With the Republican party splintering into “Tea Party” and moderate camps (often referred to derogatorily as RINOs, or Republicans In Name Only), and the Democrats experiencing a similar phenomenon (although for different reasons) with the more conservative elements forming their own Blue Dog faction, it’s hard not to wonder if there’s a new third party starting to develop. This moderate, middle-of-the-road set might have plenty of appeal to voters, since they wouldn’t have the religious (and therefore anti-gay, anti-abortion) agenda of the hard-line Republican right to worry about, nor would they have the need to go along with expensive “socialist” ideas like the hard-left Democrats.
This hypothetical third party might have plenty of voter appeal, being relatively fiscally conservative (at least in theory) and socially liberal (or at least ambivalent, which is often depicted as “liberal” by the far right). That speaks to a huge group of voters who want the country’s economy to be stable, but could care less about whether or not two guys get married to each other.
Of course, it’s also plausible that the Tea Party-contingent of the Republican party may force this to happen, as it’s almost as likely that such a group would abandon the Republican name and form their own party.
Funny you should post this, I was thinking about it alot today and you beat me to it.
I think a third party is waaaay overdue. I would relish another option and think many ‘mericans would also. The sniping and stalemates in Congress and Senate are killing the political process in this country and have been for far too long.
Things are not just black or white, left or right, progressive or conservative, issues are much more complex.
This country surely could support another option in the political process.
Allow me to re-post my thoughts from the thread that gave birth to this thread…
The post I was responding to…
The Imposter - 05 November 2009 08:56 AM
Well, Bush had that whole Grand Moff Tarkin/Death Star fear thing going on, so that’s how he kept the RINO’s (and many of the Dems) in line.
I’d love to see a third party evolve. I wouldn’t be so quick to discount their lack of courage to do so. It may not happen by 2012, but possibly by 2016.
My response…
I was seriously afraid that Ron Paul would be the catalyst for that, but luckily, he stayed in the GOP. He would not have won the Presidency, but (if he had had the courage and vision) he would have been sitting in the catbird seat, reaping all the benefits of the Tea Party Movement. The new party would have been likely to replace the GOP in 2016 or 2020. That window is now closing. If the GOP makes gains in 2010, that window will be firmly shut for a generation. (Thank God)
The Laws of Politics are against 3rd Parties forming and remaining stable over long periods of time due to the Electoral System established by the Founding Fathers. The only way for a 3rd Party to be successful is to replace one of the two power parties like the Republican Party. It rode the issue of getting rid of slavery to the top, and the Whigs faded away because they were now a 3rd Party and suffered the loss of voters to the new power party.
Many voters proudly proclaim, “I vote for the person, not the party!” This smug phrase verges on a declaration of civic ignorance. A candidate’s party affiliation is probably the most important thing that citizens can know for certain in their voting choices. Nevertheless, many Americans hold anti-party attitudes. As long as most of them remain apathetic, nothing will change.
I would like to add that forming a new party is work. Heroic work. It would require foot soldiers in most precincts in America, and effective managers. I see no heroes in the “Third Party” movements out there. Just a lot of whiners. The Republican party has managed to absorb and co-opt the most effective managers in the Ron Paul movement, where their ideas will be diluted and compromised to fit the wider GOP Agenda.
i dont buy it. The republicans will all jump on the same ship when the time comes in the name of power through party unity. They are the only actual “Party” in the US. The Dem’s are just an “opposition party”, which is really just a loose coalition of wildly varying “Liberals” and “progressives”.
I think the GOP is undergoing a re-branding of sorts, and playing dead. But they aint dead.
Also, third-party politics in Canada is a shining example of pointlessness. You’ve got the Conservative party that has most the power, and has for a while now, and the two entirely ineffective New Democrats (NDP) and the Liberals fighting for space as the opposition. Together, the NDP and Liberals would, in theory, easily beat the Conservatives, but the split makes them both minority parties. The moral of the story is, the party that stays together wins. The neo-cons are all disowning bush as of late, and playing possum, but i expect them to make a very real comeback soon.
After all, it took 8 years of the Bush Administration’s madness, added to a massive media campaign in favor of Obama, plus the motivation of what seemed like a real candidate for once (Obama) that brought out the “left” vote, and still, the elections was very close. As long as the young folks and blacks and liberals stay home, and the Right’s base shows up, the GOP could easily be a major player in another year.
We’ve been clinging to this two party, three party,,,bull for too long..It’s stopped working when the Upper One Per Cent used the media to hypnotize the masses into to thinking they have power to change things..
Here’s a fun thread that talks about how the media has turned America into a slew of zombie consumer robots…
A prime example is Healthcare Reform..the 2000 page reform bill is just a smoke screen to placate the masses into thinking something has changed…Lots of smoke no fire.. We are being choked to death by very rich and smart people that want to maintain the current power structure so it can continue to serve them..
What about a one party system..that actually takes care of it’s people..Let me quote a slice from one of my previous threads…
China’s economic growth this year was upgraded to 8.5 percent…the USA has a projected economic growth of 1.5 percent..
China is kicking our ass..Why ? and what can we do about it? This is a thread to think about it..We here on the MX forum take on the big problems..now I only have 15 minutes to solve this problem so don’t judge me too harshly if my conclusions are not completely fleshed out..
2. People’s Republic of China is a Socialist State headed by a “Democratic Dictatorship” with the CCP as the only legal political party…We here in the US have some bastardized version of a multiparty system that is inefficient and a waste of our resources..We can’t get jack done cause we are so busy kissing the ass of greedy bastard lobbyists ..
Solution..Become a Socialist State headed by a “Democratic Dictatorship” ..
Why not learn from folks that are doing a better job.of governing their people…Hell Asia has taken the stuff that works in our culture( cars, computer, porn.)....why don’t we take from their culture what works…Call it socialism. what ever..lets throw out what doesn’t work and get on with it…
I found this quote on my first post and realized it’s still good fodder for thoiught…
A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship. The average of the world’s greatest civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage. Attributed to Alexander Tyler, an invented personage
Anonmous
If you want to see Steve tear this quote to bits check out this thread…
That boy is a deep thinker..either that or he hasn’t got a clue..haven’t figured it out yet..
One doesn’t have to be a deep thinker to shred that argument to pieces. It’s not an argument founded on fact, it’s just something someone said, and it doesn’t hold up to even basic critical scrutiny.
And yet he still posts a link to it like it’s relevant to the discussion at hand.
On topic, feel like the two parties are Coke and Pepsi, and anyone that tries to start a soda company of their own are going to be squeezed out of existence.
Maybe, if something started on a regional level, that would work. But I just don’t see the money coming from anywhere to fund a national level third party.
Is it weird that I wish there was a pro tax party or candidate? A few people that were willing to say “hey everyone, we are wanting to raise your taxes (x) amount and we are going to do this with the money”.
It would almost be a breath of fresh air. I’ve been taught my entire life that taxes are evil and yet all I see is our education system and infrastructure crumbling along with a health care reform movement that is a fiasco at best.
