To one Iowan who favors Arizona Governor Bill Richardson, it looks like Barack Obama or John Edwards may be the lesser of three evils (Hillary Clinton being the third). The excerpt below comes from a piece on NPR this morning, Iowa Caucuses Do or Die for Some Democrats, by David Greene:

As one of the candidates with lower poll numbers, Richardson’s best hope for doing well in the caucuses may be winning over people like Tony Ross. [...] Ross tells Richardson he’s worried about Hillary Clinton getting the nomination because he thinks she may lose to a Republican.

“So my biggest fear going to caucus for Richardson is that I would drain support from someone else,” Ross says.

Richardson has no easy answer. He says that if he gets the nomination, he could beat a Republican.

Afterwards, when asked if he plans to caucus for Richardson, Ross says he is unsure. Richardson is hands down his favorite, he says. Still, Ross does not know if Richardson will have the resources to stay in the race in the long term.

“I’m afraid if I throw my support to him and he does not get enough bounce out of Iowa, it drains support from Edwards and Obama, and Mrs. Clinton comes out as the eventual nominee. That just worries me,” Ross says.

This just kills me. Seriously. You should have seen heard me screaming in the shower. This mindset would be easier to stomach were it not for the fact that I have listened to this same “wasted vote myth” be repeated over and over again this election season. If ever there were a time to cast a vote for the person you really wanted to support, would it not be now when the major parties have yet to select their candidate? Wake up America! Stop listening to the pundits, the pollsters and playing into the self-fulfilling prophecies and simply vote your conscience!