Posted on 01/02/2015 9:14:05 AM PST by Sean_Anthony
We see, on a daily basis, that the current Democrats and the current Republicans are by-and-large nothing more than opposite faces of the same coin
No, my friends, the term “second political party” is not a typo. It is not an error. It is not a misstatement. The cooperation afforded to that tall, slim fellow who lives in the White House by those who call themselves Republicans can hardly be viewed as the behavior of what one would normally be referred to as the “opposition party.”
There are a lot of ordinary citizens who object strongly to the idea of a third political party, but these very same people are also complaining that there is little-to-no difference between today’s Democrats and Republicans. Perhaps it’s time for these very same conservative voters to recognize (and admit publicly) that our nation is being controlled by what is in fact a single party of elitists who simply exchange their roles every few years to continue their joint efforts to maintain the illusion that we, the common voter, control our own destinies.
Does this situation really illustrate a “workable” political system? Really?
(Excerpt) Read more at canadafreepress.com ...
A third party would take forever to build up and have any real influence and impact in this country. It could happen over the long run but most people are thinking this is the answer to our short-run desire to get rid of the RINO GOP. It won't happen. Or, I should say, if it does happen, it would not have an impact on the elections except to split the votes on the right even further. Think the Ross Perot factor.
I think the best way to change the current system is to spend our energy and resources into pecking away at the existing GOP internal structure and getting rid of the RINOs incrementally and try and get Tea Party folks elected. I think this will be a more effective way of changing things---from the inside instead of from the outside. The big money in politics is with the establishment GOP. Starting a third party and trying to beat the GOP from this position of weakness, would be like beating your head against a wall.
Enthusiasm for a new party is great. But I think a third party can be developed by incrementally changing the establishment GOP from the inside and putting enough new guys in there to start shifting the power to these new party politicians.
I don’t think that any of those conservative parties are on the ballot in every state. I agree about the Stockholm Syndrome.
Hey everyone, I have a great idea!
Instead of trying to build an alternative, let’s just keep voting for the Republicans, even though we know they’ll stab us in the back and work with the Democrats!
The GOP was once a third party. But, at its inception, it had the support of Horace Greeley (owner of the equivalent of the New York Times of its day), had already popular politicians eager to join, and was very successful in a few states before it became national. Very unlike the situation today.
Ever hear of libertarians?!
Great idea! Why hasn't anybody ever thought about or tried that before??
Oh wait, the GOP-E has procedures in place specifically to make sure that never happens. Guess we'll need to come up with something else.
The time to reform the gOP came and went in 2012—Time to scrap the RINO Party and form the Liberty Party! That or drop the GOP and Join an existing 3rd Party—Reform anyone> Constutional?
Yeah, they’ve been real successful, haven’t they?
I was just voicing my opinion. I never claimed it was the first time someone had thought of it. But according to you, the GOP has "procedures" in place to ensure that changing them from the inside never happens. So I guess we should just give up and quit trying. But at least you're off the hook for coming up with your own solution for forming a third party, since the GOP would make it so hard to do. Lucky you.
Well, don’t get me wrong. I think there will eventually be a third party, either by changing the GOP incrementally like I suggest or by outright forming a new party and going throughout the long wait before the party would become mainstream enough to have an real impact. But the two main parties today are so entrenched that it will not be an easy or quick task.
How do we hold politicians to account? Let’s look at Healthcare Reform which a clear majority of Americans have opposed since its inception. Why is this the law of the land then? I think it is because we are a house divided which renders us incapable of offering an adequate opposition to the small vocal minority which are currently running rings around us and subverting our government.
There are no shortcuts, we are just going to have to find common ground with our neighbors (healthcare reform and border security come to mind) and that will entail getting out and doing things like building precinct organizations. The GOP has relied on big donors and wave elections far too much, and that kicks the ball into the court of the people who do not share our values and priorities. There are no shortcuts, we have to reverse our tendency to chase squirrels and huddle together in progressively smaller groups and instead we will need to learn to prioritize issues where there is a clear consensus.
THAT’S how “this fairytale will hold politicians to account”, by learning to stick together so we can follow through instead of just emoting.
Commiserating with neighbors will do nothing to alter the GOP and it is wishful thinking to believe it will.
Rather than waste time, effort, money, and emotion on attempting to change the GOP spend that time, effort, money, and emotion on people who are conservative.
I already came up with solutions. Most FReepers were too big of sissies to want to try them out, however.
We live in a country where the clear will of the people is being ignored because people are far more interested in saying how different and special they are from their neighbors rather than “all pulling together” on areas where they agree.
Think for a minute of what the country would be like if we could get rid of the Healthcare reform bill and instead tackle the problem in a commonsense manner (which doesn’t involve bills that nobody is allowed to read before passage). What difference would it make to this country if we could secure our borders instead of footing the bill for runaway security and entitlement costs (to say nothing of loss of liberty). If we could just all learn to stick together (and on topic) on the big things we agree on we wouldn’t live in a perfect world, but it would be a darn sight better than what we are dealing with now!
The party is reliant on big donors now because the best way to reach voters since the demise of the precinct organization is through media, but that has taken on a life of its own and there is a clear consensus of voters who are sick of it. What we need to do is to get beyond the learned helplessness and a good first step is to build an alternative way to encourage people to get to the polls and vote for candidates and to screen those candidates. The politicians are not going to take you seriously if all they have to do is point at some manufactured story to make you forget all about the big things you have enough support to kick them out of office over.
Pity party.
The day PPACA passed I posted signs around town, for days I stood at major intersections waving signs and passing out leaflets. I placed leaflets under windshield wipers and in neighbors’ doors. I went to Tea Party rallies. etc etc etc
It didn’t produce results.
A small anecdote but it illustrates what I and countless others have for a century experienced, and that is wasting effort on Republicans.
Prior to the demise of precinct organization did the GOP effectively oppose progressivism? Do we suffer an income tax? A “new deal”? A “great society”?
The GOP has a long record of failure.
Peel away the rhetoric and you will see that Republicans and Democrats differ little on agenda and only on means. Which is why working for Republicans or donating money is a waste.
Rhetoric is fine - deeds matter. In fact, deeds are all that matters. When it comes to opposing progressivism Republicans don’t get it done, and they haven’t for a very long time.
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