For President, only Kerry Kucinich, LaRouche, and somebody named Ballard are on the ballot. The only meaning my vote can have, obviously, is as some sort of message to whomever chooses to try to interpret it.
So what message can I send? If I vote for Kerry, that's a show of strength, which could help the bandwagon. If I vote for Kerry, I may be encouraging future local candidates whom I'd want to support, but I'd be sending a message of disunity on the Left to the Kerry campaign.
That last is a drawback, as far as I'm concerned. As Barney Frank says, "if I thought all my positions were right for a Presidential candidate, I'd run myself." I don't want Kerry to be as far to the left as I; I want him to win. That doesn't mean refusing to stand for anything, as he was doing a couple of years ago, but it does mane picking his battles. I think he'll already take lefty positions into account as much as appropriate during the campaign; I don't want the campaign to believe exaggerated estimates of the number of voters withholding support from the left.
I'll probably vote for Kucinich, anyway, because the Central Jersey left needs all the encouragement it can get. But I'd appreciate any strategic thinking anyone cares to offer.