[Vision2020] third party power

[Paul Rumelhart]

Without doing this, what incentive does Obama (or the next Democratic candidate for President) have to include your pet issue in his or her platform?  There is a real danger to the two-party system that is becoming clearer and clearer every year.

Sometimes when you want to make an omelet you have to crack a few eggs.

Paul




________________________________
 From: Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com>
To: Paul Rumelhart <godshatter at yahoo.com> 
Cc: Moscow Vision2020 <vision2020 at moscow.com> 
Sent: Monday, October 22, 2012 1:24 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] third party power
 

And a somewhat liberal third party candidate would attract votes that would otherwise be cast for Obama, ultimately making the election, and a tenancy at 1600 Pennsylvania, attainable for Mitt Romney.

No thanks!


Seeya at the polls, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares"
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students.  The college students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."

- Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)


 

On Oct 22, 2012, at 1:05 PM, Paul Rumelhart <godshatter at yahoo.com> wrote:


I just thought of a way third parties could have a larger say in what is going on in the political scene.
>
>If the leadership of one of the third parties (let's pick on the Green Party) thought that their issues weren't being taken seriously by the Democratic Party (such as Global Warming), then if they had fortitude they could reach out to all the Dems that are environmentalists at heart but vote Dem anyway and suggest that they all vote Green Party.  Basically, they would be saying "let's throw this election in order to get ourselves taken seriously.  If the Dems want us back, they have to make our pet issue one of their main focuses."
>
>This way, they can make use of the tendency of "first past the post" election systems to become predominantly two-party systems to their advantage.  They would have to
 reach out to enough of the Dems to cause the election to be lost.  They would have to be willing to throw the occasional election to be taken seriously, though.  Long-term vs. short-term thinking.
>
>Of course, the Libertarian Party could do the same thing, focusing on civil liberties for example.  You get the idea.
>
>Paul
>
>
>
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