#Third Parties

[uboat53]

Well, RFK Jr. is all but admitting his campaign was a ploy to help Trump win, Republican operatives are committing fraud to get Cornel West on the ballot in Arizona, Jill Stein is openly talking up her genuine love for Vladimir Putin, and the Libertarian Party is such a wreck that my most openly libertarian friend has stepped back from their organization.

Is it time to admit that there is no genuine third-party option in America anymore?

[tomorrowusa]

Don't risk a rerun of the 2000 election.

In the first presidential election of the 21st century many deluded progressives voted for Green Party candidate Ralph Nader.

Their foolishness gave us eight years of George W. Bush who plagued the country with two recessions (including the Great Recession) and two wars (one totally unnecessary and one which could have been avoided if he heeded an intelligence brief 5 weeks before 9/11).

Oh yeah, Dubya also appointed one conservative and one batshit crazy reactionary to the US Supreme Court. Roberts and Alito are still there.

Paul Waldman of the Washington Post offers some thoughts.

Why leftists should work their hearts out for Biden in 2024

Ask a Democrat with a long memory what the numbers 97,488 and 537 represent, and their face will twist into a grimace. The first is the number of votes Ralph Nader received in Florida in 2000 as the nominee of the Green Party; the second is the margin by which George W. Bush was eventually certified the winner of the state, handing him the White House. Now, with President Biden gearing up for reelection, talk of a spoiler candidate from the left is again in the air. That’s unfortunate, because here’s the truth: The past 2½ years under Biden have been a triumph for progressivism, even if it’s not in most people’s interest to admit it. This was not what most people expected from Biden, who ran as a relative moderate in the 2020 Democratic primary. His nomination was a victory for pragmatism with its eyes directed toward the center. But today, no one can honestly deny that Biden is the most progressive president since at least Lyndon B. Johnson. His judicial appointments are more diverse than those of any of his predecessors. He has directed more resources to combating climate change than any other president. Notwithstanding the opposition from the Supreme Court, his administration has moved aggressively to forgive and restructure student loans.

Three years ago the economy was in horrible shape because of Trump's mishandling of the pandemic. Now unemployment is steadily below 4%, job creation continues to exceed expectations, and wages are rising as unions gain strength. The post-pandemic, post-Afghan War inflation rate has receded to near normal levels; people in the 1970s would have sold their souls for a 3.2% (and dropping) inflation rate. And many of the effects of "Bidenomics" have yet to kick in.

And in a story that is criminally underappreciated, his administration’s policy reaction to the covid-induced recession of 2020 was revolutionary in precisely the ways any good leftist should favor. It embraced massive government intervention to stave off the worst economic impacts, including handing millions of families monthly checks (by expanding the child tax credit), giving all kids in public schools free meals, boosting unemployment insurance and extending health coverage to millions.

It worked. While inflation rose (as it did worldwide), the economy’s recovery has been blisteringly fast. It took more than six years for employment rates to return to what they were before the Great Recession hit in 2008, but we surpassed January 2020 jobs levels by the spring of 2022 — and have kept adding jobs ever since. To the idealistic leftist, that might feel like both old news and a partial victory at best. What about everything supporters of Bernie Sanders have found so thrilling about the Vermont senator’s vision of the future, from universal health care to free college? It’s true Biden was never going to deliver that, but to be honest, neither would Sanders had he been elected president. And that brings me to the heart of how people on the left ought to think about Biden and his reelection.

Biden has gotten things done. The US economy is doing better than those of almost every other advanced industrialized country.

Our rivals China and Russia are both worse off than they were three years ago. And NATO is not just united, it's growing.

Sadly, we still need to deal with a far right MAGA cult at home who would wreck the country just to get its own way.

Biden may be elderly and unexciting, but that is one of the reasons he won in 2020. Many people just wanted an end to the daily drama of Trump's capricious and incompetent rule by tweet. And a good portion of those people live in places that count greatly in elections – suburbs and exurbs.

Superhero films seem to be slipping in popularity. Hopefully that's a sign that voters are less likely to embrace self-appointed political messiahs to save them from themselves.

Good governance is a steady process – not a collection of magic tricks. Experienced and competent individuals who are not too far removed from the lives of the people they represent are the best people to have in government.

Paul Waldman concludes his column speaking from the heart as a liberal...

I’ve been in and around politics for many years, and even among liberals, I’ve almost always been one of the most liberal people in the room. Yet only since Biden’s election have I realized that I will probably never see a president as liberal as I’d like. It’s not an easy idea to make peace with. But it suggests a different way of thinking about elections — as one necessary step in a long, difficult process. The further you are to the left, the more important Biden’s reelection ought to be to you. It might require emotional (and policy) compromise, but for now, it’s also the most important tool you have to achieve progressive ends.

Exactly. Rightwingers take the long view. It took them 49 years but they eventually got Roe v. Wade overturned. To succeed, we need to look upon politics as an extended marathon rather as one short sprint.

Republicans may currently be bickering, but they will most likely unite behind whichever anti-abortion extremist they nominate.

It's necessary to get the word out now that the only way to defeat climate-denying, abortion-restricting, assault weapon-loving, race-baiting, homophobic Republicans is to vote Democratic.

[originalleftist]

The thing about "protest votes" that makes them, in this of all elections, so mind-bogglingly intellectually and morally bankrupt, is that the potential consequences now are NOT A HYPOTHETICAL.

We don't need to speculate on what could happen if a bunch of people decide to stay home or vote third party, because they did that in 2016 against THIS EXACT REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE, and we all enjoyed four years of hell culminating in an attempted coup as a consequence. And three years and counting of the aftermath since, including the destruction of abortion rights across much of the country. To say nothing of the ones who didn't make it through, like the migrants who died in detention, or the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of preventable Covid deaths.

And now fuckers are saying, "Well, we better do it again just to make sure we get every last bit of the world we haven't burned down yet".

How many real, actual, living people are you prepared to throw under the bus for your "protest vote"?

[official-firefox-nightly]

Hey guys, uh I need y'all to do me a favor-

Go to each of your blogs' settings and turn the highlighted settings on- it'll opt you out of being shared to third parties, including being trained for AI. Unless you want to be used for AI idk up to you. Sorry not sorry for the ping btw.

@claires-unofficial @nasa-real @totally-dollar-tree @totally-official-yahoo @totally-official-goodwill @the-true-internet-explorer @realsafari @im-pandora-i-promise @the-tumblur-searchbar @definitely-wikipedia @firefox-official @official-fedex @its-target-official @hot-topic-unofficial @spotify-official @walmart-the-official @the-real-google @the-real-firefox @totally-ikea @yahoo-official @mcdonalds-official-verified @official-opera-gx @official-chai @theveryrealvine @bingle-official @intothegimmickverseofficial @spotify-kids-real @same-pic-of-pluto-everyday @sams-club-official @same-pic-of-neptune-everyday @same-pic-of-a-dictionary-daily @the-one-and-only-pornhub @post-uwuifer @definitely-spirit-halloween @definitely-youtube @definitely-tor-browser-official @scottishslenderman @slenderdawg @robloxian-slenderman @the-fake-list-of-ominous-threats @bitchlessslenderman @gimmick-blog-stimboards @are-there-grammar-errors @grammarly-unofficial @important-question-anon uh I probably forgot a gazillion people but that's okay

[mostlysignssomeportents]

When parties fail, movements step up

This Saturday (19 Aug), I'm appearing at the San Diego Union-Tribune Festival of Books. I'm on a 2:30PM panel called "Return From Retirement," followed by a signing:

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/festivalofbooks

Does anyone like the American two party system? The parties are opaque, private organizations, weak institutions that are prone to capture and corruption, and gerrymandering's "safe seats" means that the real election often takes place in the party's smoke-filled rooms, when a sure-thing candidate is selected:

https://doctorow.medium.com/weak-institutions-a26a20927b27

But there doesn't seem to be any way to fix it. For one thing, the two parties are in charge of any reform, and they're in no hurry to put themselves out of business. It's effectively impossible for a third party to gain any serious power in the USA, and that's by design. After the leftist Populists party came within a spitting distance of power in the 1890s, the Dems and Repubs got together and cooked the system, banning fusion voting and erecting other structural barriers.

The Nader and Perot campaigns were doomed from the outset, in other words. Either candidate could have been far more popular than the D and R on the ballot, and they still would have lost. It's how the deck is stacked, and to unstack it, reformers would need to take charge of at least one – and probably both – of the parties.

But that's not cause for surrender – it's a call to action. In an interview with Seymour Hersh, Thomas Frank (Listen, Liberal) sets out another locus of power, one with the potential to deliver control over the party to its base: social movements:

https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/ordinary-people-by-the-millions

It's been done before. The parties are routinely transformed by power-shifts within their internal coalitions: since 1970, corporate Dems have consistently pushed the party to the right, making it the power of white-collar professionals and relying on working people showing up and marking their ballots with a D because they have "nowhere else to go."

Bill Clinton was the most successful of these corporate raiders, delivering the parts of the Reagan Revolution that Reagan himself could never have managed: dismantling tariffs and bank regulations, passing the crime bill and welfare "reform." He came within a whisper of (partially) privatizing Social Security.

This set in motion the forces that made Trumpism possible: when Dems told deindustrialized workers to "learn to code" and blamed them for the destruction of their communities, it opened a space for Make America Great Again, the (empty) workerist rhetoric of the GOP. The Dems' plan of putting "really smart people" in charge and letting them run things was a (predictable) disaster. "Really smart" isn't the same as "infallible" and really smart people can be spooked or bulled into doing the wrong thing – like Obama "foaming the runways" for the banks with the houses of mortgage holders, and leaving the bankers responsible for the Great Financial Crisis unscathed:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/15/mon-dieu-les-guillotines/#ceci-nes-pas-une-bailout

"Really smart people" can't get us out of this mess. Instead, we need the kind of muscular political action – the "whirlwind" – that characterized FDR's New Deal: "complete reformation of the banking industry.. just about every other industry as well. Regulation. Social Security. Public works. Antitrust. Soil conservation."

FDR got there by alienating his former classmates and refusing the go-slow entreaties of his cronies. He got there because there was a mass social movement that made him do it ("I want to do it, now make me do it"):

https://humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2014/09/16/i-agree-with-you-i-want-to-do-it-now-make-me-do-it/

Every time in US history where one of the political party duopoly listened to its base, it was because of a mass social movement: the farmers' movement (1890s), labor (1930s), civil rights and antiwar (1960s). As Frank says:

Social movements succeed. They build and they change the intellectual climate and then, when the crisis comes, they make possible things like agrarian reform or the New Deal or the Civil Rights acts of the 1960s.

Today, we see the seeds of those social movements: the new union movement. Black Lives Matter. Neobrandeisians with their "hipster antitrust." These are the movements that are creating "ideas lying around": ideas that, in time of crisis, can move from the fringe to the center in an eyeblink:

https://doctorow.medium.com/ideas-lying-around-33a28901a7ae

They are setting in motion another transformation of the Democratic Party, from its top-down, "really smart people" model to a bottom-up, people-powered one, kept in check by movements, not party bosses. As Frank says, "They require the mass participation of ordinary people. Without that, I am afraid that nothing is possible."

I'm kickstarting the audiobook for "The Internet Con: How To Seize the Means of Computation," a Big Tech disassembly manual to disenshittify the web and make a new, good internet to succeed the old, good internet. It's a DRM-free book, which means Audible won't carry it, so this crowdfunder is essential. Back now to get the audio, Verso hardcover and ebook:

http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/17/popular-front-of-judea/#speaking-frankly

[theculturedmarxist]

"Why bother voting for a third party? It's not like they can actually win."

First, "winning" shouldn't be your singular goal. There's more to the campaign than winning. At the very, very least, it's an expression of discontent, which can send a powerful message to the people.

Second, if the choice is between a Theocratic Fascist Dictator™, a Genocidal War Criminal, and someone who isn't either of those things, then why on Earth would you not give your vote to someone that isn't horrible.

Third, third party campaign finance is determined in part by how well they poll on election day. If a candidate gets more than 5% of the vote, they qualify for campaign contributions from the government. Voting third party materially benefits them.

[puff-world]

Raise your hand if you plan to or want to vote third party

Keep it up if you have a specific party in mind

Keep it up if you've voted for them in local and state elections

Keep it up if you genuinely think that party will do you any good and not just a "I don't wanna vote dem or maga" vote

Other wise don't bother voting for a third party, just vote for biden and put your ego to the side

[sagstelliums]

How they see you vs the third party (pac) *follower request

Pile 1

You- they feel like you’re letting them go and you’re trying to heal, they feel like you’re reserved with your feelings or they feel the need to be that way with you. They feel like they’re too emotional about the connection or that they’re smothering you and they feel like you don’t care enough about them. They feel like you’re focused on your goals or finances, for some of you they feel like you’re immature and spiteful.

Third party- they feel like the third party is fun to be around or that they bring out a carefree energy out of them, they feel like they have a lot in common with the third party and they both don’t take things too seriously. They feel like they have a weak spot for the third party and they feel insecure about the connection, they feel like the third party is patient or understanding.

Signs- Aries/taurus.Initials- H, E, A

Pile 2

You- (angel number 7/777) they feel like the connection is stagnant and they feel like they missed a opportunity with you, they feel like things didnt go the way it should’ve and they got some clarity about the connection when they took a step back. They feel like they can have a lot with you and be very abundant/happy, they feel like you need to take a break from the connection or they need to. They think about you often.

Third party- they feel like the third party is different from people they normally date, they’re not sure if the connection has room to grow or the connection is already over. They feel skeptical about the third party and what they have to offer, they feel like it’s nice to talk with them and they get along. They feel like there may be potential in the connection and they’re physically attracted to them, they may have known each other for a while or they have history.

Signs- Aquarius/pisces. Initials- K, P, O, T, V

Pile 3

You- they feel like you’re very supportive/helpful and you’re a good friend, they feel like you don’t really speak your mind even if you’re upset. They feel like you’re generous and you help them a lot, they think the connection they have with you is abundant and they feel really comfortable around you

Third party- they feel like trapped with the third party or they can’t trust them completely, they feel like their connection is risky and unpredictable. They feel like the connection isn’t abundant or stable but they feel like they met the third party for a reason, they feel like they can’t express how they really feel with the third party or the third party doesn’t express themselves.

Signs- Scorpio/aries. Initials- V, I, C

[decolonize-the-everything]

Can I ask why you’re promoting Claudia over jasmine? Claudia is with PSL which isn’t the best and jasmine seems a lot more genuine overall, but I am sincerely curious if I’m just ignorant or ‘too picky’. I respect your opinions and am curious of your take!

It's a "too picky" thing. Claudia has more money, more ballot access, and more visibility. I would prefer Jasmine and have been advocating for them til very recently because of that. As a leftist I'll compromise on Claudia. She isn't my first choice by any means, it's Jasmine.

That said, if there isn't a compromise by the end of the week on someone other than Kamala then I'm gonna either not vote or vote for Jasmine anyway.

Whoever I vote for isn't gonna be advocating for more genocide tho rest assured. I have a few bottom lines. Claudia meets them so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[starberrywander]

Just putting this out there; I used to be hesitant to vote because I get anxious about not knowing what to expect. So if you're in that same boat I'm gonna give a step-by-step guide of how the voting process worked for me when I did it. Hopefully this will help alleviate some anxieties and encourage more people to vote.

Also idk how much different a federal election is from a state one (which is what I voted in) but lets assume for the sake of this that they're pretty close to the same. If there are any differences, those of y'all who have the experience are encouraged to chime in.

Step 1: Register.

Its been a while so I don't remember every detail but basically just google "voter registration (your state)" and you should get a step by step guide on how to register. If I remember correctly I had to submit two forms of ID & maybe a proof of address (can't remember). Good news is, the whole process is online no phone calls involved. You can take your time and no one is waiting/listening so there's no pressure.

From then I think I got a confirmation email when my information was verified and then a voter registration card was mailed to me. Again, no phone calls no texts no direct communication with anyone so if that makes you anxious I am here to say that was not a factor in my experience.

Step 2: Take note of the voting date.

Google can tell you this. And also probably lots of signs out in public leading up to the day. And social media. Its easy to find.

Step 3: Learn what will be on the ballot.

When I went it wasn't just "pick one candidate and you're done," there were elections for multiple seats and also votes on a few state-specific policies. You're probably gonna be picking multiple things, best to be aware of them all beforehand so you know what your opinion is.

Step 4: Show up.

The voter registration card that was sent in the mail should have the address to the location that you will be voting at on the card. I assume its typically going to be at your local town/city hall because that's where mine was but definitely double check because you have to be in the correct location in order to vote.

Step 5: Prepare to wait.

When I went it was packed. Took a while to find a place to park and had to wait in line for quite some time. I think there was also a no cell phones rule but I'm not sure.

Step 6: Confirm registration.

Where I went there were some poll workers at a table with big 3-ring binders with lists of names. You just go up to them and show your ID (or whatever else they need) and they check if your name is on the list. If it is, they will point you in the direction you need to go. (I think they also hand out some kind of ticket? Its been a while but I remember holding a piece of paper the whole time. I think this was for accessing the voting machine.)

Step 7: Wait in line.

this is straightforward. Just wait. No effort or thinking needed. No worries. Prepare to memorize the patterns on the walls lol.

Step 8: Vote.

There will be poll workers directing people where they need to go. When its your turn they'll bring you to an open machine and set it up.

Then you just go through the pages and make the selections you want. You can go back if you need to. There are descriptions of what things mean. There's no time limit. When you're done you submit and that's it. You can go home.

---

Hope this helps some of y'all feel a little less intimidated by the idea of voting.

And those of y'all who have voted in the past please add anything that you think is relevant. This is specifically what I can recall of my experience in a Tennessee state election. Idk how much things differ from state to state, and between state and federal elections. I also don't know anything about mail-in voting so additions would be appreciated.

[originalleftist]

At this point, you either support Democrats or you're a fascist, and an enemy of America and of humanity. Think that's harsh? Think that's unfair? What I think is that Donald Trump is a convicted felon, a court-proven r*pist, fraud, and insurrectionist, who boasted about his Supreme Court picks killing Roe v Wade, who is openly running on being dictator after he tried to overthrow the Constitution by force last time, who publicly retweeted "the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat", and who just offered to kill fossil fuel regulations in exchange for a billion dollar bribe. I think he has made it very fucking clear what he is, and it is very fucking clear that he and Joe Biden are NOT the same. And there is not going to be a third party President, you know it, I know it, and the third party candidates know it. There is also not going to be a Leftist revolution, because if we can't get half of Americans to vote against Trump, you sure as fuck aren't going to get a lot of volunteers to sign on to that. Which means that if you do anything other than supporting Democrats, you are knowingly doing that INSTEAD of doing the one thing that might actually stop the US from becoming an actual, literal fascist dictatorship. You don't have to like the situation. I sure as fuck don't. But we do need to be honest about what it is.

[sunshinegremlin]

I don't want to get into US politics. I don't. I see all the debates and whatnot on this app, no thank you. But I also feel I've gotta say one thing, and you can take it or leave it, I don't care.

I understand the anger. I really do. I understand how angry we are at Biden for what he's doing with Palestine. Free Palestine, absolutely.

It's also imperative to think... How do you think Trump will treat Palestine? How about the third party candidates? Do we think now is the time to gamble against the cards of our two party system? Are we willing to gamble Palestine / women's right / lgbtqia+ rights / children's rights to restore the third party in our country right now?

These are genuine questions, and I'm not going to say I have the answers, not at all. But please, to all the people saying "we can't ignore what Biden is doing! We can't vote for him no matter what!" I completely agree with the anger, but please don't forget what Trump plans for this country, what he likely plans for Palestine, and what could occur if we give him even a small chance to get his foot back into the control room of our country.

He will help Israel much more than any other country is currently. He will funnel all of our taxes to genocide, even more so than now. He will also genocide your family, your friends, your coworkers, your neighbors: anyone you know and love who he hates in our country will be bloody and beaten by him.

My belief? now is not the time to gamble. But ultimately, we must keep in mind, when is the right time for what we want? We must be careful with every step, and part of that is when do we want to fight for third parties to be strong again, and what are we willing to gamble through that fight? Is it worth it with Palestine right now? What about gambling with humans rights on our own doorstep? Are there any third party candidates we entirely wholeheartedly believe in? I know there's much debate.

I know it's deja vu, I know, but one more term of Biden please. We can protest him the whole time. You think Trump will let you protest now that immunity is a thing?

And then after this, we can demand a better option. But for now, this is all we've got. Don't throw it away out of false righteousness.

Please. We beg you. Think of us. Keep us safe. This is my home. I don't want to flee. Please.

[rednblacksalamander]

Good thing he didn't say "fence sitter" or he'd get shot for trespassing on the lawn.

[nodynasty4us]

If you vote for Cornel West or Robert Kennedy Jr this year, you are — shall we not put too fine a point on it? — a moron. You’re making a meaningless choice in the most meaningful election in modern American history so as to indulge your narcissistic sense of self-righteousness.

Steve Erickson, 13 New Year’s Resolutions for Saving Democracy - The Le...

[partisan-by-default]

If these third parties & candidates are so far to the "left of liberal," why do they only exist because of GOP support?

"Mitchell’s case is the latest example of dubious tactics used in an effort to qualify West, a[n allegedly] left-wing academic, for the ballot in states across the U.S. It’s also among the more egregious. It’s an effort that West himself apparently knows nothing about.

...

Rothgeb, who could not be reached for comment, is a registered Republican, as are two other electors for West, voting records show. Two additional electors listed in the state filings are not registered to vote at the addresses provided for them, records show.

...

[Mitchell and her husband] soured on West’s candidacy when they read that Republican-aligned operatives were working to get him on the ballot to play spoiler.

"We weren’t for the Republican griminess, so we stopped pushing him," she said.

Her former employer, a signature gathering contractor called Wells Marketing, a mysterious Missouri limited liability company, is leading the effort to get West on the ballot in Arizona.

On Monday, the Associated Press (AP) reported that several Republican-connected lawyers sought to recover an effort to get West on the 2024 presidential election ballot in Arizona.

As the deadline to submit paperwork approached, two prominent Republican lawyers in the state and a GOP attorney working on West's ballot efforts learned that two would-be electors—Jerry Judie and Denisha Mitchell—were no longer interested in serving.

This prompted a flurry of text messages and phone calls to salvage the effort. When that failed, two Republican lawyers visited Judie's and Mitchell's homes, seemingly to persuade them to reconsider, the AP wrote.