A quick note: Along with being a co-mod, I am also a co-town IC. Though I'm currently a third wheel since both the mod and IC are doing so well.
I can say this:
The more you feel like you are going to die, the more you should focus on attack rather than defense. That is, hunt hard and fast against the people you believe are scum. The closer you are to dying, the harder you should push. The goal should be that, should you die, you'll leave a solid trail towards the real scum.
Thus don't give up. More than that. If you notice that all you've been doing is defense then start your attack. It's ok to do both. If you find you can't defend yourself anymore, then go ALL out attack.
As far as random voting goes, I see it in this order:
Best to vote for someone you know is scum, Great to vote for someone you highly suspect, Good and fine to vote for someone you suspect or wish to apply pressure to, Ok to vote for someone randomly, Horrible to not vote at all.
So if you can find any reason, ANY REASON AT ALL (even stupid ones) to vote for someone, that's better than literally being random. However, even using random.org is better than just not voting and sitting around.
Just know, though, that you should search for better vote targets (or to turn your random vote until a real reasoned vote) ASAP.
At this point, though, most of you should have random or, at best, minimum reasons to vote for someone.. but vote you SHOULD, and hunt for those real reasons.. they are out there and the faster you find them the better your town will be.