[AlexM]

For number 1, I think the best argument to the "wasted vote" nonsense is to tell them that the only way to waste a vote is to vote for something other than what you support and that even if the candidate doesn't win, by receiving more support, other people will start taking that candidate's ideals more seriously and things are more likely to turn in that direction.

Also, you can say "hey, it's not like the election is going to come down to one vote anyway, so vote your heart," but that doesn't really work because the same logic suggests not bothering to vote at all. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

As for #2, if people believe in the standard "why we should kill Mid Easterners" propaganda, I have no idea how to deal with them. The best I can think of is to say that we've proven our point in response to 9/11 and they've learned their lesson and that we should pull out and tell them that if it happens again we'll be coming right back so knock it the hell off.