>But the questions I raised in my post are still on the table, most
>importantly to me: "How does one justify entering a competition one has no
>hope of winning, but whose outcome one can influence toward the terrifying
>(the election of a racist reactionary like Bush)?"
It seems rather perverse to put the onus on those who are disenfranchised by the electoral system to justify their decision to vote according to their wishes. That the electoral system doesn't count their votes is something that you should ask those who designed the electoral system to justify.
Pragmatically, I have already explained that the strategy must be to force those people who can change the electoral system to back down and agree to count everyone's vote, even those who vote against them. Make them bleed votes until they surrender. The Democrats and republicans are intent on blackmail and extortion to force people to vote for them, blaming those who refuse to bow to the pressure is pathetic.
Bill bartlett Bracknell Tas