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The Third Party Temptation
June 3, 2010
There was nothing particularly odd about this post from the Philadelphia Libertarian Examiner. Nothing, that is, until the last line. Every day a new column, blog, or news story comes out telling us that the GOP is in a fight for its life against the Tea Party, which threatens to destroy it from within. It’s always “Tea Party vs. the Establishment” or “GOP Shakeup Imminent,” or some such thing, and this is exciting stuff. But what caught my eye about this Examiner piece was the subtle injection of that little phrase everybody is thinking about, but only a few people are saying.
As primary season continues, candidates come out of the woodwork, congressmen are sent packing by “anti-incumbent fever,” scandals torpedo credibility, and change is on the rise (again), we are revisited by the specter of an old idea long since thought to have passed on, but that lives once again. You have heard whispers of it on the right and the left, shouts of it at tea parties, mention of it at your dinner table. It’s the phrase that we bury every few decades, but that rises from the dead every time we finally drop the shovel and dust off our hands. You know the two little words I’m talking about.
Third party.
Ned Ryun, the president of American Majority, wrote a piece about the third party temptation a few months ago, and I couldn’t have said it better myself. However, now that primary season has begun, Rand Paul has become the Tea Party’s prom queen, and moderate incumbents are dropping like flies, it appears that some hard line anti-establishment types need a reminder of why the Tea Party movement would help itself by remaining exactly that: a movement, rather than a party. I point you first to Ned’s blog on the subject. Also see Laurie Masterson’s piece from yesterday at AmericanMajority.org: “Vote Them All Out?”
Third, consider the historical example of the 1848 presidential election, in which Martin Van Buren, the presidential candidate from the Free Soil Party, took ten percent of the vote on a purely anti-slavery platform, and probably sealed the defeat of anti-slavery New Hampshire Democrat Lewis Cass at the hands of the pro-slavery Virginia Whig Zachary Taylor. In more recent memory, recall the effect of Ross Perot on the 1992 presidential election.
The bottom line is this: now is the time for candidates from the grassroots to throw their hats into the ring. Primary season is meant for all ideologies and candidates to be presented to the people for their approval. To the candidates and activists out there, I encourage you to promote your platform, run your campaign to win, and stand up to the old vanguard. To the voters, I cannot stress how important it is to make your voice heard in the primaries. As Ned Ryun writes, “Those who win primaries and attend party conventions decide what a party is.”
Now, a word of caution. Once primaries finish and we head for the general elections, the third party temptation will take hold. Mark my words. Anywhere it tries to act as a third way, the Tea Party will split the vote formerly monopolized by the GOP, handing victory to liberal democrats every time. Candidates like Steve Levy, the recently defeated candidate for the New York Republican gubernatorial nomination, who are “contemplating” third party forays have far more at stake than their own victory. If Levy and his kin run in a general election against a Republican and a Democrat, there is no reason to expect any outcome other than a democratic win.
The case of Rand Paul is an excellent example of how the primary system should work. A true conservative-ah, what the heck, a libertarian- was nominated to represent the party that traditionally represents conservatives. Kentucky conservatives did what Ned Ryun calls making a party “a creature of their own creation.” Martin Avila at UnitedLiberty.org cautions anti-establishment Tea Partiers in a similar fashion not to turn their backs on the GOP, which so many have forgotten is not set in stone, but in fact malleable. His advice is important for independent-minded conservatives to remember.
Now, don’t go calling me an old-school party-clinging hack just yet. (Come on, I’m a college student.) At my @EricJ_AMajority twitter page, I recently tweeted an interesting column in the Washington Post in which we are told that the GOP should fear the loss of party discipline if Tea Party candidates are elected. As for me, I am willing to sacrifice party discipline for the assurance that my representative will vote according to my best interest. You have all seen the bumper sticker (and many of you probably have it): “Gun control is being able to hit your target.” Now, I propose another redefinition: “Party discipline is being able to vote out your defunct representative in a primary.” Try that on for size.
All of this is to say that change (the good kind) is in the air once again. Primaries are the perfect time for grassroots candidates to enter the race and make their voices heard. When these few months of primaries are over and the race for November begins, we will see what constituents truly want out of their representatives, and inevitably, we will see a few third party races. I cannot, nor will I, tell you how to vote in November, but what I will say is this: we are not in Europe, where elections are contests between ten parties. In the United States, votes for third parties do not simply materialize; they have to come from somewhere. Let us not hand over elections because we are too blinded by ideology to know what is politically prudent. Voting for the lesser of two evils may seem like politics-as-usual, but sometimes it is all we can do. If the worst should happen, the next primary is only a few years away. And that, my friends, is the beauty of the American system.
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by AM's Austin James, Eric Josephsen. Eric Josephsen said: Thinking third party? read my new blog at @AmericaMajority's website: https://tinyurl.com/26gtxy2 #tcot #teaparty #majority #conservatives […]
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Great article and thanks for the mention. Yeah, I mean it seems like one group is putting up with the other (and sometimes just barely, if you look at say, Graham’s comments about Ron Paul in the past) until Conservative victory in November. Then it will be RINOS & Neo-Cons vs. Constitutional Conservatives and Tea Partiers and libertarians. It will be very interesting.
For example, Tom Corbett is running here in PA. The guy just tried to sue Twitter, basically saying he hates the 1st amendment. This upset a LOT of Tea Partiers.
Great Blog! Important message. Keep up the great work!!
“Voting for the lesser of two evils may seem like politics-as-usual, but sometimes it is all we can do. If the worst should happen, the next primary is only a few years away. And that, my friends, is the beauty of the American system.”
The flip side of this is that voting for the lessor of two evils has demonstrably resulted in the government we have in office We have voted in this manner for years and the pragmatic compromise of a compromise of a compromise is what the 2 party system has delivered. Since we are where we are politically I cannot see how the 2 party system has ever done anything other then erode the Constitution and award the federal government ever larger powers.
We have a government based on 3 divisions as check and balance. A third party is needed for the same reason. I do agree though if the third is very small it can result in a split vote. That does not always go against the GOP. And if it be the only gun available to the independent conservative then so be it.
The 2 party system is broken beyond repair.
The most destructive political temptation of them all is the temptation to continue throwing votes away in support of the reactionary corporatist stooges who represent the Republican and Democratic parties.
I see having another political party as a reward more than a temptation. We deserve it. The temptation, for voters, is to do nothing and hope for the best as they pick up the remote on election night and watch American Idol.
Update: another example of what the relationship between the Tea Party and the establishment parties should look like. Along the lines of Avila’s blog post, the parties, particularly the GOP, would be smart to court the Tea Party rather than allow it to develop its own base. The GOP knows that an independent Tea Party would spell its demise and usher in an era of DNC-dominated politics. The link to the story from the Star-Telegram of Dallas-Ft. Worth:
I would expect nothing less from an organization who claims to be non-partisan, but is a Republican Front Group. The two party system is not working. How much longer do we have to get smacked in the face until we figure it out. Small government fiscal conservatives who do not turn their back on principals need to go the direction that allows them to get their pint across. If it splits the vote and your candidate doesn’t get in so what. Your chosen one, should be able to stand on his own and show he is someone we can respect. The Tea parties is a movement just like Move-On.ORg. The big difference is we will not compromise our belief system to have a majority and accept the status quo. We will fight and fight and fight. Furthermore, the fervent way, you discount this only confirms our belief, you are willing to take the scraps from a party that is corrupt and not true to their beliefs. Eventually, things will tip the balance and enough peple will toss all parties out the window. Until then we keep fighting to get third parties and other independents on the ballot. It is our American way!
Christian. How do you vote for the “lesser of two evils” when “good” is on the ballot.
Why should Trevor Drown drop out for the Republicans? Are they offering him extremely high access? At a minimum, the Arkansas Republicans should go to him and offer: A seat in his Washington Office as an advisor, Boozman apologizes to conservatives (especially the Tea Parties in/near his home town) for his votes and his ignoring them. He didn’t show up to one of our forums (even when he was in town). Boozman needs to pledge he will seek lower taxes through less government. In other words, FOLLOW THE CONSTITUTION. He needs to become a LEADER and start by dismantaling one of the departments through defunding (example: Dept. of Education).
Why should we turn power over to the Republicans. They just run up debt. They spend too much time working for corporations and lobbyists. They need to make the majority of their focus on WE THE PEOPLE !!!
Morals over Subjugation