What catalyst would cause a fully independent third party in US politics?

Ralph Nader's 2000 Presidential Campaign put the final nail in the coffin of 3rd parties. He only got 2.7% of the vote, not enough to get recognized as a 3rd party, but enough for the idiots to claim Gore lost the election because of Nader's candidacy. Even Tim Russert made this claim last time he interviewed Nadar which was one of the only times I ed at Tim.
Every 3rd party candidate in FL got more votes than the difference between Gore and Bush, not just Nader. Instead of blaming Gore for not appealing to Nader voters, they blame Nader for just being around.
Makes no sense but is still the biggest arguement against voting for a 3rd party.
 
Wheres the ?
They blame the voters who thought Nader best represented what they believe, instead of blaming Gore's failure to have a platform that would appeal to those voters. If they wanted those votes they should have integrated Naders platform with theirs. That clearly shows why its not a waste to vote 3rd party if those are the ideas most closely to yours, its a way to advance that platform.
 
We can't have a 3rd party in our system.

First Past The Post election system.

so even if a "3rd" ideology comes along one of the two parties will absorb it to gain a simple majority. IE the GOP switching from Neo-Con to Tea Party orientation.
 
Ideally politicians couldn't declare a party affiliation and people would have to do their own research instead of just saying "I'm a Republican/Democrat, I'll vote for the Republican/Democratic candidate even though I know nothing about him."
 
Agreed. There's something called Americans Elect that just started a few months ago, but they only seem interested in the Presidency. Well, that won't change anything.
 
We did get fucked by plurality voting in our governors election last time.
There were 4 candidates on the ballot, Democrat, Rep, a 3rd party that qualified - the Moderate party, and an independant.
the independant won with 36% of the vote, with 50% turnout, that means he was elected by only 18% of the electorate

So yes, we did have more than the 2 parties, but it was fucked, we need a run-off election or some shit if this shit is going to happen again here
 
Back
Top