Dissent is as American as Apple Pie

 

The streets are not the only place in which dissent may be expressed. The ballot box is a perfectly legitimate venue for protest.

A protest vote is not "thrown away." Protests are expressions of dissent and a sign of health in the body politic. 

 

Most of the votes I've cast in national elections over the past 40+ years have been expressions of dissent. 

 

But there are many people in the U.S. today who lack the political imagination necessary to protest. So, instead, they follow the party line, ratify the unconscionable, and then try to justify their vote by pretending it is "realpolitik" when, in fact, it is just lazy, unprincipled, conformist, and craven. 

 

In my experience, that's most Democrats.