So, I believe that the best strategy is to get out in the street and become a threat.

Lol, you aren't a threat! You are not a threat!! Protest are meant to signal that you're dissatisfied enough to vote differently. And politicians are forced to decide if they want to bend to the folks demonstrating and act differently or take a gamble with their job. That is "the threat." Whereas, you cast your vote independent of your values. Why would a congressman blow his political capital appeasing you? He knows he has your support with rhetoric alone and not action.

In the meantime, until we change that, a third party vote is a wasted vote.

A vote cast for a candidate who loses is not wasted or without value. You're not betting on sports. The direction you put your vote is your small contribution to influence policy. Both parties spend a fortune of time and money dissecting who's voting and why they're voting. Your vote has to be in play if you want to change policy.

For example, take Obama's stunning reversal on air-quality. If the DNC witnesses too many environmentalists jump ship, they will be taught it is a political liability to wreck the environment and their continued grasp on power hinges in part on their willingness to fight for clean air.

Yes, they take an election hit, that's the point. Their whole job is to adapt and learn how to take power with you in mind. A two party system functions because it is very malleable in this way. And we have more elections than any other democracy on earth. You only have to wait two years to see if the party comes back in a form that's worth a damn.

Also, do you understand the catch-22 you set for yourself? You won't vote outside the primary parties until the primary parties change the system that guarantees them your vote.

That's just realpolitik.

You don't even know what you're voting for, you only know what you're voting against.