I have seen several political discussions on other boards. One thing I keep seeing is "I'm voting for Bob Barr" and/or "I'm writing in Ron Paul"

These comments are coming from folks that have never supported Obama or Clinton. Do you guys think Barr or Paul might take votes away from McPain. Just curious......

It's still hard for me to imagine that people would actually vote for someone they know can't win.
As such, each vote can ONLY be considered to be a protest vote. A protest vote can only work for your values as long as it causes one or the other candidate to change a position, in an attempt to sway that vote.

That said, I hope there are many, many conservatives out there who feel they can't vote for McSame, but will not vote for Obama. As such, their protest vote becomes a proxy vote for Obama, and I hope they know it.

Well, they ain't stealing votes from Obama, that's for sure. There are plenty of righties I know who would vote for McCain but are pissed off and will be voting for Barr instead. And then there is the idiot contingent who will stick in there for Paul... very few of those guys would have otherwise supported Obama. In a couple States where it might matter like Ohio and Virginia, might be bad news for the GOP...

I would leave to see that play out. I saw Barr on HDnet last night. Although I could never vote for him, he did seem like one of the few true conservatives left. I bet if he could get his message out there, he could steal some votes from McPain. I think I am going to have watch him more closely from now on.