by 
The reality in America today is that we have a two party system. The Republicans and Democrats run the show, not because they’re the best and brightest, but because they have “electability” on their side.
So, what do you do if you don’t like either of the two nominees? What if you think we’d be better off with another option? Is that even possible?
As I said before, I’m a realist when it comes to these things. As it stands, either Sen. McCain or Sen. Obama will win this election unless something catastrophic happens.
That being the case, how do we change this?
Have a Big Name Candidate
The last time that we had a viable third party candidate was Ross Perot. I know that Ralph Nader did get some votes a few years back, and some people voted for Pat Buchanan—or didn’t, depending on who you ask—but the last time people actually believed that a third party candidate could win was with Ross Perot.
Why?
Because he was self financed. Because he was a character. Because the two other options, at the time, did not seem that far apart. Because America was looking from someone from the outside.
While it’s true that he only had an impact in taking away votes from the main two (I do not believe he won a single state), he was able to capture the imagination of many. That’s a big step toward 3 or more parties.
Concentrate on the Lopsided States
There are blue and red states that are not going to go for the other guy no matter what. These are where the third party candidates should concentrate. If it’s a Libertarian, he should focus on meeting with Republicans in blue states where the Republican candidate is going to lose anyway. If it’s a Green candidate, focus on the Democrats in red states.
The importance of this cannot be overlooked. Part of the problem with “electability” is that the media want you to believe that a third party candidate cannot possibly get enough votes. However, there are also a great number of people whose votes essentially don’t count.
I’m a blue state conservative. Even if I did vote for Sen. McCain, I know it wouldn’t matter. I’m a prime target for a Libertarian or Constitution candidate because I have core principles that Sen. McCain violates.
Leave the Big Party
One of my problems with the whole argument that wanted (and still wants to) vote for Ron Paul was that this “man of principle” would not leave his party when his party decided that it didn’t want him. If he truly believed that he was part of a movement (and his counter convention, etc. says that he does) he would have given the American people an option this year and followed my plan above.
As it is, he’s doing some of it, but by refusing to leave the Republican party he’ tied himself to it.
Just as there were two groups of Christians in England at the time of our nation’s founding—the Separatists1 and the Purists2, there are times when we must leave something in order to purify it.
What must happen, however, is that people must realize that this could mean that the “wrong person” gets into office. However, I believe that if you had an attractive, electable candidate you’d soon find that what was left of the other two parties would lose to a group that was actually committed to principles and looked like it was growing and could take on the world.
Hmm. Interesting points.
Of course, Ron Paul’s principles have little to do with the republican party. I think he stayed with the Republican party because he is trying to show that the Republican party no longer stands for the principles it claims.
Those are interesting tactics you bring up, and probably potentially effective. Interestingly enough Ron Paul has told his supporters to support ANY third party candidate… I cannot support and of the others because I don’t agree with their platforms. I will probably write-in Ron Paul knowing that my vote will not even be counted.
However, I think there is a higher and more long term goal than just trying to get a third party candidate elected. After all, it certainly can’t be the principle of a third party candidate alone that contains the virtue. Just having three parties will not fix American politics. What we need is a good political platform, and that doesn’t have anything to do with the number of parties… there can me one, two, three, or a million parties. So long as there is a good political platform to vote for and the majority of Americans understand the virtues of that platform.
What we need to do is educate people on politics and economics. I truly believe that. I don’t think we can just run a popularity contest for a third party candidate. We need to get out there and cause people to question their political assumptions.
You see… in the American project, it is the responsibility of each citizen to educate themselves about the Constitution and to defend their Constitutional liberties from those who would strip them away. But you won’t hear about that in the MSM or in public schools. In fact you’ll rarely hear of it in even the coffee houses and open-mic nights of the ‘intellectuals’. We all need to start standing in the political gap.
Arthur Eisss last blog post..Confiscation Through Inflation