No, the candidates are not the parties. The party platforms are very different and they will shape the future, more than the candidate. Conservative and liberal paths for the country are as different as they can be and should be the basis for voters decisions as least as much as candidates. If you don't vote, you give away your power to those who do.

A third party, why not? A fourth? You bet. 

Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend. 
					Mao Zedong
					(believe-it-or-not)