That is ridiculous. You are attributing the nature and constraints of the US electoral system, to someone's political beliefs and choices.
Not at all. I am pointing out that there are two different things going on.
As a voter you vote for someone that most closely aligns with your political beliefs.
Why?
What on earth makes you think "that is what you do"?
Especially in a system which will actively punish you for doing that by producing a result you consider worse
more often if you do that?
I agree many people think that way.
That's what they WANT the system to to incentivize.
But wishing the system worked that way doesn't make it work that way.
That may not be Biden or Trump. That may be Cornell West or some other independent candidate. Those candidates may not win, and it may take votes away from Biden and he may lose. Doesn't mean you helped Trump.
Yes, it does.
By definition.
Now, you may be happy that it helped Trump or you may be upset by it.
But in a plurality-wins system, any vote for someone hurts someone else.
If you
truly have no preference between the other candidates, then what you do does not affect anything concerning your satisfaction in the result.
If you have
any preference at all between the other candidates, then you have to consider whether or not your vote will produce a result that you like less than the outcome you helped create.
It just means you voted per your beliefs.
Something that is
actively detrimental to you getting your preferred result overall in a plurality-wins system.
Ignoring that because you don't like that the system produces results like that doesn't change that truth,
You are asking the voter to "play the game" to make sure Trump does not win. But the voter is not supposed to do that. They are supposed to just exercise their right to vote, and vote for someone that most closely aligns with their political beliefs.
You are wrong on this.
I am completely and utterly right on this.
Because not "playing the game", as you say it, produces worse results for the voter.
This is one of the main issues with FPTP and probably the least disputed result in electoral theory.
FPTP fails the
Favourite Betrayal Criterion.