Excellent article

[Auld Phart]

on third party growth


In Opinion: Are we witnessing the end of the two-party system?

 

[the_human_being]

on third party growth


In Opinion: Are we witnessing the end of the two-party system?

Actually, we are witnessing the birth of a Theocracy.

 

[Iceweasel]

on third party growth


In Opinion: Are we witnessing the end of the two-party system?

Actually, we are witnessing the birth of a Theocracy.

If you consider liberalism a political religion I'd agree with that except the birth probably started in the 70s and the malcontents seized power in media and academia, the rest is easy as long as main street keeps sleepwalking through life.

 

[Auld Phart]

on third party growth


In Opinion: Are we witnessing the end of the two-party system?

Actually, we are witnessing the birth of a Theocracy.

Theocracy?

 

[MisterBeale]

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

“The truth is, if people could overcome the fear of the “worst” candidate and voted for what they believed in, the façade would begin to crumble. If the media and others covered third parties more, unaligned voters—for example, people who believe in peace and freedom—would have a new incentive to participate and give a positive vote.”

This isn’t ‘the truth.’

Citizens have legitimate, warranted, justified, and documented concerns with regard to their rights and protected liberties. .

It is not a ‘façade’ that republicans and conservatives, for the most part, are hostile to the privacy rights of women, the equal protection rights of gay Americans, the due process rights of immigrants, the First Amendment rights of Muslims, and the voting rights of African-Americans.

Republican candidates for president have consistently made clear their intent to appoint justices to the Supreme Court who would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, Plyler v. Doe, and Obergefell v. Hodges, to note but a few examples, allowing the states to compel women to give birth against their will and to deny same-sex couples their right to marry.

So yes, there is indeed a worst candidate, having nothing do with ‘fear,’ and everything to do with citizens seeking to defend their fundamental civil rights from reactionary conservative politicians who have contempt for those rights.

 

[Cassandro]

on third party growth


In Opinion: Are we witnessing the end of the two-party system?

Actually, we are witnessing the birth of a Theocracy.

Theocracy?

Do you really expect the human bean to explain his psychotic outbursts?

 

[Cassandro]

on third party growth


In Opinion: Are we witnessing the end of the two-party system?

Another lightweight article from a left-wing source. Our Congressional system is set up to operate on a Majority Party basis, where the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader are given dictatorial powers over what legislation is even allowed to be voted on. Even if elected with "third party" support, these positions are essentially invulnerable to subsequent votes of no confidence or other means to replace those who hold them. We occasionally have legislators who claim to be affiliated with other (or no) parties, but they always attach themselves to one of the two dominant parties.

I suppose that we could see another transitional period like in the 1860s (where the Republican Party replaced the Whigs), but this situation would quickly return to form as a two party system. One reason for this is that the two dominant parties adopt new trends and ideas as soon as they see an electoral advantage to doing so. The biggest effect of third party Presidential campaigns can be that, when combined with the electoral vote system, they have allowed the election of candidates by small (<40%) pluralities who then have difficulty building a consensus for effective governing (e.g., Lincoln, Wilson and Clinton).

The 2016 election is already showing a fundamental realignment of both major parties. The Democrats have embraced a hard-left philosophy to attract young and dispossessed voters, while the Republicans are reaching out to blue collar workers and their families. In four or eight years from now, both parties will have completed fundamental changes in philosophy and branding, but we will still have a two-party system.