Liberty Lighthouse Journal: American's Guide to Responsible Voting

Let me begin by saying that too many times I have found myself voting for the "lesser evil", especially when it comes to presidential elections. An example would be that when George W. Bush ran for the primary, I did not vote for him. But when it came to the national election, I was forced to apply choosing the lesser evil.
Voters can find themselves frustrated that the candidates running are not a sure thing or collection of worthless politicians. This is seems more true of presidential candidates and members of Congress that seek reelection for the umpteenth time. Americans should be ringing the phones off the hook & filling members of Congress mail boxes with demands for term limits. What Congress thought was a good amendment to the Constitution in limiting terms of presidents - it is equally important that Congress have term limitations. And even if Congress does not limit terms, the policy of providing members of Congress with pensions after two-four terms is not acceptable. Retirement benefits should only be relegated to government employees and those employees must invest in that retirement program like the rest of us. Just as trade unions should NEVER be allowed to control government employment - that is the job of the legislative & executive branch.

A primary factor in voting is research. Just reading about or listening or watching a candidate is NOT research in any complete sense. Beware of the candidate whose campaign relies upon making the other candidate look bad, whether the allegations are true or not. The candidate can point out what the other candidate has done wrong, but must also point out how they would do things differently - and in detail. Not like Obama did and just say he wanted "Change". The voters did not get or demand just what changes Barack Obama had intended. The devil is in the details.
Proper research is reading a biography from reasonably legitimate source. For example, not at the candidate's website. It also entails looking to see if the candidate's political record matches their campaign rhetoric.

The Internet has become a wonderful source of information, but it is also a place to obtain misinformation. A major reputable source to research candidate's political background and policies is ON THE ISSUES. You could also get up-to-date information at GOVTRACK. I would not trust VOTE SMART website because it is sponsored by CNN & New York Times. A Red Flag there.
But you could use it as a third source to compare. On The Issues provides dated quotes on all topics and provides what bills were voted on by the candidate.
Voting is important and never think that your vote doesn't count (unless rampant voting fraud is present). You may think that your vote won't make a difference, but add up the people who are thinking the same line of thought. The USA would be in tune with the rest of the world in weights & measures (Congressional task via Constitution) - and we would be using the more accurate metric system (base 10 instead of 12), which the scientific & medical people use, if it weren't for five votes not in favor.
Another factor is do not insert the race or gender factor in your decision. A candidate's character and whether they support and protect the Constitution is what matters. Martin Luther King stated that character was more important, and he was correct.
And last, but more importantly, good candidates had to bow out of a campaign because of lack of funds. Running for office is expensive, especially running for US Congress & presidential office. Don't let that enter the factors of choosing a candidate.
Several factors have caused this. Indeed, the mainstream media have made it a critical factor that the viable candidate have mounds of funding in their campaign coiffers. But most of us have learned how bias the mainstream media is.

We have kept the two-party system for so long because of two major factors: (1) Neither Democrat or Republic allowed it, and is the only thing I can think of that they agree. (2) Too many people tend to support the entire political party, not realizing that the candidates are running for individual office. Except in recent history, one could find a good candidate from both parties. Yet, there are Republicans who do not follow the GOP platform of limited government and not compromising the Constitution in the name of alleged "fairness". They have been dubbed "RINOs" (Republican In Name Only). Since GW Bush, this is not feasible because the Democrats have turned to socialism, which is the normal action for those who push for a pure democracy instead of the Constitutional Republic the Founders created. Simply, it is better to be ruled by law rather than the mob and/or popular opinion. Populism is another factor that should not be considered when choosing a candidate.
Remember that tyrants in history were great persuaders and were likeable when they were trying to get the vote of the people.
People complain about the corruption in our government by those elected, but it is because too many haven't a clue of why the Founders chose our form of government and don't even know what is in the Constitution. And that is because We the People have allowed Marxists and perverted social engineers to control our educational system. Time to remove them from our schools and influencing our nation's youth.