8 upvotes, 6 direct replies (showing 6)
View submission: Casual Questions Thread
Why do people only bring up voting independent or wanting a third party for presidential elections?
What do they think they’d be able to implement without the support of a majority party?
How would they even get elected in the first place without the funds, money or ability to promote themselves?
Comment by HairyHouse3 at 02/06/2023 at 19:15 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Because the democratic party is flawed and has lost winnable elections and hung poor people out to dry.
They are tired of choosing between that and the fascist theocrat Republicans.
What they should be supporting though is ranked choice voting imo
Comment by Flapjack_Jenkins at 11/04/2023 at 17:22 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Why do people only bring up voting independent or wanting a third party for presidential elections?
Because nothing will change if people continue to vote for the two major parties. Most Americans don't identify with either major party, indicating that the major parties are not representative of the population.
What do they think they’d be able to implement without the support of a majority party?
A third-party POTUS would likely be able to get more done than a major party POTUS. A third-party POTUS would be able to reach across the aisles and build consensus. For example, imagine Justin Amash[1] as a Libertarian POTUS. He would side with Democrats on some issues, but Republicans on others, bringing balance. A major party POTUS just perpetuates partisanship.
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Amash#Political_career
How would they even get elected in the first place without the funds, money or ability to promote themselves?
They probably won't, but that's no excuse not to try. The system marginalizes minor parties, but that won't change if minor parties just stand down.
Comment by bactatank13 at 01/04/2023 at 01:17 UTC
5 upvotes, 1 direct replies
It honestly just venting. Third party is just a label to make one feel good. More often than not the third party is effectively one of the two main party when you look at their agenda. The exception to this rule are for political boundaries that have a small ass population or Party ideology is irrelevant (e.g. town governance). An effective third party politician is simply a politician that agrees 95% of the mainstream Party and they want their 5% to be at the forefront of their platform.
A true third party is not something most Americans want. They have ideology that are extremely contradictory or extremely fringe. When you vote for a Party, you're not just voting for the ideas you like. Remember our mainstream political party are a coalition of different sub-parties. If a third party had a winnable platform then they would integrate with the mainstream party as a sub-party, with no change to their platform, to take advantage of the mainstream party's resources.
Comment by fishman1776 at 30/03/2023 at 20:05 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Why do people only bring up voting independent or wanting a third party for presidential elections?
I think the premise is incorrect. 3rd party and independent candidates are quite popular in local and state elections. Occasionally they even win.
Comment by throwaway09234023322 at 30/03/2023 at 19:49 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
"Why do people only bring up voting independent or wanting a third party for presidential elections?"
Because the republicans and Democrats candidates are garbage?
"What do they think they’d be able to implement without the support of a majority party?"
They wouldn't be able to unilaterally change anything, but they could negotiate to get some of their ideas put into legislation.
"How would they even get elected in the first place without the funds, money or ability to promote themselves?"
I don't see a 3rd party as really being possible in the current system because it will always be considered a wasted vote. I believe that if ranked choice voting was implemented, it would open the door for new parties to get more funding and potentially win elections as people wouldn't be "throwing their vote away" by voting for a 3rd party.
Comment by bl1y at 30/03/2023 at 14:50 UTC
5 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Because it's easier to complain that things aren't better than to put in the hard work of making them better. It's "I wish someone would fix democracy for me." But that's antithetical to democracy.
The two main parties are at the top because they have people working day in, day out, year after year to keep the parties running. The third parties for the most part seem to take 4 year long vacations between election cycles.
Look at the states Bernie did well in during 2016, such as the Idaho caucus (and yes, caucuses are weird) where he got 78% of the vote, and Clinton won only a single county. ...Now, name the candidates for state legislature that Bernie mentored for the 2018 or 2020 race.