4 ms·

"I donated money to Obama's 2008 campaign and voted for him twice." ...after the first four years, why would you vote for him again? It became clear almost fr

"I donated money to Obama's 2008 campaign and voted for him twice." ...after the first four years, why would you vote for him again? It became clear almost from the first day of his presidency that his campaign promises were hollow. Stop letting your fear that a Republican might win get the better of you. Vote third party until the Democrats get their act together.

chinpokomon 13y ago
I do that when I fear the Democrats might win too. Honestly, I wish more people would realize there are other options. We'd be much better if we had a greater range of choices. Unfortunately the two parties at the top have made it very hard for third party candidates.
specialist 13y ago
With winner takes all politics, there is no third party. Duverger's Law: to get 51% of the vote, everyone tries to form the smallest winning coalition. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duverger's_law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duverger's_law If you want to build a viable third party, start with local elections, build your farm team. It takes decades to be viable. Then at some point, one of the dominate coalitions will pivot and subsume the new platform. It's happened many times in the USA.
- betterunix 13y ago
  My point was not that we should be overthrowing the major parties. My point was that we should be punishing the major parties when they do not do what we want them to do. The Democrats are supposedly a center-left party, supposedly the choice for liberals in this country. In reality the Democrats are a right wing party, with some centrist leanings on very specific issues. That means we do not really have a choice. The only solution is to vote third party until the Democrats get their act together, especially in the swing states -- we need to hit them where it hurts until they get their act together.
  - specialist 13y ago
    You might not have seen my late comment upthread... Sure. Punish them. Get it out of your system. You do have a choice. You can organize. You can be the change that you want to see. As a political acquaintance of mine likes to say: Whenever I feel the heat, I see the light! If you don't know how to get started, I recommend Camp Wellstone's organizer training and joining your local political party (whatever flavor you like) and become a precinct committee officer.

chinpokomon 13y ago

I do that when I fear the Democrats might win too. Honestly, I wish more people would realize there are other options. We'd be much better if we had a greater range of choices. Unfortunately the two parties at the top have made it very hard for third party candidates.

specialist 13y ago

With winner takes all politics, there is no third party. Duverger's Law: to get 51% of the vote, everyone tries to form the smallest winning coalition. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duverger's_law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duverger's_law If you want to build a viable third party, start with local elections, build your farm team. It takes decades to be viable. Then at some point, one of the dominate coalitions will pivot and subsume the new platform. It's happened many times in the USA.

betterunix 13y ago
My point was not that we should be overthrowing the major parties. My point was that we should be punishing the major parties when they do not do what we want them to do. The Democrats are supposedly a center-left party, supposedly the choice for liberals in this country. In reality the Democrats are a right wing party, with some centrist leanings on very specific issues. That means we do not really have a choice. The only solution is to vote third party until the Democrats get their act together, especially in the swing states -- we need to hit them where it hurts until they get their act together.
- specialist 13y ago
  You might not have seen my late comment upthread... Sure. Punish them. Get it out of your system. You do have a choice. You can organize. You can be the change that you want to see. As a political acquaintance of mine likes to say: Whenever I feel the heat, I see the light! If you don't know how to get started, I recommend Camp Wellstone's organizer training and joining your local political party (whatever flavor you like) and become a precinct committee officer.