DO WE NEED A THIRD PARTY?
Yes, If Republicans Don’t Stand Up
Election Disappointments
Each election, we are promised that if we elect so-and-so Republican, they will undo the damage the Democrats have inflicted on us. With the exception of Donald Trump, our experience has been incredibly disappointing. And there was a limit to what he could do without Congress putting forward bills and passing them. Sadly, Republican politicians too often cave into Democrats demands and don’t fight bad legislation, nor push for needed positive legislation, even when they have the votes. Thus, we were stuck with Obamacare with no modifications except those Trump was able to mandate. What is the problem? Are we electing sheep when we need pit bulls?
The Broken Two-Party System
Over the years, the two major parties have concocted rules that make it almost impossible for third parties to succeed. Presidential candidates, even those who have ballot access in 50 states, are not included in national debates. Ballot access has been made incredibly difficult, which each year, makes it harder for third party candidates to even qualify. And yet, in many states, people are registering as independent in record numbers.
To me, this means that many people are dissatisfied with their options. They want more choice; they want parties with widely different opinions on how to solve the vexing problems in our nation. Too often, the two parties are almost feeding us the same pablum, and when they are not, they plan to act the same way, even if they lie to us to get elected. By shutting out any opposing opinions, we find we have no choice. If we had a “vote of no confidence,” we might see parties offer better options. But we don’t.
Especially now, where the Left has gone towards socialism, we need a robust, fighting party that understands that socialism has NEVER worked anywhere and will not work here, except to enrich the elite. As long as the two parties work too much in concert, or when one party caves in too often to the other, we are stuck with creating wealth only for the politico-industrial complex. Do Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg need a few more million? Do the Clintons? Do we want them to step on us on their way to more power and wealth?
No More Mr. Nice Guy
The seductive lure of power and wealth has too many politicians trying to avoid losing any votes, even at the risk of failing to achieve the goals they claimed they were after. Also, too many Republicans are gentlepeople, too polite to go after blatantly illegal executive edicts or legislation that exempts politicians, but hurts Americans. Mitt Romney was a nice guy – that only works if everyone behaves that way. But just remember – Democrats have threatened violence on people who oppose them. And many of their followers have inflicted violence and destruction (Antifa and BLM). Don’t bring a peaceful demeanor to a gun fight; go after them as they have gone after Republicans and demand the changes the people elected you to bring in.
What We Demand in the Future
Any viable party should be able to participate in debates. A viable party would be one who has achieved ballot access in more than half the states. At the same time, ballot access should be a lot easier. Right now, it costs third parties far too much and then they have less to spend on getting the voice of their candidate out there.
Any benefits accruing to the two parties, such as funding support, should be made available to third parties. Perhaps, in smaller races, there should be a cap on spending, which would make running for office more accessible to people. I’d personally love to see caps on the amount tech billionaires (and of course, Soros) can spend for political aims. A certain number of
PSAs (public service announcements) should be available to all parties; perhaps we say you can’t buy more.
With the internet, it should be easier to get the word out about all the different platforms, but states must cover these candidates in their voting information as fully as they do the other parties. We need to level the playing field so that people can believe that their vote will count even when cast for a third party. Right now, too many don’t believe it is worth the risk. And after the revelations in “2000 Mules,” which only represents one aspect of voting fraud, people are worried that voting no longer matters.
Of course, what we also need is new, robust players to join the few Republicans like Cruz, Lee and Paul, to stand up to the Democrats and their power overreach. No more Mr. Nice Guy. Why do we confirm awful appointments by the Democrats when they viciously attack our appointments, leveling BS accusations and ignoring far more serious misdeeds of their own people? Why do we vote for their bad bills? A third party might not be needed if the Republicans stand up and do their job. But I’m doubting that will happen.
Start pushing the two parties to open the doors to new voices and new visions. We’re basically in the situation where a shoe store has offered us size 7 and size 9 shoes, but we need an 8. Let’s access more options to solve the difficult problems in America.
