Is it time for a third party?

A second Conservative party? shudder

And who are the ones that should join this party?
The rightwing radicals? Well, if that were the case, then those “disgruntled dems” would have to rightwing radicals as well, or it just would not be compatible.
Anyway, he could call it the Pokémon party.

Oh yes! Please! Let them set up a right wing party.

But there’s no chance. They aren’t that self destructive.

Why the fuck do we even have parties still?

George Fucking Washington told us not to have them!

What we really need is a John Lindsay/Nelson Rockefeller/Hubert Humphrey party. We could then have a healthy but rational discussion with the Democrats on how to solve our problems.

Herman Cain, Akin and Mourdock and Bachmann and the flat-earth people from Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas can go off in the corner with Karl Rove and his FOX news tantrums and sit in the corner while the grownups get something done.

The Republicans need to reform themselves or implode by 2020.

I agree that your America should have listened to George Washington.

@zenvelo The republican equivalents throughout American history almost always had to implode in order to reform themselves.

No, the election’s over see.

@ucme evidently, you have not being paying attention to them. They are already discussing the 2016 election which, if I am not mistaken, is only FOUR MORE YEARS from now.

@livelaughlove21 No, not ANOTHER conservative party, an ACTUAL conservative party. Evidently there is not one at this time. At least not one that expresses the views of “real” conservatives.

More election discussions? Those long winter nights must just fly by.

i never even got an invite to the 1st party

I’m just going to pop in here and say that as much as we’d like it to happen, it’s not going to. Our voting system is directly set up to create two parties whether it was meant to be that way from the start or not.

@DeanV Good point, in fact Cain said basically the same thing. He said that you would have to have 50 coalitions, one for each state, all having the same goal. I think that he was saying that the ONLY way it would work would be for a split in one of the two major parties. Only then would you have a large enough base to begin with.

@rojo Even then, however, it would become a survival of the fittest fight between the new party and the party it split from rather than a 3 way split. Single member plurality systems push 2 parties to the forefront by nature.

Think of the Whigs, for example. They successfully got into the political picture for a few years, and had some good ideas, but those ideas were quickly assimilated into the other parties, and the Whigs disintegrated. I can’t see this turning out any differently, as much as I would like it to.

We have more parties, they just get treated like shit because often the candidates don’t have SIX BILLION DOLLARS TO SPEND ON THEIR CAMPAIGN!!! Seriously I heard that’s how much was spent between Obama and Romney….ISN’T THAT CLOSE TO OUR TOTAL NATIONAL DEBT? RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!!

@deni It’s not even close to our national debt, if it makes you feel any better.

I think it’s time for instant run-off voting in the US.
Would help disperse the stragetic pressures of plurality voting, the linear tug-of-war for ideals and ballots; would help prevent the compromises necessary to cast a single vote.

@deni your national debt is much greater.

Ah good. Or….not good. I try to avoid politics as I find them upsetting, thought last I heard a long time ago it was 7 billion. OR IS IT TRILLION? Oh god

The last real viable third party this country saw was the “progressive” Bull Moose Party fronted by Teddy Roosevelt in 1912. Then the nation’s newspapers, most of which were independent politically, began to be bought up into a few conglomerates which aligned with either Democrats or Republicans and third parties have been impotent ever since. I really don’t think things will change any time soon, but I sincerely wish they would. This is a very unhealthy situation for a country that considers itself a democracy.

@deni Not entirely sure, but I think it’s around $16 trillion

Let’s encourage them to form their own party. Their moto can be this: The party with all the money and none of the votes.

@DancingMind Instant Run Off is a terrible idea once you live through it. Oakland CA has been paying the price of its inept misguided pandering mayor for the past two years after she ran an Instant run off campaign asking people to vote for her second. And San Francisco regrets it too.

Speaking in general, there should be at least half a dozen to pick from, all with equal exposure.

Any new upstart would soon be absorbed by one of the two super parties and the situation would shake down to something similar to what is here now.

Just what the hell is a true conservative party anyway?

@woodcutter A year ago there were 7 or so different definitions of conservative all running to be Republican nominee for President.

Whether it is time or not is moot so long as the political system remains designed as it is. The two parties have, over the years, done a fine job of ensuring their own continued existence. They have put systemic barriers in place to any third party gaining a credible national following and wielding influence over national elections. The Senate just gained one independent, but lost another. Perhaps over time if states begin to send more and more independents into key offices such as the US Senate and their Governor’s office, these independents could begin to work to level the playing field.

Absolutely. Anything that further splits up the conservative wackos is good for America. Definitely, let Cain create a new party if he is able.

The more fragmented the right is, the more progressive the rest of us can be.

@zenvelo, good observation.

And where are they today?

@elbanditoroso The more fragmented the right is, the more progressive the rest of us can be.

Until they realize they will win by joining together again. And we will be back to two parties. As we always will be. Structurally, it is the best way to maximize your chances to run the government.

The Republicans need to move a scooch to the center, and if they can muscle the Dems away, they’ll be in the White House. They got 49% of the vote. They only need a little more to turn their frowns upside down. But that’s four years from now. Right now, they miscalculated and couldn’t even take the white house in a bad economy. Pathetic.

@wundayatta , I agree – if they realize that. At this point, some of them are still so convinced of the rightness of the current approach, the can’t look reality in the face.