Froklsnt

I am not a member of the Democratic Party because I believe that the party system itself has become an avenue of corruption. As such, I cannot vote in the Democratic primary in New York, regardless of my support for your campaign. Do you support open primaries, or alternative voting methods to our "first-past-the-post" system, which would discourage two party politics?

Regardless, you'll have my vote in November, even if I must write it in. Thank you.

I'm aware of my conflict between standing on principle and being more pragmatic. Thus far, I've stood on principle because the parties both disgust me, even if I fall on the same side for nearly every issue. I am tempted to register solely for the primary vote, and if it's not too late I might still. The point of my question, however, is that it is absurd that I should have to declare for a party to affect the election.

No, your harshness is fair. Zephyr's candidacy might be the the cause that finally pushes me over the edge to choose tactical soundness over principles, which is a move I almost always support.

I would have felt slightly better about it if the campaign agreed that these reforms are necessary. Zephyr was on WXXI (Rochester NPR Station) this week, and expressed the kind of fierce loyalty to a party that I find so troubling. I support loyalty to ideas and causes, not brands. Unfortunately brand loyalty is all but necessary to get elected in our system today.

There are ways to live without it though, even if we aren't there yet. It is a product of how we run our elections, nothing more. If we first achieve public financing of elections, as you support, we may be able to pass electoral reform to correct this grievous issue.

Political science has accomplished a lot in the past 200 years, including conceiving voting methods that don't inherently lead to two-party dynamics.

I'm fairly young, and Zephyr is the first candidate that has inspired me enough to believe that doing something distasteful (like registering to one of the major parties) was worthwhile for the larger good. It feels like kowtowing to corruption. But, if campaigns like Mayday.us have proven anything to me, sometimes you have to join them to beat them.