So here we sit. As stated before, I voted 3rd party during the Bammy/McCain election -- and -- didn't make a darn bit of difference, nor did losing that election wake up the GOP.
People can vote or not vote as their conscience dictates. However, anyone who expects not voting to "send a message" is missing the mark:
1) A non-vote could be for any number of reasons -- the candidate was perceived as too conservative, too liberal, too corrupt, too or not enough...whatever. And that means a non-vote can be interpreted any number of ways by whomever you are trying to target with that "message". Maybe the excuse/explanation will be "right candidate, bad campaign." Maybe it's that the candidate wasn't aggressive enough, or had one particular gaffe, or was right/wrong on a particular issue. Whatever it is, "non-votes" don't come with annotations that let anyone know why you didn't vote. So if people don't vote to "send a message", the message being received may not be anything like the message they intended.
2) And exactly who is someone trying to reach with that message? The
real culprits for the wrong person getting nominated are the primary voters, not "the party". And the odds on all those other voters understanding clearly the message someone intends to send with a non-vote, and then reacting to that non-vote as hoped, is miniscule.