I couldn't disagree more. Sanders is running in the Primary of one of the Two Parties. If he wins their nomination, he becomes one of the Two Parties. Third parties cannot win in a First Past the Post system. It's not a low chance. It's zero chance. No third party has ever won in a US Presidential election (discounting party system changes, which aren't actual third parties). See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-past-the-post_voting#Tactical_voting The exact opposite. Trump wants you to vote Green, to take votes from Hillary. And Hillary wants you to vote Libertarian, to steal votes from Trump. The Two Parties want you to vote for the third party closest to their opponent. If Bernie ran on a third-party ticket, he would only steal votes from Hillary, and throw the election for Trump. That's how First Past The Post works. That's the sole argument for voting third party instead of mainstream, in FPTP: the nuclear option. If you're willing to, for all practical purposes, vote for Trump, in order to encourage Hillary more to the left, you can Press the Red Button. But the net effect is the same as not voting. So, as far as "pushing to the left" goes, there's no difference whether you vote third party or don't vote.Meh that's like saying voting for sanders isn't voting.
Its a BS argument that the mainstream parties use to discourage you from voting for someone that actually represents you interest.
If your slightly less shitty mainstream candidate is at risk of loosing because you voted for a 3rd party then you are going to force their platform in your direction
In a 2 party system every voter has the choice to vote -1, 0 or +1 for a candidate. By voting 3rd party aren't voting "For" trump you are just not canceling out a trump supporters vote. Unless you live in a swing state where the two candidates are 5-8% there is no real reason for you to cancel out someones vote with your own because there is no reason to win by a larger margin. The only time it could be a problem is if two candidates are really closely polling in your state, then you may wish to vote for the "Lesser evil" as opposed to the better candidate.That's the sole argument for voting third party instead of mainstream, in FPTP: the nuclear option. If you're willing to, for all practical purposes, vote for Trump, in order to encourage Hillary more to the left, you can Press the Red Button. But the net effect is the same as not voting. So, as far as "pushing to the left" goes, there's no difference whether you vote third party or don't vote.
Ha, thats how I feel too. Trump isn't bad enough IMO that I will vote for Hillary to spite his supports. This election is really all about Trump. Do you vote for him, against him or neutral. I have seen absolutely no reason to vote "FOR" Hillary, only that a vote for her is one against Trump.