Our election symposium is on-line now and the new issue — which also includes essays by H.L. Mencken (on the trouble with democracy), Sheldon Richman (on nationalizing the banks), John Schwenkler (on secession), and much more — is winging its way into shops and subscribers’ mailboxes at the end of this week.

There’s no ideal choice for conservatives this election, so we asked 18 TAC contributors and public figures — conservatives, libertarians, independently minded liberals, and the others — for their perspectives on the choices before voters. Is there a lesser evil? Are the third parties the best choice? Should one even vote at all?

Contributions come from Peter Brimelow, Reid Buckley, John Patrick Diggins, Rod Dreher, Francis Fukuyama, Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn, Leonard Liggio, Declan McCullagh, Robert A. Pape, Lew Rockwell, Gerald Russello, Steve Sailer, John Schwenkler, Joe Sobran, and Peter Wood, as well as TAC editors Scott McConnell, Kara Hopkins, and myself.