Reflections on the Birth of a Third Political Party
November 25, 2009
Following previous blogs written here, I have had responses posted and others who called or emailed with opinions either agreeing or disagreeing with me on whether we are better off forming a third political party. Those that disagree with the concept are mainly Republicans who claim a third-party will cause power from the GOP to dwindle giving the Democrats a stronghold. They contend that conservatives, constitutionalists and Libertarians should work within the Republican party if they are to retake control of Congress. And of course, I get to hear that the forming of a third-party “is impossible.”
For those who come up with the last argument above, I ask them if they know who the first Republican president was. Most cannot answer correctly that it was Abraham Lincoln. Prior to his election, we had the Whigs and the Democrats. In the mid 1800′s, many felt the Whigs were “out of touch” with mainstream America. Hmm, sound familiar? Only today, we have TWO political parties who are out of touch. Many around 1850 believed another party could not be formed however the Republicans started out on a grass-roots level, won some elections, and eventually trickled up to the emergence of our first GOP president in 1861. Our country was in turmoil with bickering between Northern states and Southern states and the talk of succession occurred until it finally happened shortly after Lincoln’s inauguration. Unfortunately many Americans today do not see turmoil in our political structure to the point where our Constitution is being challenged and threatened. Since the Civil War and World War II, our country has not seen the threat of tyranny of this magnitude. Unfortunately the perpetrators, many within our government, are waging war against liberty quietly and slowly so as to avoid detection by the average American. Ah yes, I can hear many now claiming I am merely waging a conspiracy theory.
The bottom line is this: we have many Americans…Republicans, Democrats and Independents who are fed up with liberalism and believe in core conservative values, Sovereignty and uphold the Constitution. However, many Democrats and Republicans are hesitant to vote for candidates in the other’s party even if that candidate held the same core values as they do. And Independents are fed up with both parties which is why their numbers are so strong today. By forming a third-party that embraces core conservative values, these so-called “gun-toting, bible thumping” people from all three political factions can come together to support candidates that reflect conservative values. Ronald Reagan struggled with the concept of a third-party before running for president but decided he could make enough change within the GOP to get the job done. Unfortunately the GOP in Congress today is made up of members from a wide spectrum on the political scale and getting the Republican leadership to return to core values could take years and many Americans are losing patience to wait that long.
The Gallup Poll has consistently run surveys on the number of Americans who are conservative vs. liberal. The numbers have increased throughout 2009 that show nearly 50% consider themselves conservative while 19-20% consider themselves liberal. Over 70% of the conservative group indicate they are also Republican. We can only assume that the remainder are either Democrat or Independent. With numbers at or over 50%, wouldn’t it make sense for conservatives to look elsewhere other than their current party leadership?
I believe we must take back our party, because it’s principles are conservatism. We must unite and get conservative candidates to run against these so call moderate republicans in the primaries. Lets look back in history Reagan could of started a new party in 1976, but he himself said it was harmful. I am all for fixing the republican party.
I believe that our current situation cannot be compared to the time of the Civil War. As you stated in your recent post, “many Americans today do not see [the] turmoil in our political structure . . .” The difference between our current situation and the1850s, is that many Americans at that time were acutely aware of the turmoil that was tearing the country apart. Abolition was not some small disagreement between policy wonks. The average American was well aware of what was at stake and where they stood on the issue. Add to this the fact that at the time of the founding of the Republican Party, there existed no long standing political party in the country. Political parties were still a relatively new concept, and they came and went. Today the major parties are entrenched, and the average American is oblivious to what is at stake. Many have little knowledge of the Constitution and what was its intended purpose. How are we going to get mainstream Americans that get their news from mainstream media outlets to join us? How are we going to get the people that went along with the Hollywood/Obama propaganda machine to throw of the chains of convention?
I also disagree that there are many Democrats that are fed up with liberalism. If they were fed up with liberalism they would be Republicans at the very least, and if the independent parties’ numbers are so strong, why do they have such dismal numbers at the polling booth? Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate received only 0.40% of the popular vote. Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party won a whopping 0.14%. Ralph Nader 0.51%, and Cynthia McKinney of the Green Party (amidst all of the attention on going green) pulled in an impressive 0.12% of the popular vote. Add them all together and you get 1.17% of the population voting for independent candidates. Ralph Nader, who had the largest share of independent voters, did not even run under any party, and Ron Paul, with all of his loyal supporters, received 0.01% of the vote. Of course, if Ron Paul were the front-runner for the Republican Party he would have gotten closer to fifty per cent. The fact is that many of the people that belong to third parties end up voting for one of the big party’s candidates.
The focus of our strategy should be to push our chosen candidates as Republicans, and the real battle is fought at the primary stage. We need to get behind strong conservative candidates and work hard to get a turn out for them at the primary elections.
Hello Mendy, I received this email and thought of you. Dear Fellow Tea Party Patriots,
There is much talk of the formation of a third political party based on the tea party movement. In Florida, a Democratic operative with absolutely no connection to the tea party movement has filed papers to form a third party called the Florida Tea Party. He has issued legal threats against local tea parties demanding that they cease using the name “Florida Tea Party.”
Tea Party Patriots is issuing this statement in order to make it clear that we are not associated with this, or any attempts to form a third party. Additionally, we believe that such efforts are unproductive and unwise at this time. The history of third party movements in this country is one of division and defeat. We believe that it is instead time for all Americans to rise up and demand appropriate reform within their own parties. The mechanisms exist for citizens to participate in their parties, and to drive their parties in the right direction.
The Tea Party Patriots encourage all citizens to get involved in the party process, and to reshape their parties into something in which they may once again believe. This country does not belong to any one party, nor does it belong to the career politicians. This country belongs to the citizens. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “We have given you a republic madam, if you can keep it.” The founders knew that it would be our sacred obligation as citizens to get involved, and to work hard to hold on to this great nation. We have much work to do, and future generations will look back in judgment. We hope you will join us in preserving the republic.
Notice how it is a Democrat operative that is trying to start a third party tea-party movement. The Dems would love nothing more than for the tea party to become a third party because they know that it would cut our balls off. Do not support this movement becoming co-opted.