Comments on: On Third Parties And Victory

By: redneck_hippie

redneck_hippie — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:09:37 +0000

The establishment is no longer able to claim the mantle of being innovators. Moderate ideology is an oxymoron. The establishment must recognize it is reactionary in its straining to be more like the democrat powers that be. Conservatives and those who are drawn to us are the revolutionists. Following Obama/Reid/Pelosi over their cliff is for the coward. Raising the flag of our founding is the only way forward.

Also like your black flag and the College Republican dork description.

By: edintexas

edintexas — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:09:58 +0000

And so was the Rasmussen generic ballot poll which showed the GOP at 18%, the Tea Party at 23% and the Democrat at 36%. Only NY allows a candidate to run on more than one party’s “line” and aggregate the votes from the various party ballots to come up with a final vote total. So even if the “Tea Party” could manage to get on the ballot in most of the states (not easily done), only in NY could the GOP and Tea Party combine votes (assuming they each ran the same candidate, as used to happen with the GOP and Conservative Parties in NY). The obvious result, for at least some election cycles, is the same result which elected Bill Clinton – a 3d party candidate pulling votes away from the more conservative of the 2 major parties (note I am not saying GHW Bush was Conservative, just more conservative than Slick Willie).

By: MacAoidh

MacAoidh — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:19:37 +0000

…with the Democrats having a floor of above 35 percent, they are going to win many more elections than not if the opposition to their policies is split. 35 percent as a base is enough to win in a close three-party race, so in order to beat the Democrats one of the two other parties would have to be non-viable.

That means a Tea Party would have to REPLACE the GOP.

Replacing the GOP is a pipe dream; it has too many resources at this time to go away. What is far more doable is to take it over and use it for constitutional conservative ends. Now – if the opportunities to rectify leftist control of the United States are squandered in the next two elections and the GOP continues to wither, I may change my position. At this time, though, a better second party is a more practical solution than the effort to build an entirely new structure where one doesn’t currently exist.

By: Alberta

Alberta — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:25:07 +0000

You dont want a third party, you just want to take over the republican party and make it into that third party you say cant win elections. I dont quite follow. Either a conservative party can win or not.

This notion that we need the brand name GOP to win elections is laughable to me. ‘Lincoln, the Whig brand is soooo powerful, how will you ever win running as a third party?’

Do a quick look up of the history of my fair province, Alberta. Third parties can win. Only the most base thinkers get stuck on the name of a brand. Most care about what that brand represents, and in the current state of having the GOP brand mean anything to anybody, it seems a trivial thing to keep.

But we will probably keep it, to keep from getting made fun of by the same country clubbers we want to rest control from. Just seems weird to me.

The equation, to me, should be this: It will take work to rehabilitate the GOP, and it will take work to make a 3rd party (I like Mr Green calling it a second party) We should choose whichever path leaves us with the most resources to fight the elections coming up.

By: penguin2

penguin2 — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:23:59 +0000

could recognize this. From what I have seen of the Libertarians, they have a lot more in common with our side, than to hang themselves out there in the periphery and make little if any progress. The Tea Party activists are made up of those who truly lean center right in this country and are fed up with an elitist aristocracy which our political class has become. That’s why I wonder how much anti-incumbent mood is going to be in play in 2010. We don’t want a third party, we need to make the move from within. It is in the primaries we are going to see the effects of any anti-incumbent mood for our side. Should be interesting.

By: JadedByPolitics

JadedByPolitics — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:52:38 +0000

someone who those in the party have identified as Conservative. I don’t take them to be anything other then the Republican in the race. It is strictly a primary thing as far as I am concerned. I will do my best to ensure that person is the person running with the R after their name if they lose then I stand with the R anyway because I have done my due diligence in the primary. I REFUSE to allow the D to take the position. I know people say there isn’t a dimes worth of difference between the two parties but I have to say that the moderate R is at least 50% better then the progressive D in ANYONEs book!