Go ahead, throw your vote away!

I really think at this point it would be better if a third party tried to win some House races and maybe a senate race or two. Trying for the presidency is too much of a pipe dream. You need an assload of money, exposure and have the ability go get people to actually vote for you. (remember Puffy's Vote or Die?)

I think we could have a system sort of like Canada (which has 4 major parties) You would have the Reps, Dems and the third party--but it only works if there is a big enough bloc in congress so the ruling party has to compromise to get legislation passed.

I really don't agree with Nader on too many issues, but I voted for him because I hoped that a third party would be viable.

 

The only way to make third, fourth, and fifth parties viable nationally is to go to a system of proportional voting, and you can ask lani Guinier how well that worked out for her.

 

Never gets old.

 

A third party candidate has zero chance of actually winning the Presidency. The system is set up to elect only a Dem or Rep, and the electorate is polarized between the two. A third party candidate would have to appeal to red and blue staters, which just doesn't seem possible in the current climate.

Third party runs serve to focus the Dem/Rep campaigns on to a hot button issue, instead of the usual nonsense. With Perot it was the economy, but even if he didn't self destruct, he wouldn't have won.

 

BB has it right. The Green Party is trying to outkick its ncoverage by hitting up the presidential race when it needs to go after not only House or Senate but state-level House and Senate. Build a groundswell that way. Regardless, a third party won't be viable on a national scale in our lifetimes but that won't stop me from voting Green.

 

Could Al Gore win as a third party candidate?

Maybe he's hurt by the latest incident involving his son. But he has name recognition, ability to fundraise, and values that appeal to more heartland Americans than Romney, Clinton, Obama or Giuliani might.

I always wondered if a John McCain could have had a chance as a third party candidate in 2000. At the time he'd have appealed to a lot of moderates in both parties, but he didn't have the juice to win in the primary.

 

That may be worth wheeling out a third-party candidate in itself.

 

As long as people in this country are duped into believing their party or candidate from said party is the "lesser of two evils" third parties have no chance of ever making any headway.

 

As it is, I almost always vote for a third-party candidate. I voted for Clinton in 1996 and third party the last two times.

The only vote I "threw away" was probably when I voted for Clinton because -- as someone in red-state Kansas, home to Bob Dole -- he would never carry the state. So I should have voted for Perot or whoever the popular third party candidate was at that time just to see if he would get the 5 percent of the vote needed to get government backing.

 

I never have understood the "you're throwing your vote away" mindset. The only people doing that are the ones who don't vote at all.

 

In my opinion, here is a WINNING 3RD PARTY PLATFORM:

1) Liberal on Health Care Reform (And this should be a MAJOR issue that it runs on). I'm not sure either party gets how strongly this issue resonates right now. And if there's another alleged reformer in the race in the form of a Hillary, you can crush her in debates simply by pointing out how she clammed up on the issue after taking around 800K in HMO money.

2) Conservative Hard Line Position on Immigration. I don't necessarily agree, but that clearly seems to be the public's mood right now, and there's a ton of public resentment that the major parties have ignored them here.

3) Liberal on social issues like abortion, stem cell research, etc.

4) Liberal on Environmental/Global Warming issues.

5) A commitment to end the idiotic war and bring troops home ASAP.

6) A nativist streak when it comes to Free Trade/Outsourcing issues. Another area where neither party is connecting to the public mood.

7) Hard line emphasize on Special Interest/Lobbying Reform. the major parties get the hypocrisy tag if they emphasize this too strongly. A third pty candidate won't.

Find a charismatic strong candidate with these positions, find some billion dollar backer, and it could get interesting. Don't know that the country's ever been more in the mood for an alternative.