CDZ Do we need a VIABLE third party in the U.S.?

[King Friday]

"Do we need a VIABLE third party in the U.S.?"

No, we need a viable second party. The Democrats have lost the position.

And the Republican Party is healthy and strong? Both parties are a joke.

The asshole Trump is single- handedly destroying the GOP or whatever of it was left after the Tea Party had their way.

 

[there4eyeM]

If any political party is needed, it is a viable one; there are presently none.

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

"Do we need a VIABLE third party in the U.S.?"

No, we need a viable second party. The Democrats have lost the position.

And the Republican Party is healthy and strong? Both parties are a joke.

True, but the Democratic Party is against all things American - and in some cases against Western civilization - and needs to be politically castrated.

 

[esthermoon]

I heard about a multi billionaire called Ross Perot who tried to become president years ago.
I know he found a third party called Reform Party but it doesn't work...
I don't know what happened to him and what he's doing now
Maybe in the USA a third party is not interesting for people
It's pretty much the same thing in all "Anglosphere"
Maybe the best solution is the unique party like us lol

 

[Redpath]

We have something like 50 parties registered in the US and none seem to be able to gain traction. Some say we now have a 3rd party candidate in Trump and Trump would like nothing more than making the US into the United States Of Trump. He could put a big TRUMP sign on the Statue of Liberty.

Back to why the other parties don't get anywhere. John Oliver isn't wildly happy about any of the candidates and he goes after several equally. Gotta love the "exotic" party.

 

[GaryDog]

I don't like either option. We could use a third party but "Alternative voices"? We have a party the gives voice to the alternatives, that is the Democrat Party and its the reason everything is so fucked up.

We need a party for honest, moral, and intelligent people.

Interesting, coming from the party that nominated a serial sexual predator and liar, thrice married to bimbos, and a guy who can't enunciate a single original policy position on ANYTHING.

 

[IsaacNewton]

Not a third party, but 5 or 6 of them. And there shouldn't be a commission to decide who gets to be in presidential debates. The top 5 to 10 candidates should get to participate so the American public can see what real choices are and who will actually DO something.

 

[dblack]

We all know that the Democrats and Republicans agree on precious little these days.

Some would say that it hamstrings the Federal Government but that slowing down the Federal Government is a good thing.

"This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer.
-Will Rogers

About the only thing the two parties can agree on is conspiring to keep a third party down and out.
They will not allow third party candidates in Presidential debates since they run the committees that set the rules for National Televised Debates. I think it's a scandal.

What do you think?

We need to change how we vote. Plurality, winner-take-all elections strongly reinforce partisanship and LO2E voting 'strategy'.

 

[320 Years of History]

I don't know that we need one, but it certainly won't hurt to have one.

To my way of thinking, with a little organization or a lot, we already have one. The unaffiliated voter. They are ripe for the picking and organization, maybe.

Sorry, but even as "the unaffiliated voter," Independent voters, may seem existentially as a third party, that by no means makes them a party, much less a viable one. There is no indication those voters are organized in any way, shape or form to field a candidate who represents their views, and because they/we, cannot, they do not constitute a political party. Indeed, a major reason for individuals' being unaffiliated with any party is because they feel no single party, or party leader, substantively enough represents their stances on the issues.

 

[Onyx]

The primary reason the United States lasted as long as it did, is because it only had two major political parties.

Complicate the process and the US becomes engulfed in further bullshit, and the only thing that improves is the means of corruption. Not to mention that political parties are worthless institutions in and of themselves.

 

[dblack]

We have something like 50 parties registered in the US and none seem to be able to gain traction. Some say we now have a 3rd party candidate in Trump and Trump would like nothing more than making the US into the United States Of Trump. He could put a big TRUMP sign on the Statue of Liberty.

Back to why the other parties don't get anywhere. John Oliver isn't wildly happy about any of the candidates and he goes after several equally. Gotta love the "exotic" party.

Wow... they're gearing up the comedy corps. Somebody's scared.

 

[toxicmedia]

I don't like either option. We could use a third party but "Alternative voices"? We have a party the gives voice to the alternatives, that is the Democrat Party and its the reason everything is so fucked up.

We need a party for honest, moral, and intelligent people.

All political parties---Democratic, Republican, and every other---consider themselves to be the "party for honest, moral, and intelligent people".

Oh God, of course!

Americans do not accept the blame for anything bad. It's always somebody else's fault!

 

[King Friday]

I heard about a multi billionaire called Ross Perot who tried to become president years ago.
I know he found a third party called Reform Party but it doesn't work...
I don't know what happened to him and what he's doing now
Maybe in the USA a third party is not interesting for people
It's pretty much the same thing in all "Anglosphere"
Maybe the best solution is the unique party like us lol

Perot discovered, as Trump has yet to fathom, that politics is different from running a company. You can't just fire off a memo and get your way.

Perot nearly lost his mind when the media picked on his daughter. Trump is just an imbecile. He had a chance to do something different and he blew it.

 

[GaryDog]

We have something like 50 parties registered in the US and none seem to be able to gain traction. Some say we now have a 3rd party candidate in Trump and Trump would like nothing more than making the US into the United States Of Trump. He could put a big TRUMP sign on the Statue of Liberty.

Back to why the other parties don't get anywhere. John Oliver isn't wildly happy about any of the candidates and he goes after several equally. Gotta love the "exotic" party.

Wow... they're gearing up the comedy corps. Somebody's scared.

Comedy Corps which provides probably the best news coverage of any of the networks.

 

[dblack]

We have something like 50 parties registered in the US and none seem to be able to gain traction. Some say we now have a 3rd party candidate in Trump and Trump would like nothing more than making the US into the United States Of Trump. He could put a big TRUMP sign on the Statue of Liberty.

Back to why the other parties don't get anywhere. John Oliver isn't wildly happy about any of the candidates and he goes after several equally. Gotta love the "exotic" party.

Wow... they're gearing up the comedy corps. Somebody's scared.

Comedy Corps which provides probably the best news coverage of any of the networks.

Sometimes. I've noticed a lot more of the talking-points pipeline showing up on Comedy Central lately. Its like they've been consumed by the monster they attacked.

 

[PredFan]

I don't like either option. We could use a third party but "Alternative voices"? We have a party the gives voice to the alternatives, that is the Democrat Party and its the reason everything is so fucked up.

We need a party for honest, moral, and intelligent people.

Interesting, coming from the party that nominated a serial sexual predator and liar, thrice married to bimbos, and a guy who can't enunciate a single original policy position on ANYTHING.

Jesus, what the fuck is wrong with you? Are you drunk posting or just an idiot?

 

[regent]

With the electoral college a third party is pretty impossible. But a third party can bide its time and when the conservative party fails again they are available.

 

[King Friday]

We have something like 50 parties registered in the US and none seem to be able to gain traction. Some say we now have a 3rd party candidate in Trump and Trump would like nothing more than making the US into the United States Of Trump. He could put a big TRUMP sign on the Statue of Liberty.

Back to why the other parties don't get anywhere. John Oliver isn't wildly happy about any of the candidates and he goes after several equally. Gotta love the "exotic" party.

Wow... they're gearing up the comedy corps. Somebody's scared.

Comedy Corps which provides probably the best news coverage of any of the networks.

With the electoral college a third party is pretty impossible. But a third party can bide its time and when the conservative party fails again they are available.

Well, GaryDog, I'm not that concerened with what an Ex-Pat Brit thinks of our system or its candidates. Just another Euro leftie.
I tuned into a first season episode as Oliver covered the shooting of that kid in Ferguson, Missouri. Mr. Oliver should grab some facts from the 2015 Washington Post database of police shootings before he starts with his knee-jerk liberalism.


And the reason, in my opinion third parties don't do well here is they don't get into the nationally televised debates due to the collusion of the two main parties.

And a third party candidate certainly doesn't have the money or the resume enhancing ability to gain access to foreign/domestic policy advisers and campaign directors who have access to a network themselves.

Such expert political beasts are far more concerned with riding a likely winner's coattails into National prominence. Then after a few years in Washington, it's on to the Holy Grail of Politics, The Speaking Circuit. That's where the real money is. Oh. Lest I forget the very lucrative field of consulting for think tanks and the like. It's a money game from start to finish.

As for the Electoral College, I believe it exists in order to level the playing field between heavy population centers and sparsely populated regions.

James Madison, a towering intellect and one of the greatest political thinkers in history was trying to prevent a possible "tyranny of the masses"

 

[King Friday]

I did a little research on the Electoral College and I found a great quote from James Madison concerning the concept of Direct Democracy, which many uninformed individuals tend to wish for as a better substitute for our current system:


"[In a pure democracy], [a] common passion or interest will, in almost every case, be felt by a majority of the whole; a communication and concert results from the form of government itself; and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party or an obnoxious individual. Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths."

-James Madison (as a delegate of Virginia)

Pretty much the smartest guy in any room he was ever in.

 

[dblack]

I did a little research on the Electoral College and I found a great quote from James Madison concerning the concept of Direct Democracy, which many uninformed individuals tend to wish for as a better substitute for our current system:


"[In a pure democracy], [a] common passion or interest will, in almost every case, be felt by a majority of the whole; a communication and concert results from the form of government itself; and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party or an obnoxious individual. Hence it is that such democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths."

-James Madison (as a delegate of Virginia)

Pretty much the smartest guy in any room he was ever in.

The zeal for removing limits on democratic state power is the most dangerous trend in modern politics.