What is your thoughts on Third Parties?

[BlueDog22]

I was reading that the Reform Party was running their first public meeting in over 20 years in Baton Rouge, Louisiana sometime in October.

What is everyone's opinion on third parties? What are peoples' thoughts?

[Elessar Zappa]

1. Spoilers.

Like it or not we’re a two party system.

[The Roux Comes First]

2. Under the Present Circs, the Entire Concept Sucks Big-time

I can see nothing being achieved by these whacked-out folks supposedly looking to offer an alternative to the one genuine political party we have and the brown-shirts the other former party has become.

We know better. We have had elections altered before by the siphoning-off of votes for genuine, decent candidates by "third-party" candidates.

This time around, these whackos seem to have the sole effect of reducing the vote for Joe and in effect supporting the criminal that the russians "elected" a while back, while allowing the voter to act sanctimonious. "Oh, I didn't vote for that thug." Right!

Anything we can do to tamp down any interest in third-party candidates is a step in the right direction.

[TexasBushwhacker]

3. They can't win the electoral college

so they just function as spoilers in the presidential race.

[WestMichRad]

4. I would love the idea of competitive "third" parties...

… IF we had ranked choice voting, and IF the two leading parties weren’t so dominant. But since neither of those stipulations is true, third parties serve only to suck votes away from the leading candidates and play the role of potential spoilers. So I won’t even consider their candidates… at least, not for president or statewide offices.

[wnylib]

29. Multiple parties work only in parliamentarian democracies

where coalition governments are possible. They are counter productive spoilers in the US system.

[ITAL]

5. In general

I think people would vote for one or the other main parties if a third party option wasn't around. However, I've definitely known some people in my life that would just not vote at all if there were no other options, so I don't quite believe that a vote for them is a complete waste.

The problem is in close elections is the people that vote for a alternate party who would have voted for a main party candidate are totally throwing their votes away. Like I said some people just will always vote for another option or won't at all. Let's say for argument's sake that half a million people vote for a third party in Pennsylvania. How many would vote for one of the main two without another option? Eighty percent? Ninety? That could definitely tip the balance.

[Igel]

6. I'm less certain.

Yes, they act as spoilers.

But if a party's losing voters to a 3rd party so that it fails to win an election it would have otherwise won, perhaps that's a pretty good wake up call that it needs to recenter itself so as to represent a majority rather more poorly than a smaller plurality more accurately. Otherwise the party's just saying, "We demand allegiance and if you don't think we represent you--think again and vote like you're told--after all, we are a democracy!"

Parties aren't eternal. And parties can shift their center-of-politics when needed.

[Blues Heron]

7. Only if they split the puke vote

[Lunabell]

8. Third parties are why we have republican presidents.

And other republican congress-critters.

[FalloutShelter]

9. The late, great, Molly Yard...

Once called third parties,” a hole in the ground you throw money into.”

[stopdiggin]

10. Is this a serious question? serious post?

how much more evidence needed .. ?

[KentuckyWoman]

11. They threw in with Trump. Yes?

Your choice in 2024 is 100% vote blue or support dictatorship. Unfortunately there is no wiggle room. A no vote is the same as supporting dictatorship this time out.

[brooklynite]

12. The only successful third party in the US...

(The People’s Party in the1880’s) focused on electing legislators and got a fair number of House and Senate members elected. Going straight to Presidential candidates is a recipe for failure.

[boston bean]

13. I hope trump gets a third party challenger.

Have not seen any sign of it yet though. Republicans are dumb shits, or they (“normal” republicans) really just don’t give a fuck.

[Keepthesoulalive]

15. Wow

How did Trump work out for you? If you only run during presidential years you are not’s serious about changing anything ,you are either being paid to spoil or massaging an over inflated ego.

[Rhiannon12866]

18. History has shown that third party candidates tend to siphon votes from Democrats

So I'm opposed.

[Shrek]

24. Ross Perot might have helped Bill Clinton in 1992

Not certain, of course, but not implausible either.

[Rhiannon12866]

25. That's possible, did anyone vote for him? He was no Ralph Nader...

[Shrek]

26. He didn't win any electoral votes

But he got 19% of the popular vote. If we assume most of those votes would have gone somewhere else without Perot in the race, he certainly had some kind of effect.

https://www.history.com/news/ross-perot-populist-1992-election-changed-politics

[Rhiannon12866]

27. Thanks so much!

Back then I was working with the commercial TV networks for the television listings printed in the newspapers. Because I came in to work last (most of my publicists were on the West Coast), my two coworkers had already claimed the Bush and Clinton campaigns, so I was stuck with Ross Perot. Actually, those running his campaign were very pleasant and forthcoming, though I remember more about his running mate, Admiral Stockdale. They had a lot of fun with the poor guy on SNL...

[sakabatou]

16. They break up the Democratic Party vote and will/may lead to a Repuke win

[Tree Lady]

17. We have to work to make our own party

the best it can be. It would take decades for any third party to have enough votes to win maybe never.

I just realized part of why Nixon won first time was a third party spoiler.

[haele]

19. Start out from grass roots first. City/Townships and Counties.

Don't go jumping into Senate, Gubernatorial, or Presidential races.thosr third party candidates typically are spoilers for an opposition party, like Ross Perot, Ralph Nadar, and Jill Stein, getting just enough low information populist fan votes to spoil a major political candidate's election - for the Overton Window political opposite of of the third party candidates.
Populist Leftist will tank a Liberal Candidate. Populist Rightists will spoil a Conservative Candidate.

Guess who typically supports Leftist candidates in major elections? It isn't other Leftists and Liberals

My thoughts on Third Parties? The last Third Party in the US that gained legitimacy were the Republicans, and that was basically because they built themselves up from the county level positions to become a viable political force as the Whigs imploded for 10 to 20 years over economics and Manifest Destiny.

So, yeah. Start from the ground and spend 10 to 20 years learning how politics and governance actually works.

Then get back to me on my opinion.

Haele

[emulatorloo]

20. Getting Republicans Elected Every November

Aka the Green Party. ‘No Labels’ is working towards that as well.

[AntivaxHunters]

21. It depends

I think CPUSA (Communist Party of The United States of America) has it right.
Basically they're Marxist but are backing Biden because they see the fight against fascism as something we MUST win.
That's a good ally right there!

[W_HAMILTON]

22. ...

[betsuni]

23. +1

[betsuni]

28. This is a forum for supporters of the Democratic Party.

[wnylib]

30. +1,000,000

Why is this OP posted at DU?

[betsuni]

31. Right? What IS your thoughts?

[wnylib]

32. I already gave them.