[discostu]

Completely different system in the UK. The British parliament is designed to have many parties and lots of alliances between them forming blocks, it’s a system where a party with a few members can mean something. Our system is designed for 2 parties, there’s the majority, the minority, and anybody else that shows up can bugger off. We’ve had plenty of folks go independent here, and most of them never won another election.

[jjsheridan5]

Yes, I know the system is different. But what isn't different is this: the prediction was that UKIP would pull only a handful of support out of the conservatives, to the benefit of the liberals, and would never gain enough traction among the voters to have any effect. That prediction was 100% wrong. It failed to take into account the level of disconnect between both parties, and their voters, and woefully underestimated the potential number of votes out there that were attainable. And it is that prediction which is also untrue, when applied to the US.

A successful build of a 3rd party would take a number of election cycles, during which conservatism would have the same impact it has now (zero), due to the nature of the American system. But at the end of it, there is a realistic potential of emerging as either the majority or the minority party. At the end of our current approach, however, there is the absolute certainty that our country will be much further to the left than it is now, and conservatism will be as relevant here as it is in N. Korea.