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What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President?

What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President?

  • Change, real change, would happen.

    Votes: 8 22.9%

  • Pretty much the same thing as always.

    Votes: 11 31.4%

  • Gridlock even worse than we have seen thus far.

    Votes: 9 25.7%

  • Something else.

    Votes: 7 20.0%
  • Total voters
    35
radcen

radcen

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What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President?

  1. Change, real change, would happen. They would be beholden to nobody.
  2. Pretty much the same thing as always. They'd still have to compromise.
  3. Gridlock even worse than we have seen thus far. They'd have no friends and both parties would team up to thwart them.
  4. Something else.

The question presumes they would not have independent or members of their party on Congress of any size on which to rely.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

they'd still be somewhat beholden to the interests that put up the money. winning is a very expensive process, and in the current duopoly, i don't know if grassroots efforts can cut it.

assuming it's a legitimate candidate and not a bat**** crazy extremist, however, i'd love to see it happen someday.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

It would mean a fundamental change in politics for America. The problem an independent president would have would be Congress. We have to assume that Congress will still be controlled by the Big 2. Now an independent president can issue executive orders and start the ball rolling on his policies.

I fear that the president would be blocked so much by Congress that little would be accomplished, but the very presence of an independent in the White House would mean immediate change in the public view of politics.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

All liberal tax/spending bills will be vetoed, and social agendas will be approved (but not funded).
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

American said:
All liberal tax/spending bills will be vetoed, and social agendas will be approved (but not funded).
Click to expand...

Depends on which independent party that president is a part of.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

The problem with this post is that it assumes that a 3rd party candidate that could be elected. However, I think the biggest problem is: Finding a 3rd party candidate most people can stomach.

Ron Paul: bat**** insane.
Gary Johnson et al: Who?

Face it people, the reason we have a 2 party 'system' today is because the other guys are either completely bat**** crazy or irrelevant in politics. People vote for Rs and Ds cause they have AT THE VERY LEAST sort of ideological track record that most people can IDENTIFY with even if they disagree with. The 3 Libertarians and 5 druggies on the internet vote for their guy because they think that their ideology is what Evangelicals, Liberals, white & black people, etc will benefit most from.

However, as we all know, the time when their idols (The Founders, Rah-rah-rah) ruled wasn't really all that great for anybody other than rich Protestant white guys. I don't much care for a free market, their version of legalized drugs, anti-globalism and blatant xenophobia.

Who else do we have on the internet? The socialists? Well I don't much care for government controlled means of production, concepts of anomie or even their belief of equal wealth ownership.

I do however care for a candidate that addresses: the environment, poverty in America, corporate oppression of native people, reproductive rights, eminent domain, etc. Even if I disagree with it.

What's are the 3rd party stances on those issues?

Irrelevant or already held by one of the two main parties. Why would I vote for them then? Because they're the little guy?
The collective stances of 3rd parties in the US can basically be boiled down to: Don't do it, rants about the free market or at most: it's not the government's job.

I don't care for such vague generalities.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

Hatuey said:
The problem with this post is that it assumes that a 3rd party candidate that could be elected. However, I think the biggest problem is: Finding a 3rd party candidate most people can stomach.

Ron Paul: bat**** insane.
Gary Johnson et al: Who?

Face it people, the reason we have a 2 party 'system' today is because the other guys are either completely bat**** crazy or irrelevant in politics. People vote for Rs and Ds cause they have AT THE VERY LEAST sort of ideological track record that most people can IDENTIFY with even if they disagree with. The 3 Libertarians and 5 druggies on the internet vote for their guy because they think that their ideology is what Evangelicals, Liberals, white & black people, etc will benefit most from.

However, as we all know, the time when their idols (The Founders, Rah-rah-rah) ruled wasn't really all that great for anybody other than rich Protestant white guys. I don't much care for a free market, their version of legalized drugs, anti-globalism and blatant xenophobia.

Who else do we have on the internet? The socialists? Well I don't much care for government controlled means of production, concepts of anomie or even their belief of equal wealth ownership.

I do however care for a candidate that addresses: the environment, poverty in America, corporate oppression of native people, reproductive rights, eminent domain, etc. Even if I disagree with it.

What's are the 3rd party stances on those issues?

Irrelevant or already held by one of the two main parties. Why would I vote for them then? Because they're the little guy?
The collective stances of 3rd parties in the US can basically be boiled down to: Don't do it, rants about the free market or at most: it's not the government's job.

I don't care for such vague generalities.
Click to expand...

Wow...what a horrible view. I completely disagree with you. The two party system is corrupt and ran by corporate special interest groups, but that is okay with you.

3rd Parties give different options to those issues you mentioned. Pretty simple when it comes to Libertarians...keep government out. There is no xenophobia so much as no entangling alliances. We're all for diplomacy and trade with nations...just against being forced by a group of nations to do something. Globalization is not good.

You need to learn and research a bit more because their issues are in black and white. It is more than generalizations. Its up to you as a responsible voter to understand them. To sit there and say the two party system is the best is naive and wrong.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

It couldn't happen. Too many people are dependent on their political ideology and identification with their large group banner, to look objectively at a non-mainstream party.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

It would depend on who they were and what thier platform/agenda was. Hard to say but maybe just more of the same.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

As long as she/he is for legalized abortion, high taxes, liberal spending habits, gay rights, and racial equality (non-white benefit programs), I imagine 51% of the country would be thrilled to have such a president. Oh, and it wouldn't hurt for the new president to be female and to have a darker skin tone, as well. ;)
 
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Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

radcen said:
What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President?

  1. Change, real change, would happen. They would be beholden to nobody.
  2. Pretty much the same thing as always. They'd still have to compromise.
  3. Gridlock even worse than we have seen thus far. They'd have no friends and both parties would team up to thwart them.
  4. Something else.

The question presumes they would not have independent or members of their party on Congress of any size on which to rely.
Click to expand...
Other than people having the option of not voting for democrat or republican I imagine that would depend on how conservative or liberal that candidate is.The more liberal that president is then the more likely that candidate will side with liberals and the more conservative that candidate the more likely he will side with conservatives.Since he is not a D or an R then he might be more compelled to veto bills that has something in it he doesn't like since he is not the usual status quo.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

Gridlock. Congress would unite to blockade that president like nothing you've ever seen in your lives.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

Gipper said:
Gridlock. Congress would unite to blockade that president like nothing you've ever seen in your lives.
Click to expand...

If the new president was smart then gridlock would happen and he would be able dimantle stuff. He could do a lot of stuff without Congress. Breaking is always easier than building. No is such a wonderful powerful word. He wouldnt be able to put anything new into place but he would be able rip the hell out of existing institutions. One thing would be for sure the howling would be heard in Hawaii.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

While I don't think there's a chance in hell of a 3rd party candidate actually getting elected, especially since no 3rd party candidate can get more than 0.5% of the vote, I don't think it would really change anything unless said candidate's party also took over the majority of the Legislature too. Otherwise, the President would be largely ignored, they could veto up a storm and grind the government to a halt or, more likely, they'd end up going along with the majority party and it would be business as usual.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

radcen said:
What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President?

  1. Change, real change, would happen. They would be beholden to nobody.
  2. Pretty much the same thing as always. They'd still have to compromise.
  3. Gridlock even worse than we have seen thus far. They'd have no friends and both parties would team up to thwart them.
  4. Something else.

The question presumes they would not have independent or members of their party on Congress of any size on which to rely.
Click to expand...

Gridlock even worse, because he would get absolutely no partisan support from either party in Congress.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

PirateMK1 said:
If the new president was smart then gridlock would happen and he would be able dimantle stuff. He could do a lot of stuff without Congress. Breaking is always easier than building. No is such a wonderful powerful word. He wouldnt be able to put anything new into place but he would be able rip the hell out of existing institutions. One thing would be for sure the howling would be heard in Hawaii.
Click to expand...

Double-edged sword. The President of "No" can't make things worse. He also can't make things better. Essentially, it would result in a president treading water for 4 years with no real change, which - in my opinion - would be a loss overall in my book. Someone winning on a 3rd party platform would be elected by belief of change, which would be impossible.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

If a President was elected that was not a D or R then we would actually have two parties.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

AreteCourage said:
Wow...what a horrible view. I completely disagree with you. The two party system is corrupt and ran by corporate special interest groups, but that is okay with you.

3rd Parties give different options to those issues you mentioned. Pretty simple when it comes to Libertarians...keep government out. There is no xenophobia so much as no entangling alliances. We're all for diplomacy and trade with nations...just against being forced by a group of nations to do something. Globalization is not good.

You need to learn and research a bit more because their issues are in black and white. It is more than generalizations. Its up to you as a responsible voter to understand them. To sit there and say the two party system is the best is naive and wrong.
Click to expand...

Congratulations. You are 3 Libertarian stereotypes in 1:

types_of_libertarian1.png


Petulant, arrogant and historian.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

Hatuey said:
Congratulations. You are 3 Libertarian stereotypes in 1:

types_of_libertarian1.png


Petulant, arrogant and historian.
Click to expand...

That diversity seems accurate and why no 3rd party candidate has a chance to win. However, they can completely reverse what otherwise would have been the election outcome - such as Ross Perot and Ralph Nadar.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

radcen said:
What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President?

  1. Change, real change, would happen. They would be beholden to nobody.
  2. Pretty much the same thing as always. They'd still have to compromise.
  3. Gridlock even worse than we have seen thus far. They'd have no friends and both parties would team up to thwart them.
  4. Something else.

The question presumes they would not have independent or members of their party on Congress of any size on which to rely.
Click to expand...

Same as every other guy. The President is basically a figurehead, he doesn't make the laws, he just approves or vetos them. Get a third party Congress, and you get a better shot at "change", but there's still no guarantee that change will be worth a ****.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

joko104 said:
That diversity seems accurate and why no 3rd party candidate has a chance to win. However, they can completely reverse what otherwise would have been the election outcome - such as Ross Perot and Ralph Nadar.
Click to expand...

The problem I have with Libertarians is that they don't seem to understand that I do understand their philosophy.

I just don't like it.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

Hatuey said:
The problem I have with Libertarians is that they don't seem to understand that I do understand their philosophy.

I just don't like it.
Click to expand...

Same here. I don't agree with a lot of what they say, therefore I won't vote for them.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

Hatuey said:
Congratulations. You are 3 Libertarian stereotypes in 1:

types_of_libertarian1.png


Petulant, arrogant and historian.
Click to expand...


Whatever you say...I was giving my view as a 3rd party person. There are other 3rd parties out there that go against Libertarianism. Look at the Green Party for instance.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

AreteCourage said:
Whatever you say...I was giving my view as a 3rd party person. There are other 3rd parties out there that go against Libertarianism. Look at the Green Party for instance.
Click to expand...

Yes, and I don't like them either because their vague generalities don't hold enough substance for me. I wouldn't vote for a socialist (an actual socialist, not the de-jour definition the right has), a Green Party member or pretty much any other 3rd party out there. They're all jelly, no toast.
 
Re: What would happen if an independent or 3rd party candidate were elected President

Hatuey said:
Yes, and I don't like them either because their vague generalities don't hold enough substance for me. I wouldn't vote for a socialist (an actual socialist, not the de-jour definition the right has), a Green Party member or pretty much any other 3rd party out there. They're all jelly, no toast.
Click to expand...

Have you actually looked into them? Went to their websites...saw their issues?

It seems like to me that you are making an opinion without looking into it.
 
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