Where are the 3rd Parties?
By ParaTed2k
@ParaTed2k (22940)
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
June 25, 2007 1:16am CST
Both major US parties are floundering. The Republicans have the White House, and the Democrats hold both houses of Congress, but both are rated pretty low.
The field is ripe for the taking, but I haven't heard much from the 3rd Parties. It could be that they are waiting to use their resources closer to election time. However, I wonder if that's it.
3rd Parties have always been the Red Headed Step Child of US politics. The problem is, they themselves act like it also.
Even when the voters are ripe for the picking, they are staying in the shadow of the "big two". They should be openly and actively on the move.
So where are they???
1 person likes this
2 responses
@gewcew23 (8007)
• United States
25 Jun 07
You are so right it isn't even funny. The Republicans are in a horrible position because they are tied down with Pres. Bush. No matter how much they try to distance themselves, they will always be the party affiliated with Bush. No matter how right or wrong that might be. The Democrates on the other hand are being dragged down by Congress. Congress is controlled by the Democrates, and two of the top tier candidates are senators. Add to this that each sides supporters are getting ticked off by their party. The Repulblican base is angry over immigration. The Democrat base is angry over the war. This would be an excellent year for a third party candidate except there are no good third party positions. Everyone is batting around NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg. Only problem is he is a liberal. There is no base that he could excite except the Democrat base. If Bloomberg truly wanted to win the presidency, he should run as a Dem. Another problem with a third party is that all it does is take away disgruntal votes from one of the two main parties. If someone deems the Dems. to be too close to the middle, they might be attracted by a green party candidate. If a voter deems the Rep. candidate to be too far to the middle, they might vote for the US tax payer/constitution party candidate. For the third party candidate to be successful, he would have to first create an issue that a lot of people are passionate about. That issue also has to be ignored by the other 2 parties. H. Ross Perot is a good example of this, when both Clinton, and Bush were for NAFTA, Perot swept in as the Anti-NAFTA candidate. The third party candidate can't be just a candidate that runs on good feelings, but has to be a man of actual substance. He has to have an issue that can bring in the votes. He can't just be a man who has a big pocket book.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
26 Jun 07
Yup, the country is ready for a third party to emerge. The question is, are there any third parties ready to step up.
1 person likes this
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
25 Jun 07
Yeah, that is the easy "wo is me" answer, and I don't disagree with what you are saying. However, the 3rd Parties don't seem to be able to figure out a way to get out from under the shadow of the Big Two. Until they do, they will continue to have trouble getting taken seriously.
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