Vote for a Loser

David Brooks compares the voting booth to the produce aisle:

Educated people get all emotional when they shop and vote. They want an uplifting experience so they can persuade themselves that they’re not engaging in a grubby self-interested transaction. They fall for all that zero-carbon footprint, locally grown, community-enhancing Third Place hype. They want cultural signifiers that enrich their lives with meaning.

I would emphasize that there is a great deal of social capital at stake when chosing what to purchase and who to vote for. With voting, the cost of casting your particular vote for the candidate whose policies don't support your interests is infinitesimal. Meanwhile, individuals have a lot to gain from voting with their own social herd. Taking it a step further, I would suggest that the most rational vote is for a candidate who you know will lose. Then you have all the benefits of signaling intellectual and valient political preferences and you incur none of the costs of associating yourself with any specific administration or policy outcomes.