Will 3rd parties rise up in 2010 and 2012?

[Union Yes]

Americans, whether left, right, or centrist seem to be losing faith in the 2 party system.

Crashing poll numbers and giving the entire progressive platform the boot won't bode well for the Dems in '10. Rethugs seem to be falling into obscurity even further each day.

The internet has changed the dynamic in regards to campaign organizing, fund raising, grassroots activism etc.

Poverty is exploding. We are at war with no end in sight. The Dems are failing at Health Care reform. No Employee Free Choice Act. Very little pro-gay rights action thus far. In other words, very little for folks to hang their hat on.

The negatives are growing like an athletes muscle mass on steroids.

[Uzybone]

1. if you can show me credible 3rd party candidates

then I'd vote yes. But there are none. Heck there are hardly credible GOP candidates.

[onehandle]

2. Gosh, I hope so! President Palin and Vice-President Jindal will be a BIG improvement. nt

[phantom power]

3. If the Dems face-plant on health care...

I think a 3rd party challenge from the left seems plausible. I think a 3rd-party challenge from the right is very plausible in any circumstance, since the GOP is having identity issues, and I don't think they'll be resolved by 2010 or 2012.

[anonymous171]

4. No. Just no. nt

[Truth Talks]

5. 2020

We desperately need a credible third party. Now if can just scrounge up thirteen U.S. citizens with enough intelligence and motivation to launch such a party.

I flirted with the Green and Libertarian parties for a while but quickly discovered that they've been effectively taken over by corporate interests. I've been tempted to vote for a couple Socialist candidates, but they appeared to be corporate stooges, too.

When someone eventually gets around to organizing a viable third party, they're going to have to figure out some sort of system that makes it difficult for corporate interests to infiltrate it. For example, prospective members might be required to agree to certain measures that Corporate America would not like (e.g. nationalizing the oil industry, trying George W. Bush for war crimes, bringing Bill Gates international crime spree to an end, etc.). Party officials might even be required to submit to polygraph tests in an attempt to prove they're not working for the dark side.

Given the extraordinary apathy and stupidity that still reigns, I can't imagine a viable third party rising up as early as 2012.

[dysfunctional press]

6. but won't it be a moot point after 12-21-12...?

[frog92969]

7. With two right wing parties it's inevitable

that a third party will be sucked into the vacuum on the left.

"Yes We Can!"

[Maru Kitteh]

8. No.

[MrSlayer]

9. No. The one party system will always rule.

That's just the way it is.

[saltpoint]

10. Steep climbs await third party efforts. Organization is daunting.

Cash trickles in. Ballot access is geared toward 2-parties only.

There are good people who've run on U.S. third parties but it's a real tough go getting traction.

[Selatius]

11. First-past-the-post voting systems usually only have room for just 2 parties. That's pretty much it.

It is a mathematical quirk with the system, and it tends to restrict choices as a result. The typical exceptions are whenever there are very strong regional parties, but in the US, there is no such thing as the Northeasterner Party or the West Coast Party or the Dixieland Party and so forth.

There are other systems that avoid this quirk though, such as straight proportional representation or single-member district majority systems. The US House and US Senate can be called single-member district plurality. You only need a plurality to win an election, even if that plurality is less than 50% of the total vote.

[bemildred]

12. No, we are going to solidify progressive control of the Democratic Party.

We don't need more parties, we just need one that is accountable to the people and runs things. If they fuck up, we replace them.

[Laelth]

13. Hear, hear. Some Blue Dogs will get replaced.

Some by Republicans, and some by progressive Democrats, but they will pay for their obstruction. Nothing they do will make their Republican constituents happy. Now they're ticking off their liberals, and we have a wide enough margin in both chambers that we can run primary opponents against them.

:dem:

-Laelth

[bemildred]

16. Primaries are where it is at. Never forget.

You gotta kick their asses out in the primaries.

[Strong Atheist]

14. No. It is impossible to gain a foothold. The two big parties have all the

steps necessary to get on ballots and the debates and news locked up tight...

[annabanana]

15. If the repugs are still fighting their base in 2014.. I predict an

armed and dangerous "christian identity"- type party.

[Greyhound]

17. I think a third party might become viable with a strong enough personality that has the financial

resources available to her/him, perhaps something along the lines of a Sarandon/Penn ticket. It has happened before and the two wings of the Corporate Party are alienating their bases and betraying the perceived and nominal values enough to make it possible. 2010 or 2012 seems too quick, but if the economy does what many believe it will, it could be.

Unfortunately, it cuts both ways and given the attitude and ignorance of the American Sheeple, the next Hitler is more likely to rise here than the next Gandhi.

[WI_DEM]

18. No.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

19. Hopefully. The "bad cop" vs the "not as bad cop" choice is wearing thin for a lot of people.