Enderle seems like a good-natured person seeking to embody the ideals he feels his country embodies. He went so far as to say, “I’m running to be congressman because I believe in the Democratic process; the words ‘can’t’ and ‘impossible’ do not exist in my vocabulary. This is America — anything is possible. America is about ethics and hard work, that’s what I’m all about, not about money.”

Can we all stand up and give Enderle a hand? While we’re at it, go ahead and give one to Stacey Mathia, the candidate for the U.S. Taxpayers Party of Michigan. These are the people, whether one agrees with their politics or not, who actually hold to the tenets that in the U.S., anything is possible.

Of course, not everyone believes that to be true. Bill Ballenger, editor and publisher of political newsletter “Inside Michigan Politics,” said Enderle will “get annihilated in November,” and that he doubts Enderle will even get that far. Mathia, Ballenger said, would only have an effect if the situation between the Republicans and Democratic nominees were “spectacularly close.”

And yet there they are, plain as day, banking on the fact that voters feel as strongly about their views as they do. Most third-party or write-in candidates are considered people who are a waste of a vote; at best, they can siphon off the few votes that could have vaulted a similar candidate to a victory. Our society should do away with that view. There is little doubt that both Mathia and Enderle truly believe they are doing the best thing for their intended constituencies. Dismissing them as a joke is an insult not only to them, the possibilities they embody.

Even if the chances of their winning are a long-shot — and it’s hard to argue that is not the case — these candidates offer voters a chance to have their voices heard. If Enderle hangs in there long enough to be “annihilated” by Rogers, voters can still send a message by giving him a certain percentage. If Mathia has no effect on the gubernatorial race, at least her supporters will be able to show the public as well as legislators, that all voices in the crowd deserve recognition.

It might very well be folly, but its heart is in the right place.