Posted on 04/14/2012 7:08:22 PM PDT by Engraved-on-His-hands
Sorry for the vanity, but, due to the unpleasant situation in which Mitt Romney is the favorite for the Republican Party nomination for President, I thought that exploring other options might be an appropriate topic. While Newt Gingrich is still in the running for the Republican nod, his chances do not appear to be good. Although not giving up entirely on him at this point, I thought that exploring third party options might be helpful as a fallback plan. (Caveat: I am not an expert on the parties discussed.)
There are at least 53 political parties in the United States. Apart from the Democrat and Republican parties, there are three others with occasional minor national significance: the Constitution Party, the Libertarian Party, and the Green Party. Of the remaining 48 parties, there are five that are national parties that have a conservative foundation. For the purpose of this post, I will not look at the libertarian parties, nor will I consider those that are moderate or more left-wing in their views.
Apart from the Constitution Party, the five national conservative parties are the following:
America First Party
America's Party
American Party
Christian Liberty Party
Independent American Party
Of these five, the America First Party, the Christian Liberty Party, and the American Party appear to be either inactive or so miniscule in activity and efforts that they might be considered inactive for all practical purposes. The Independent American Party and America’s Party appear to be the most active. However, I could not find any source indicating that the Independent American Party intends to have a nominee for President in 2012.
This leaves the Constitution Party and America’s Party as the conservative third party options.
The Constitution Party holds its nominating convention this coming Wednesday through Saturday in Nashville. The favorite for the nomination at this point appears to be Virgil Goode, former congressman from Virginia, although there is a good bit of controversy and dissension regarding his nomination.
America’s Party has chosen Tom Hoefling as its nominee. Tom posts on FreeRepublic as Eternal Vigilance. (Note: I have been a long-time fan of Tom’s posts.)
We should have a better grasp of the Constitution Party after their convention in a few days. If they nominate a suitable conservative who can unite their party, their stock should rise. If they fail, whether this provides an opening for an improved status for America’s Party this year remains to be seen.
I am not suggesting that either the Constitution Party or America’s Party will nominate the next President of the United States. However, as an ardent social conservative, I believe that neither the Republicans or Democrats have left social conservatives with a real option this year (assuming that Romney is the Republican nominee instead of Newt). Consider voting for a third party a protest vote if you will. Criticize it if you will. Each of us must do what we think is right and best. I'm not trying to create controversy with this post. I'm just trying to present information to those who might be interested.
Here are the websites for the two primary third party options discussed:
www.constitutionparty.com
www.selfgovernment.us
Thanks.
/johnny
Ross Perot brought us eight years of Clinton.
______________________________________________________________
One of the worst mistakes I ever made was voting for Ross Perot. It not only brought us eight years of Clinton, we’re stuck with the Clintons for life. They will not go away. Wouldn’t surprise me if Obozo dumped Biden and Hillary ran as his VP.
Thanks, null and void. My bad.
When they get pushed into running a conservative, they win. When they run a RINO they lose.
/johnny
An amazing five years...
Geo. W. Bush calling the border Minutemen “vigilantes;” the nomination of psycho McCain in ‘08; the backstabbing of Palin and the unwillingness of the GOP to defend her when Dems made efforts to bankrupt her family, slime her kids, and not to mention when the media accused her of complicity in mass-murder in Tucson; the current GOP Congressional leaders caving to Obama on virtually every issue both fiscal/social after getting the Bush tax cuts following the mid-terms; the apparent upcoming nomination of a Massachusetts liberal to be GOP nominee.
Yeah, a lifelong Republican here, who, thanks to all the above, for the first time in his life, is more than ready to bolt at the drop of a hat.
The ONLY way Gingrich would ever win is if Romney and Obama drop out!
Gingrich cannot even win primaries. What makes anyone think he would win a general election?
Rick Perry did not endorse Romney.
The “Thank You” card from Obama to you is in the mail...
Basically, the Tea Party needs to GET organized and raise a bunch of money. They need to be able to match the next Romney dollar-for-dollar in the next presidential primary. Problem though, who decides which candidate the organization backs? A vote of the membership that you're going to stick to even if it turns out to be Ron Paul?
I would wonder if it's even possible to get on the presidential ballot nationwide for a new party at this time. I think the Americans Elect party Schoen is running has been working for months to get on all the ballots. Bottom line, if an organization could be made that quickly, it would've been made in this primary to defeat Mitt months ago.
This leaves the Constitution Party and America’s Party as the conservative third party options.
Yep.
Where do I address my FU card to Mitt Romney?
Instead of talking 3rd party or sitting out though, we should be rallying the troops so that we can keep from being put in that gosh-awful lose-lose situation.
Everybody still has something they can do to keep Romney from being the republican candidate: throw all your support behind Gingrich. We’re all sick of the GOP-e crapping on us. Well, let’s do something about it. Sue them to oblivion whenever they break the law. Let them know we’re still alive and kicking. If we want to protest the GOP-e we need to do it NOW, not when our protest will only end up supporting Obama.
We’re all acting as if it’s a choice between sitting out the election or voting for Romney. It doesn’t HAVE to be either. We still have a horse in this race. We just need to get on it and GO!
Let’s just not even entertain the idea that we’ll be stuck with a totally unacceptable choice. Let’s set our wills to say we HAVE to keep it from ever coming to that. NOW is the time to fight.
He'd kill 'em both in the debates. The only thing Romney had that Gingrich didn't is money.
8 years of Clinton worked out better than it would have been with the GOP alternatives.
Perot in his first run was doing okay, until he saw illegal aliens on his front lawn.
Not the south-of-the-border kind of illegal aliens; the Alpha Centauri kind of illegal aliens.
I cannot and will not vote for Romney and yep I vote in Pennsylvania. I cannot vote for such a liberal. Against my religion to vote for someone who advocated abortion for a very long time.
/johnny
“While Newt Gingrich is still in the running for the Republican nod, his chances do not appear to be good.”
You think! I mean technically Herman Cain is still in the race.
“third party is not a viable option at this point. waste of time”
Third parties need to start somewhere, now is as good a time as any.
My bad. I meant to say Gingrich. The people who have endorsed Gingrich need to be vocal about it right now. They are people we respect, the only ones left whose endorsement wasn’t up for sale to the highest bidder (Romney).
We need to stand together. We HAVE to.
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