Since when did wasting your vote become catch phrase for discouraging voters?

To be honest, the Signers of the Declaration of Independence were wasting their 'vote' per se. They were signing a doent that would have them hanged and expressing their opposition to the most powerful empire in the world. They risked everything they had including their lives to make a statement without knowing what the end result would be. They founded our Freedom based on ideas that seemed radical at the time and risking that they would not come out as winners because they valued the the possible end result of Freedom. Our country was founded on the ideas of making your vote count based on what you believe, not betting on the winning horse. Just remember that by voting for the winning horse, you are VOTING FOR A HORSE. Why not just vote for where your principles and ideas are? Is it really bad for you to lose? We all lose if you don't vote for your principles and rather follow who the media says will be the front runner.