Let's say a viable 3rd party emerged...

[Jamison]

Poll question: Let's say a viable 3rd party emerged...

In this scenario, a viable 3rd party emerges for a presidential election and you love the candidate. The Dem candidate is only so-so to you. The Repub candidate...jeez what am I thinking, no one's gonna support them except for the lurking FReepers.

Anyway, which of the following parties would you like to see this candidate come from?

[saltpoint]

1. A great question.

I went with 'Green' but would prefer a new Green ticket altogether.

[expatriot]

2. oh shit! I want to void my vote and revote.

I voted "Libertarian" with the rationale that it would take many more votes away from the repugs than the dems and then I read your scenario.


I guess I would have to say "Socialist" - just because if a viable third party in this united states was Communist, the political "center" would be quite further left than it is right now.

[dutchdemocrat]

3. How does this fit?

Key tenets of the Libertarian Party platform include the following:

* A self-regulating free market economy (primarily by voluntary consumer groups), including support of the right to keep and bear arms, opposition to drug prohibition, and elimination of the state-supported social welfare system and indeed all taxation for voluntary alternatives along lines of the Libertarian originated Alaska Permanent Fund.
* Strong civil liberties including free speech, freedom of association, sexual freedom, and a foreign policy of free trade, non-interventionism, abortion, and opposition to the initiation of force (particularly military) to attain goals.
* Total opposition to any and all forms of gun control at all levels of government.
* These are if government even exists: Libertarians support option of non-governmental communities and all voluntary solutions to replace offical programs in general.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Libertarian_Party

[Syrinx]

4. I think the Greens take the best of the Libertarians...

And the best of the Socialists, and mix them all together in a delicious freedom stew jambalaya!

[sam sarrha]

5. the NeoCons are the Whig Party.. does that count..??

[nosmokes]

6. you're redundant- greens are a populist party

and for all intents and purposes are the direct descendants of the old populist party.that's why the greens accept NO corporate contributions.

[The Judged]

7. You could have included DLC as a party, IMO.

Not that I would want a DLC candidate to get elected!

I would like to draw the distinction between a DLC candidate and a DNC Democrat, because I believe there is a distcinct difference, and gauge the popular support in DU for the DLC candidates.

It would help real progressives to take notice of this, IMO.

thanks.

[The Judged]

12. btw, here is a list of DLC members who support PNAC!

Let us not forget that the DLC is a not-for-profit corporation.

Here are a few lists of their Governors, Senators, and Representatives:

New Democrat Governors

Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin
Gov. Michael Easley of North Carolina
Gov. Jennifer Granholm of Michigan
Gov. Ruth Ann Minner of Delaware
Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona
Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania
Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas
Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa
Gov. Mark Warner of Virginia

Members of the Senate New Democrat Coalition

Sen. Max Baucus of Montana
Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana
Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington
Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware
Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York
Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota
Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota
Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California
Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusets
Sen. Herb Kohl of Wisconsin
Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana
Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut
Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas
Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida
Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska
Sen. Mark Pryor of Arkansas
Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan

http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Democratic_Leaders ...

Here is a Wikipedia list:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Democrats#Members_of_t ...

Members of the House New Democrat Coalition

Rep. Jim Davis of Florida
Rep. Ron Kind of Wisconsin
Rep. Adam Smith of Washington
Rep. Tom Allen of Maine
Rep. Joe Baca of California
Rep. Brian Baird of Washington
Rep. Melissa Bean of Illinois
Rep. Shelley Berkley of Nevada
Rep. Marion Berry of Arkansas
Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon
Rep. Lois Capps of California
Rep. Dennis Cardoza of California
Rep. Ed Case of Hawaii
Rep. Ben Chandler of Kentucky
Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee
Rep. Bud Cramer of Alabama
Rep. Joseph Crowley of New York
Rep. Artur Davis of Alabama
Rep. Susan Davis of California
Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois
Rep. Anna Eshoo of California
Rep. Bob Etheridge of North Carolina
Rep. Harold Ford of Tennessee
Rep. Charlie Gonzalez of Texas
Rep. Jane Harman of California
Rep. Ruben Hinojosa of Texas
Rep. Rush Holt of New Jersey
Rep. Mike Honda of California
Rep. Darlene Hooley of Oregon
Rep. Jay Inslee of Washington
Rep. Steve Israel of New York
Rep. Jim Langevin of Rhode Island
Rep. Rick Larsen of Washington
Rep. John Larson of Connecticut
Rep. Stephanie Herseth of South Dakota
Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of New York
Rep. Mike McIntyre of North Carolina
Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York
Rep. Jim Matheson of Utah
Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York
Rep. Mike Michaud of Maine
Rep. Brad Miller of North Carolina
Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald of California
Rep. Dennis Moore of Kansas
Rep. Jim Moran of Virginia
Rep. Grace Napolitano of California
Rep. David Price of North Carolina
Rep. Silvestre Reyes of Texas
Rep. Mike Ross of Arkansas
Rep. Steve Rothman of New Jersey
Rep. Loretta Sanchez of California
Rep. Adam Schiff of California
Rep. David Scott of Georgia
Rep. Brad Sherman of California
Rep. Vic Snyder of Arkansas
Rep. John Spratt of South Carolina
Rep. Bart Stupak of Michigan
Rep. John Tanner of Tennessee
Rep. Ellen Tauscher of California
Rep. Mike Thompson of California
Rep. Tom Udall of New Mexico
Rep. Robert Wexler of Florida
Rep. David Wu of Oregon


This list does not pretend to cover all of the DLC membership throughout the federal government's three branches.

Also, local politics are not exempt from the influence of the DLC either, though I lack the links at this moment to illustrate the #'s.

[bowens43]

8. It doesn't matter.

Any third party that will draw in Democrats will hand a win to the republicans just as the Greens did in 2000. There is absolutely no way that a 3rd party candidate is going to win the presidency.

So I would have to say , if there is a 'viable' 3rd party candidate, I hope he/she is from the Constitution party. The only thing a 3rd party candidate will do is split the vote of one of the major parties.

[MrBenchley]

9. They can all go fuck themselves, far as I'm concerned.....

By the way, why AREN'T the Green and Libertarian parties viable?

Oh that's right. They're toxic to voters. The Green Party couldn't even enough signatures to be ON the ballot in liberal NYC in 2004, even though the Socialist Workers party did.

[PhilipShore]

10. Liberal Party

[newswolf56]

11. I voted, but it didn't record my vote. Who's running this thread,

Diebold?

[emulatorloo]

13. Crazed Fundy Party to take votes away from Repugs

No third party is gonna win the presidency at this time.

All the options you list just take votes away from Dems and allow the Repugs to win.

[SheilaT]

14. There's no such thing as a viable third party.

Since we don't have proportional representation, there's not point in even thinking about voting third party. A third party tends to take votes away from the party most like it.

Shortly after last fall's election I got into quite a debate about this with a man who's a political science teacher at a nearby community college. He seemed to think that a third party that could take ten percent of the vote was a good thing and would impact the election. A third party person doesn't always act as a spoiler. I was in a three-way race for a seat in my state's House of Representatives. I got 34% of the vote, the incumbent Republican got 52%, and the Reform party candidate got 14% of the vote, which is quite respectable, but no where near enough to turn the election.

The best thing is to work very hard to take the Democratic party back.

[calico1]

15. The key word is "viable."

I will not ever vote for an unelectable candidate and in so doing help the Republicans remain in power.

[Tarc]

16. Exactly

Cult of personality-driven, 3rd party presidential candidacies that have no solid, lasting base to build on are a waste of a vote.

[rasputin1952]

17. While this is an interesting scenario, and may well be worth

discussion; I can tell you, you better not get your hopes up too high.

Throughout this nations history, there have been attempts to get more party's involved, and all it has accomplished, is to siphon off votes from a candidate and put a, (usually) poor person in office.

Before any real reform can come about, the internal, unseen machines that drive both major party's must be demolished. Few people have any idea who, or what, for that matter, the party's power really is. Nixon was brought down by the GOP powerhouses, he had become a threat and an embarrassment to them; bush will be taken down the same way. He has lost the support of his base, and those that pull the strings now see him as a serious liability. The GOP power people needed a dunce in the WH, they already had Congress sewn up, and the chose bush, by all accounts, no where near the intellectual capacity of some GOP people. He is a neo-con, and using that, the power people will take bush down.

Watch for "health problems" w/Cheney next year, possibly right after the mid-term, 2006. If Cheney bows out, another VP, (innocuous like Ford was), will be sworn in, then it is merely a matter of a couple of months before bush gives a televised "Nixonian" lament speech.

Back to the Opening Post: a Third Party has no chance of doing anything that will benefit the nation at this point. We have seen that Perot/Nader, et al have done nothing but siphon votes from the D's and ensure that the GOP would continue on it's road to hell.

[No Exit]

18. Sadly, their candidate would be assassinated

I am not defending Huey Long or George Wallace, but the fact is, they were both rising 3rd-party candidates, and both were shot.

And no, I don't believe Long was killed by some young doctor who was angry b/c Long had made a racial reference to his family.

And no, I don't think one has to advocate some giant conspiracy theory in order to see that ANYONE who challenges the status quo is vulnerable to being "taken out".