The Current Political Climate in America Is Uniquely Favourable to Third Parties

The Current Political Climate in America Is Uniquely Favourable to Third Parties

By Eric Braaten

It's no secret that both the Republican and Democratic Parties are suffering from self-inflicted injuries leading to a potentially lethal hemorrhaging of voter confidence, while Independent, No Party Preference and third parties are seeing gains that are beyond anything in recent history. This is hardly a surprise, as both the major parties have thoroughly and completely sold out their respective bases in a succession of corporate buy-offs that were steadily advanced for decades through administrations of both the major parties. All of this has culminated in the regrettable situation of the present; Trump, a quintessential capitalist and definitive man-brand, leads a pack of former lobbyists and executive pillagers on a raid of the few remaining functional public systems and institutions. This is not unprecedented, there already exists a term for this type of corporate coup d'�tat, this utter co-opting by private interests and sectors of an entire society: fascism.

Many among the Democratic Party's base are waiting on the rapidly approaching Unity Reform Commission's recommendations to see if the Party is still capable of effecting necessary changes. Others are still others are waiting on Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), intent on following his lead. Many, however, have already formally exited the Democratic Party, seeing that the die had already been cast when DNC Chairman Tom Perez instituted a purge of the progressives that held leadership roles, rules committee spots and at-large status within the organization he is purportedly trying to unify. This move effectively ensures the capacity to squelch implementation of the required reforms, or even worse, to keep the reform recommendations bogged-down under endless review and study, delaying action in order to ensure loyal, long-suffering democrat donkeys keep plodding along after the same manky, withered old turnip they dangle on a string and distracted all the way through the 2018 primary process, impacting third-party ballot accessibility by delaying the inevitable en-masse abandonment of the unresponsive Democratic Party. Progressives still within the Democratic Party are being stymied and marginalized, I implore you; be not satisfied with half-measures towards incremental change, nay, instead know that these exceptional circumstances and impending catastrophes will necessitate the rise of a true alternative, one unpurchased by oligarchs, free to implement the types of innovative measures required to avert the ever-encroaching insidious corporate control and fascistic creep, an inevitable outcome of wanton capitalism.

While the Democratic Party finds itself in an existential crisis of self-obsolescence, crushed under the weight of their own hypocrisy, the Republicans are scarcely in better shape. While some among the GOP's base fervently maintain that Trump is conducting a stealthy take-down of the Deep State one might suggest that he could stand to be doing a better job of sabotaging the numerous detrimental actions undertaken by the White House in this first year of the Trump administration. Lives are being destroyed and lost, families are being torn apart and futures have been forever stifled. This damage cannot be undone. There are others among the MAGA faithful who insist that Trump is actually a devastatingly brilliant political double-agent in process of demolishing the GOP to clear the way for him to launch a third party of his own. Some of those of the progressive element within the Republicans even hope to co-opt the party and re-purpose it towards more equitable ends. While all this may seem like desperate self-deception to some observers it is indicative of the disarray among the Republicans and the ever-present discontent among the GOP's base.

This situation might not hold out in its present configuration until the 2020 elections, but the unpopularity of the Republican leadership and their legislative ventures leave the Republicans uniquely vulnerable to third-party disruption, as districts long-ago gerrymandered to ensure the exclusion of traditionally Democratic demographics aren't necessarily able to achieve the same type of polarized voting patterns with third-party campaigns that are more grounded in substantive populist policy. Appeals can be made to the disaffected, disenfranchised Republican base on many issues of near-universal consensus be they net neutrality, campaign finance reform and the removal of PAC and lobbying money from the political process, jobs programs, privacy rights, opposing constitutional infringements, trade agreements designed to benefit employees by confirming workers' rights for all participating parties which in turn helps spur domestic growth, a financial exchange tax to promote fiscal responsibility and prevent arbitrary or punitive withdrawals of capital, equitable taxation that eases the undue burden placed upon the impoverished and instead takes from the wealthiest their due share and re-investing those gains into needed infrastructure projects such as clean energy to reduce dependence on energy imports which in turn strengthens national sovereignty and improves the health of the people, these are all appeals that seem to find some measure of resonance with many of those the Republican Party has turned its back on. A disaffected republican who is hesitant to support the GOP after its repeated lies and betrayals would in all likelihood find the Democrats equally repellent, increasing the chance they might turn towards other parties that present a positive message.

With both major parties floundering and an almost unprecedented need for systemic changes, the spotlight falls on the plethora of fragmented progressive groups as they build a coalition and form the Movement for a People's Party. A number of progressives align themselves so closely with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) that they seem disinclined to formally part ways with the Democratic Party until he does. Certainly there is an argument that can be made that an early departure only serves to undermine the diligent efforts of the Sanders-affiliated members of the Unity Reform Commission, but while one can laud the attempts of Sanders and his appointees to affect positive reforms, one is not obliged to march in lock-step with their efforts. Perhaps progressives might be able to, rather than wait for the DNC establishment to cross a 'red line' as they inevitably will, instead begin building the platform and the political vehicle based around the wildly popular policies championed by Senator Sanders so that he might contest the dominance of the duopoly and seize upon the tremendous opportunity that third-party candidates have in this otherwise divisive, dispirited political environment.

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