Posted on 11/09/2009 7:01:39 AM PST by Wolf13
Doug Hoffman’s narrow defeat in New York’s 23rd Congressional District special election was one of few blemishes in a nearly flawless Election Day for Republicans. But Hoffman’s strong showing — coupled with the successful uprising against Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava’s candidacy — will embolden some conservatives to consider abandoning the GOP and initiating a broader third-party movement.
As a staunch conservative Republican whose political action committee invested much in Hoffman’s campaign, I believe nothing would hurt the conservative movement, or the GOP, more. National Democrats would love nothing more than for conservatives to start looking for third-party candidates all across the country, because third-party candidates almost always lose.
Third-party talk has become a perennial post-election pastime among some conservatives. Republicans faced a similar scenario during the 2008 campaign, when many values conservatives were dissatisfied with the field of Republican candidates and threatened to leave the party and vote for a third-party candidate. Today, Hoffman’s success and the deep sense of political alienation felt by many Americans might make it seem like the right time for another third-party revolt.
At the national level, while third-party candidacies can be an important way to draw attention to issues that the two major parties are ignoring, they always fail. In 1992, Reform Party presidential candidate Ross Perot focused his campaign on the out-of-control federal deficit. And within a few years, the budget was balanced. But no third-party presidential candidate has won a plurality or a majority of the popular vote in a single state since 1968.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
....no third party candidates....not now, not ever....they lose.
This guy needs to listen to Rush. Hoffman wasn’t a third party candidate. There was no primary.
I wrote EXACTLY the same thing last Thursday in a post entitled The Folly and Futility of Third Parties and caught a lot of flak and ridicule for saying pretty much the same thing.
No third party presidential candidate has won a single state since George Wallace won five of them in 1968.
GO 3RD PARTY SARAH, WE’RE WITH YOU ...
..the Tea Party demonstrations and last Tuesday tell me that retaking the Republican Party is doable—I didn’t think so last November...
>> ....no third party candidates....not now, not ever....they lose.
If the party chooses conservative candidates, it won’t be necessary.
If they don’t choose conservative candidates, it will be necessary.
Principle above party. It’s as simple as that.
If Republicans ‘deal’ or ‘compromise’ and allow Obamacare or Cap&Tax to pass in any form, then we’ll be at the ‘last resort’ stage....
So, you’re saying NY voters should have voted for Scuzzifalfa regardless of her political views?
Third-party talk has become a perennial post-election pastime among some conservatives.
Pre-election also.
“So, you’re saying NY voters should have voted for Scuzzifalfa regardless of her political views?”
...no, I feel the GOP must be reformed from within to get back to it’s roots....the old school GOP that I used to know would never have permitted candidates like Scuzzifalfa or similar RINOs....and BTW the GOP should sue her for the $800k they gave her for her campaign.
Thank RINO party hacks, Dede and Newt. Stinking Newt. Pelosi’s friend Newt.
We have to come to the reality that the R’s are just as guilty as the D’s in putting our country on the brink of collapse and get over party loyalty. We have an unpayable debt in front of us and all I hear is the typical rearranging of the chairs on the Titanic from the R’s; “Give us back power and we’ll sink the good ship America slower than the democrats.” Is that really the solution...really?
We’d better get used to thinking outside the box for that is where the solution lays. The political elite, wheter R or D want us thinking INSIDE the box. Not me, I’m considering a whole range of ideas and only shooting down the ones that do not really fix the mess we’re in.
They provide veto power over rinos. Better a democrat than a RINO. Eventually the GOP will get the message.
I think it’s the Baraqqis strategy for 2012.
They can deliver 40% of the vote no matter what.
Watch Soros fund RINOs to attempt to split the right and win with a Clintonian plurality.
“So, you’re saying NY voters should have voted for Scuzzifalfa regardless of her political views?”
NY23 was such a whackadoodle anomaly that the regular rules do not apply. Hoffman was a Republican that went Conservative because Dede was a disastarous lib. there was no primary at all Ded dropped out and endorsed the Dem some people already voted for Dede with absentee ballots etc.
in this case i would have voted for Hoffman in a heartbeat but in most cases third parties do nothing but play spoilers.
That being said...we do not need third parties, we need to clean house in the GOP and get rid of all of the people who are pushing it to the left of center. Just as was done in this race, we need to stand up and make our voices heard.
It is also interesting to note that the Dem who did win, broke 4 campaign promises within one hour of taking office. The Dems may have won this battle, but if they continue to show their arrogance and deceive people like this, it is going to come back and bite them in the butt.
I am sorry to say that if Sara did do run as a third party she would lose badly.
>> “Give us back power and we’ll sink the good ship America slower than the democrats.”
That’s a darn good way of putting it. And, no, it’s not the solution.
“It’s as simple as that.”
in most cases there is a primary. In most cases whoever gets through the bloody primary will get my vote - its as simple as that. I vote for the most conservative person in the primary. if he gets through awesome if someone else gets through i support them in most cases. why? because more often than not the R is going to be closer to my philosophy than any D. are there exceptions? of course. like that schmuck Lincoln Chafee (liberal former R) and good old Dede Scumfazza or whatever her name is. If it was between one of them and Zell Miller (D conservative from GA) than i would vote for Zell. In most cases though i go with the R that got through the primary perfect or not.
We only need to close our primaries in order to have more conservative nominees. That should be the goal of conservative activists. It’s long passed time we stopped allowing independents and crossover democrats to nominate a “lite” version of the dem.
The New York race shows that the GOP leadership would rather lose elections than let conservatives win. It also showed that the Demopublicans will close ranks for the same objective.
But if they continue to ballot RINOs and Democrat style candidates, then how does voting party line 'reform' them? I will vote 'conscience'; not party. And if that means for a viable third-party candidate, so be it.
Scozzawhatever is no RINO. We are the RINOs. Conservatives have never controlled the GOP, and never will. The real Republicans will never let us. I’ve been in those trenches fighting that battle, and I know how much the real Republicans hate us.
Third parties are a tool. A club to get the GOP’s attention. Can’t clean up the mess without tools.
I understand the dynamics of NY23. But does voting for the GOP candidate just because they’re on the ticket solve anything? That’s how we’ve arrived at this disastrous point. The GOP has become a carbon copy of the DNC. And we’d allowed that to happen by being their ‘sheeple’. We can cry and moan about the GOP all we want, but it’s our fault (our passivity) it’s happened. Now, when we say we’ve had enough, we rail against third-party activism? No, I don’t think I will. If I see a viable third-party candidate with fine, conservative credentials, that person will get my vote, unless the GOP has someone of equal credentials on their ticket. Period.
But we have the power to frustrate them. We can keep them out of power.
I can see you’re pushing for an Obama second term.
“But we have the power to frustrate them. We can keep them out of power.”
No problem. They will do that to themselves. The GOP has proven time and again that it would rather lose elections than let conservatives in.
There are also about twice as many self-identified Independents as there are self-identified Republicans.
Gary Bauer and those like him are living in the past, trapped in a tired old paradigm of their own making.
The one party system hasn’t worked.
Probably more fun to be in the out of power party. No pressure, but all the perks. We’ve got to take their perks away.
I can see you figured out the game yet.
GO 3RD PARTY SARAH, WE’RE WITH YOU ..,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, HELL NO!!!! Only if they agree to a run off!
“We’ve got to take their perks away.”
Do you happen to have a plan for that?
New tagline.
****************
Exactly right.
Never vote for an incumbent. Spread the word.
“viable third-party candidate “
well that is the catch isnt it. “viable”. third parties are not really viable at all. Just ask Perot, Nader, Teddy Roosevelt’s Bull Moose party, more recently Daggett in NJ. Hoffman probably was viable and in that particular case i would have supported his efforts but for the most part sorry all a third party is going to do is hand the Demacommies more wins. heck they pushed for Daggett in NJ in an effort to have Corslime win. you want to talk sheeple how about splitting said sheeple so that democommies keep winning. that is probably the only strategy the Dems will have in 2010 and beyond
“Never vote for an incumbent. Spread the word.”
Even if the challenger is a liberal Democrat?
That’s when a third party comes in handy. And you can always write someone in.
No, they should be first choice for half of the Democrats.
You may want to go back somewhat further and analyze how the GOP came to be. Perhaps, in the short term, voting 3rd party will help elect Democrats, but that could well change rather shortly should the GOP get a clue.
However, the best remedy, IMO, is to withhold all funding from the GOP (at least that which we have control of...). Get active in local GOP politics, go to meetings, let our voices be heard. Let the party know that we are not on board. Not until they begin promoting viable conservative issues and candidates.
Take Illinois for instance. Andrew McKenna is the former GOP state chairman. He's now running for governor on the GOP ticket. He's RINO all the way and I'll not vote for the man. I've already passed that on to my state reps (who I'm acquainted with). I'm also actively getting that message out to all I know.
The GOP here is 'business-as-usual', and that's not good enough. Consequently, I'm not on board.
We reached the point of "last resort" long ago.
The answer to this is quite simple Mr. Bauer; the GOP stops nominating RINOs and stops doing it in secret backroom deals. Conservatives are fed up with a party many see as no longer representing them. If the GOP goes back to the way it was during the days of Renaldus Magnus, then it has a chance of surviving.
Circle the wagons boys! More and more of us are getting wise to the game being played by the democrats and republicans.
We have an illegitimate political system , a one-party system masquerading as a two-party system. Third parties have no chance. The only way to get our freedom back under this illegitimate system is to get rid of the GOP and put in place a conservative party that will fight for freedom and the Constitution. Conservatives and libertarians: refuse to participate in the charade. Stop participating in these fraudulent election exercises. Stop contributing money to the GOP.
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