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If A Third Party Went Mainstream...

If A Third Party Went Mainstream, Which One Would You Want It To Be?

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TeleKat

TeleKat

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If a third party suddenly went mainstream and got national footing, which one would you want it to be?
 
TeleKat said:
If a third party suddenly went mainstream and got national footing, which one would you want it to be?
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I would like to see all of the so called libertarians who are trying to hijack the Republican Party have the courage of their supposed convictions and go their own way supporting a Libertarian Party. And the same for the supposed libertarian voters who somehow someway pretend they are libertarians but manage to pull that R lever when they go into the election booth.
 
haymarket said:
I would like to see all of the so called libertarians who are trying to hijack the Republican Party have the courage of their supposed convictions and go their own way supporting a Libertarian Party. And the same for the supposed libertarian voters who somehow someway pretend they are libertarians but manage to pull that R lever when they go into the election booth.
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Exactly how I feel.
 
You really cant tell.

People thought that the greens would be gone within a few years here. And now they even have a governor (ministerpräsident).

But considering how the media constantly ignores third party options in the US, and that politics in the US is more about how much money you can spend than how good you can argue, I guess it could take years for a third party to establish itself.
 
TeleKat said:
If a third party suddenly went mainstream and got national footing, which one would you want it to be?
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One that does not exist currently.
 
The German said:
You really cant tell.

People thought that the greens would be gone within a few years here. And now they even have a governor (ministerpräsident).

But considering how the media constantly ignores third party options in the US, and that politics in the US is more about how much money you can spend than how good you can argue, I guess it could take years for a third party to establish itself.
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That's sad but true. However, the Libertarian Party has been growing pretty rapidly the last few years. Most candidates at the state level are consistently getting around 8% in elections, for a third party that's a pretty big deal. The numbers are continually growing. Gary Johnson, the 2012 Presidential candidate, has been involved in some lawsuits to make it easier for third parties to get in the debates through his organization "Our America Initiative." I remain optimistic for the future.
 
haymarket said:
I would like to see all of the so called libertarians who are trying to hijack the Republican Party have the courage of their supposed convictions and go their own way supporting a Libertarian Party. And the same for the supposed libertarian voters who somehow someway pretend they are libertarians but manage to pull that R lever when they go into the election booth.
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Oh hay hay.
 
Really surprised you didn't at least put Tea Party in the poll choices.

I voted other.

I want a fiscally conservative - socially liberal - completely non-religious party to emerge from the depths.
 
The libertarian party is already the third biggest political party in the US. Unfortunately they are being ground down by a conspiracy between the two main parties and the mainstream media is biased against them so I doubt they will go mainstream anytime soon.
 
I think the Tea Party has the greatest likelihood of going mainstream. They are the most active current constituency of the GOP. The Tea Party is often at odds with core Republicans who embrace a "big tent" model while the Tea Party is known for refusing to compromise and is diametrically opposed the the Big Tent concept, unless you mean everybody vote republican then shut up if you aren't in lock step with the Tea Party.

If the Tea Party does form its own party I think what would happen is they'd create coalitions with republicans to compete with the Democrats to control state legislatures and congress.
 
Smeagol said:
I think the Tea Party has the greatest likelihood of going mainstream. They are the most active current constituency of the GOP. The Tea Party is often at odds with core Republicans who embrace a "big tent" model while the Tea Party is known for refusing to compromise and is diametrically opposed the the Big Tent concept, unless you mean everybody vote republican then shut up if you aren't in lock step with the Tea Party.

If the Tea Party does form its own party I think what would happen is they'd create coalitions with republicans to compete with the Democrats to control state legislatures and congress.
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I doubt the Tea Party will form it's own party. They are pretty much just an extension of the GOP anyway.
 
Dragonfly said:
I would say they are the closest thing to what I've described, but not quite what I want.
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What about the Libertarian Party do you not like? Not attacking you, I'm just curious.
 
haymarket said:
I would like to see all of the so called libertarians who are trying to hijack the Republican Party have the courage of their supposed convictions and go their own way supporting a Libertarian Party. And the same for the supposed libertarian voters who somehow someway pretend they are libertarians but manage to pull that R lever when they go into the election booth.
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Of course you would, it'd split one of the two parties votes to some degree thus making your desired party win. Stop acting like it's some kind of notion of wanting to see "Courage" for them standing by their "convictions" that inspired your answer rather than pure self interest.

Of the three listed, I'd say the Libertarian party but it'd need likely significant retooling to:

1. Be viable in any way in the mainstream
2. Successfully pull significant numbers from both of the two main parties to be viable.

The reality is, given our current system, it's not realistic to have a viable third party on a national scale. PERHAPS on a state level it could work in a narrow set of circumstances. But the way our political system has grown and become entrenched in the two party setup, there's just no real feasible way for a legitimately "mainstream" viable 3rd party.

A 3rd party becoming mainstream would most likely create two non-viable 2nd tier parties and one defacto dominant one until such a point that one of the two second tier parties devours the other and again we return to 2 party status.
 
TeleKat said:
That's sad but true. However, the Libertarian Party has been growing pretty rapidly the last few years. Most candidates at the state level are consistently getting around 8% in elections, for a third party that's a pretty big deal. The numbers are continually growing. Gary Johnson, the 2012 Presidential candidate, has been involved in some lawsuits to make it easier for third parties to get in the debates through his organization "Our America Initiative." I remain optimistic for the future.
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Gotta run, but I'll pull my info later (and update it for this last election) regarding the "praid growth" of the Libertarian party on a national level.

After decades of pushing, they're barely scratching under 10% in some states. When it comes to national elections, their "gains" are like saying you're adding to the Atlantic by pouring a gallon of water into it.
 
Dragonfly said:
Really surprised you didn't at least put Tea Party in the poll choices.

I voted other.

I want a fiscally conservative - socially liberal - completely non-religious party to emerge from the depths.
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So, the Modern Whigs?
 
Zyphlin said:
Of course you would, it'd split one of the two parties votes to some degree thus making your desired party win. Stop acting like it's some kind of notion of wanting to see "Courage" for them standing by their "convictions" that inspired your answer rather than pure self interest.

Of the three listed, I'd say the Libertarian party but it'd need likely significant retooling to:

1. Be viable in any way in the mainstream
2. Successfully pull significant numbers from both of the two main parties to be viable.

The reality is, given our current system, it's not realistic to have a viable third party on a national scale. PERHAPS on a state level it could work in a narrow set of circumstances. But the way our political system has grown and become entrenched in the two party setup, there's just no real feasible way for a legitimately "mainstream" viable 3rd party.

A 3rd party becoming mainstream would most likely create two non-viable 2nd tier parties and one defacto dominant one until such a point that one of the two second tier parties devours the other and again we return to 2 party status.
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Actually, I think haymarket's got a point. How many people do we see here who call themselves "Libertarian," yet never stray from socially conservative thought. If dp is any indication of the body politic as a whole, if all the libertarians actually voted for the Libertarian party, they'd BE a major player.
 
Libertarian Party has the platform to accommodate most Americans. That is if we only gave it some thought, instead of rejecting it outright as not conforming with the same of stuffy two party system.
 
I'd want it to be the Constitution Party so that right-wingers would have their votes divided between the Constitution Party and the Republican Party, therefore allowing the Democratic Party to win more elections due to the divided vote and forcing the Republican Party to become more moderate. Realistically, the Libertarian Party is the most likely to go mainstream.
 
rocket88 said:
If dp is any indication of the body politic as a whole, if all the libertarians actually voted for the Libertarian party, they'd BE a major player.
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But it's not. It's inherently not. The majority of the general voting population do not spend significant time daily or weekly, especially on off election years, talking and going in depth about politics. DP is a horrible representation of the voting public as a whole. Ron Paul would've beaten Obama and McCain in 2008 if it wasn't ;)

And again, I disagree with any notion that a 3rd party would make it as a "major" party. Getting 20-30% every time and losing each time because another party always gets 20-30%, and a third almost never finishes below 40% is not a "major player". It's the Washington generals.
 
None of them. The most likely to do it circulates between the Libertarian and the Green Parties, but I find them unlikely to jump into the mainstream. Nor do I want a 20-39% split between party votes. The best idea would be to remove one of the two major parties, but again, I would support most attempts to clamp down on those efforts.

Yes, I am in favor of the establishment.
 
Robbie Loucks said:
I'd want it to be the Constitution Party so that right-wingers would have their votes divided between the Constitution Party and the Republican Party, therefore allowing the Democratic Party to win more elections due to the divided vote and forcing the Republican Party to become more moderate. Realistically, the Libertarian Party is the most likely to go mainstream.
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I like your thinking. Not necessarily to make the Democrats win, but to smash 3rd party voters to bits, make them hate politics, and drive them into even further obscurity.
 
Zyphlin said:
Of course you would, it'd split one of the two parties votes to some degree thus making your desired party win. Stop acting like it's some kind of notion of wanting to see "Courage" for them standing by their "convictions" that inspired your answer rather than pure self interest.
Click to expand...

I freely admit that I would like to see the republican party weakened by a defection of the libertarians. However, having said that, the libertarian party and cause will never advance as long as the best they can do is a stealth action hoping to influcence the republicans as the next least objectionable alternative.

Yes, it would mean short term loss for the Republicans. No doubt about it. But in the long term, the libertarians cad discover if they have what it takes to e a viable party and the republicans can get back to their roots without having to cater to the tea party / right libertarian types.
 
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