2008: Good year for third parties?

[The Beer Slayer]

So if the president's and congress's approval ratings are both in the toilet, will third parties like the libertarians and the green party make any gains?

[Мастер]

So if the president's and congress's approval ratings are both in the toilet, will third parties like the libertarians and the green party make any gains?

I wouldn't be surprised if they lost by less than usual.

[pmcolt]

As a longtime libertarian, I'd like to see gains made by any third parties, but I doubt it will happen.

The big-L Libertarians suffer the same problems every election cycle. The party is run by its most rabid extremists. They will nominate a candidate who is uncharismatic in debate, who is incapable of talking about everyday issues without referring back to abstract political philosophy, and who generally sounds like a radical anarchist to the general public. Thus, they are dismissed as just a group of fringe lunatics for another four years.

The big-G Greens suffer from being seen as simply the Ralph Nader party, as well as the party of eco-freaks. They're currently only on the ballot in 20 states. Unless they manage to alter their image radically, and come up with some pretty glowing candidates, they won't be taken any more seriously in this election than they were in the last one.

Short of a major party realignment (something really goofy, like, say, the Libertarian Party joining up with the libertarian wing of the Republican Party, the Constitution Party, and the Dixiecrats), I don't foresee huge gains being made. People fed up with the current system will either "vote for change" by voting against incumbents, or just stay home.

[Мастер]

Short of a major party realignment (something really goofy, like, say, the Libertarian Party joining up with the libertarian wing of the Republican Party, the Constitution Party, and the Dixiecrats), I don't foresee huge gains being made. People fed up with the current system will either "vote for change" by voting against incumbents, or just stay home.

If it weren't for the winner-take-all system, I suspect the Republican party would have split a long time ago...

[Enzo]

And that is the problem, politics has devolved into winning rather than standing for anything.

I had a friend who was a staunch libertarian, and he always had these grand and glorious plans for everyting. But all his methods for the future were based upon a competent, concerned, and involved populace. And as a whole, we are none of those things.

I enjoyed when we had that infight as to who was the "real" reform party candidate. There was talk in the media about "the Reform Party" and its future, but to me it was apparent that there was no reform party, just a lot of people not wanting the Dems or Reps, and lumping themselves under the reform label. But it was not a cohesive group, not a consistent message other than we don't like THEM. Not really a party.