1. Even if a candidate doesn't win it doesn't mean voting for them doesn't influence the political landscape. The more people who vote for a third party the more votes the other parties didn't get, and they want to tap into that. It isn't the majority who wins elections, but rather the independent voters who can turn that 49% into a 51%. Voting with your conscience tells the candidates of major parties what they should do to win you over in the future. 

2. You don't like the other candidates anyway. Sure, you can say that one of them is the lesser of two evils, but they are still pretty damn evil. Why endorse that? 

3. The current parties are on their dying breaths. Look at how devasted the GOP is by Trump, and unless they change drastically they are in for a demographic problem 10-20 years from now. As for the Democrats, you might not know this because the current president has a D next to his name, but they are in a very risky situation right now. If Republicans win the presidency and keep hold of the house, then Republicans effectively control all three branches of government on almost every level. The Democratic party needs to win this election to survive. Not to mention they have their own schism in their party between progressives and moderates. A third party can very well become a second party in the next fifty years or so. Political change doesn't happen in a night. But it won't get there if you keep voting for shitty politicians

4. Getting more than 5% votes alleviates the pressure of getting ballot access through petition and allows a third party to spend money on other things. Getting 15% opens up the third party to debate in the next election. The benefits of each additional vote does not scale linearly. 

5. The president doesn't really do much. The powers of a president are limited, and the amount of influence you have over their election is miniscule. Showing what your beliefs really are affects a lot more, and can lead to more change on the state, local, and national legislatures - who do make the big changes. While it might seem like a big deal in the short term, it really is not. In the long-term the same things end up happening if you keep voting for the lesser of two evils. 

Voting libertarian or other 3rd parties is a waste of time IMO ...

There's a reason why the other parties don't gain traction ...

Well duh, basic logic demands this. But the reason is not an ideological one. It is just a matter of momentum (the Republican and Democratic parties are old) and legal barriers (there are many laws limiting third parties.) 

If we look at the political compass for various candidates in the Republican and Democratic party we notice that they all fall in the top right quadrant, yet most Americans who take the test fall in the bottom half. Obviously some ideological interests are not being met. 

Vote libertarian!

Lead yourself!

/DontTreadOnMe

How do you know that most Americans would fall in the bottom half ? You can't conclude that ideological interests aren't been met without sampling information or without the validity of the sampling evaluated ... 

People like to think that their own political interests best represents everyone elses but if the citizens don't show it through their actions then their interests may have well not existed at all ... 

Political compass isn't always the best fit either, I like this place much better ... 

It is a waste of votes in my opinion because 3rd party will never be elected. They don't have enough support from the masses or enough money to actually win. All it really does is take away potential votes from both parties' candidates.

I mentioned in the OP how they still have influence even if they aren't elected. 

That political compass is crazy, how is Obama not authoritarian? I mean i get that he talks like he isn't one but actions speak louder than words. Then down just 1 rung from Obama on the scale is Ron Paul who actually is a libertarian but can't make it on the libertarian half at all.

I will admit my evidence is mostly anecdotal, but having seen probably hundreds of people take the political compass (of various ideologies) most fall in the bottom half (in either quadrant.) Very few fall in the top-left, and a decent amount, but not the majority fall in the top-right. 

If the U.S had a non-partisan democracy you'd have a point, but as it stands now the primaries are a very limited selection. 

Most Americans belong to neither the Democratic nor the Republican party, so I don't know if the bolded applies. 

The approval rating for congress and the president are also pretty abysmal.

The point of this thread though was to tell people who do agree with the third parties to take the leap. Voting for somebody you don't agree with won't help your goals come to fruition. 

Hmm. If a politician has a choice between trying to get more people of their own party to vote and new voters or going after independents' vote. Which do you think he'll choose? Which do you think is more worthwhile.