accused, investigated, questioned, subpoenaed, summoned, condemned through innuendo, wrongly and repeatedly described as untrustworthy by the media, and held to a higher standard than a man as she runs for president. And yet, over these 30 years, she has not been found guilty of a crime or misdeed. Donald Trump is a businessman who has numerous documented instances of housing discrimination against African-Americans; of not paying workers and contractors agreed-upon expenses and wages; of lying, bullying, denigrating women and denying climate change. Come on, people. Hillary is not a saint, and neither are any of us. We don’t have the luxury to ponder a vote for a third-party candidate. We can’t sit out an election of such importance. There is no “maybe I’ll send a message of protest,” there is no equivocation, there is no question! A vote for Hillary will beat back the dark forces of hatred and bigotry rising up before our eyes. JOSEPH TOLSON New York To the Editor: I must take issue with Charles M. Blow’s column “ While his arguments against Mr. Trump are compelling, he does not acknowledge that other alternatives are viable. Support for Gary Johnson and Jill Stein, both legitimate presidential candidates, continues to grow, despite the considerable dearth of media coverage of their campaigns and policies. The odds against them are therefore indeed daunting, but to say that supporting them is unprincipled is truly, to quote Mr. Blow, a “false equivalency.” It is never unprincipled to vote one’s conscience. According to the polls cited by Mr. Blow, at least 5 percent of young African-American voters would agree. MARK FELIPE Arlington, Va.