Third parties play second fiddle
03 November 2008 à 14h49
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Yes, there are more than two political parties in the USA. Alongside the Democrats and the Republicans, the country counts plenty of other political groups. Some are serious and well established. Others are more fanciful.
They have seven principles : life (from conception to natural death), liberty, family, property, Constitution, state’s rights (against the federal government) and American sovereignty.
They are strongly anti-abortion, anti-gay rights, anti-gun control, anti-tax, anti-immigration but also anti-United Nations (it contravenes American sovereignty), and not that liberal : they are favorable to trade protectionism : Americans first !
Are they pro anything at all ? According to a statement adopted at their 1999 convention « the foundation of our political position and moving principle of our political activity is our full submission and unshakable faith in our Savior and Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ ».
In 2008, their candidate is Chuck Baldwin, a founder-pastor of a baptist church.
http://www.constitutionparty.com
The party has been divided for years into two warring factions : the radical wing is uncompromising anarchist-libertarians, while the more moderate wing focuses on a few popular issues, such as economy and drugs-legalization.
The reformists took control of the party in 2006 for the first time since the 80s.
The LP’s nominee for the presidential election, former federal prosecutor and former Republican Bob Barr, is famous for the active part he took in Bill Clinton’s impeachment.
http://www.lp.org
On their website, they invite the voter to « join the revolution », with catchy slogans such as « The Green party is no longer the alternative, the Green Party is the imperative ».
The attitude the Greens should adopt towards the Democrats has been a cause for debate. In 2000, prominent consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who ran for the Greens without officially joining the party, achieved an honorable 2.7% by mobilizing leftist activists and raising millions of dollars. But he was accused of having siphoned essential votes away from Al Gore’s campaign.
In 2004, candidate David Cobb ran a « safe-states strategy » : he only campaigned in states where he was sure he would not impair the Democratic candidate’s ability to defeat the Republican. The result was 0.1%.
For 2008, the Greens have dumped this strategy. Will they be more successfull than Cobb ? Wait and see…
www.gp.org
The new-age « Natural law party » sees transcendental meditation and « yogic flying » as the remedy for most national or international problems.
Al Capone is dead but there is still a prohibition party : « If you are a reform-minded conservative and a non-drinker, the Prohibition Party wants you », as well as a « US Marijuana party », dedicated to cannabis legalization and even a « Pansexual party ». Its slogan : "Sex is Good! Sex is Great! Yeah, Sex!".
Less funny, but fortunately extremely small, the American Nazi Party aims to establish an Aryan republic where only « White persons of unmixed, non-Semitic, European descent » can hold citizenship. Their last candidate, in the 60s, was murdered by a fellow member of the party. There is also a Communist party in McCarthy’s country. Once funded by and a spy-network for the Soviets, it has not run a candidate since the 80s.
The big three third parties
Those parties regularly run candidates for elections, who usually obtain less than 1% of votes. In fact, in the history of the US, there have always been two main parties, and since 1854 (creation of the Republican party) there has never been a president who did not belong either to the Donkey or to the Elephant.The Constitution party
It was founded in 1992 as the « US Taxpayers party » (USTP) before becoming the Constitution party in 1999. It is the far-right, ultraconservative party, that would make the Republicans sound like lefties.They have seven principles : life (from conception to natural death), liberty, family, property, Constitution, state’s rights (against the federal government) and American sovereignty.
They are strongly anti-abortion, anti-gay rights, anti-gun control, anti-tax, anti-immigration but also anti-United Nations (it contravenes American sovereignty), and not that liberal : they are favorable to trade protectionism : Americans first !
Are they pro anything at all ? According to a statement adopted at their 1999 convention « the foundation of our political position and moving principle of our political activity is our full submission and unshakable faith in our Savior and Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ ».
In 2008, their candidate is Chuck Baldwin, a founder-pastor of a baptist church.
http://www.constitutionparty.com
The Libertarian Party
Their key word is freedom, in every field of public and private life. It is therefore difficult to classify them either at the left or the right wing. They support total economic freedom, which means no welfare, no minimum income, no income taxes and, in general no intervention of the state in the economy. They are anti-gun control but they are pro-choice, pro-gay marriage and pro-drug legalization.The party has been divided for years into two warring factions : the radical wing is uncompromising anarchist-libertarians, while the more moderate wing focuses on a few popular issues, such as economy and drugs-legalization.
The reformists took control of the party in 2006 for the first time since the 80s.
The LP’s nominee for the presidential election, former federal prosecutor and former Republican Bob Barr, is famous for the active part he took in Bill Clinton’s impeachment.
http://www.lp.org
The Green party of the United States
Ecologist, non-violent, feminist, the Green Party runs an afro-american woman for 2008 : congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.On their website, they invite the voter to « join the revolution », with catchy slogans such as « The Green party is no longer the alternative, the Green Party is the imperative ».
The attitude the Greens should adopt towards the Democrats has been a cause for debate. In 2000, prominent consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who ran for the Greens without officially joining the party, achieved an honorable 2.7% by mobilizing leftist activists and raising millions of dollars. But he was accused of having siphoned essential votes away from Al Gore’s campaign.
In 2004, candidate David Cobb ran a « safe-states strategy » : he only campaigned in states where he was sure he would not impair the Democratic candidate’s ability to defeat the Republican. The result was 0.1%.
For 2008, the Greens have dumped this strategy. Will they be more successfull than Cobb ? Wait and see…
www.gp.org
The other parties
Many amazing parties officially exist in the USA, although many of them have very few supporters and have not even run a candidate for decades.The new-age « Natural law party » sees transcendental meditation and « yogic flying » as the remedy for most national or international problems.
Al Capone is dead but there is still a prohibition party : « If you are a reform-minded conservative and a non-drinker, the Prohibition Party wants you », as well as a « US Marijuana party », dedicated to cannabis legalization and even a « Pansexual party ». Its slogan : "Sex is Good! Sex is Great! Yeah, Sex!".
Less funny, but fortunately extremely small, the American Nazi Party aims to establish an Aryan republic where only « White persons of unmixed, non-Semitic, European descent » can hold citizenship. Their last candidate, in the 60s, was murdered by a fellow member of the party. There is also a Communist party in McCarthy’s country. Once funded by and a spy-network for the Soviets, it has not run a candidate since the 80s.
