kamino

Do you think that if the media were to have equal covrage of thrid party candidates that they may stand a better chance of winning?

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missypea

Yes, I do. The media has a great opportunity to give us the coverage every presidential cycle and they blow it......every time.


Granted, it would be difficult for anyone to win against the dems or repubs because of their established foundations that aid them with advertising, campaigning, etc.

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If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?

kamino

agreed, but they would have a much better chance at victory.

PeteEU

No, the US election system is biased toward the 2 big parties. They do not stand a chance even with equal coverage.

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Zyphlin

Yes, I think they'd do better. Would it make a big impact? I'm not sure. I'd dare say "no" in most cases.

That's kind of the double edged sword with 3rd parties.

They don't get equal coverage so they don't do as well. But they don't do as well so they don't get equal coverage.

The funniest part of this is seeing libertarian types demanding that the government somehow force the media, a private entity that is a business essentially, to give equal coverage.

You do get into some natural issues as well. For example, who do you allow into debates? Just the big two? Just the "bigger" 3rd parties? Any 3rd party candidate? Anyone that has his name on a ballot? How big are you wanting the debates to be, how long should they be, and where's your "cut off" for what's acceptable to get you on the stage?

It also doesn't account for the fact that coverage alone is not the only pitfall 3rd parties fall into. Money is another large one. Voter identification another. A third issue is the fact that most third parties hold many of the same ideals as one of the major two, with slight to extreme divergence on a few issues. Due to this, the differences are so minor that a 3rd party must do a LOT to sway someone to their side that's been in one of the big ones for a long time.

And the list can go on.

I'd love to see a viable third party crop up, and I think as the internet age moves on there's going to be a bigger and bigger chance for it. However, coverage alone isn't the key and both sides have legitimate reasons why they want to give, and don't want to give, equal coverage.

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