The two progressive lawmakers have addressed massive crowds in solidly red states including Idaho and Utah in recent days, as party of the national Fighting Oligarchy Tour.
A survey taken by Harvard’s Center for American Political Studies and Harris between April 9-10 found that 72% of Democratic voters supported politicians like Sanders (I-Vt.) and Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), “who are calling on Democrats to adopt a more aggressive stance towards Trump and his administration and ‘fight harder’,” rather than leaders who are willing to “compromise” with President Donald Trump.
They won’t go away without a fight anyway, so might as well take over the party rather than making a small new one to compete with the big old one. Neoliberal Dems have a submission kink (judging by their attitude to MAGA) so the left needs to dominate them, not politely compete with them.
Like 60% of Americans want a third party
https://news.gallup.com/poll/512135/support-third-political-party.aspx
60% of Americans don’t understand how math & a two party first past the post electoral system works.
People say that but in practice third parties don’t end up with many votes, so there’s a disconnect: either the current third parties aren’t known or appealing enough, or people aren’t voting them because they’re scared of throwing their vote away (a consequence of FPTP), or there’s some serious disenfranchisement going on and that requires fixing the system before third parties will be viable. Hell, even the Dems are barely viable, they always eek out victories even when winning the popular vote. All that gerrymandering and voter disenfranchisement probably hits third parties way harder.
My guess is that third parties will only be viable when something like Ranked Choice Voting gets implemented instead of First Past The Post. Also, a better selection of third parties because the current one is kinda pathetic.
RCV is illegal in at least 4 states right now. The GOP is making it illegal everywhere they can.
Wow, I had no idea they went so far as to specifically outlaw it. That’s insanely evil and all the more reason to stop wasting votes on third parties… which may not matter anymore given the way things are rapidly deteriorating…
Nothing more dominating than a whole new party with actual vitality to it. I think many moderates who lack wealth would jump ship to a Progressive party, if it looks strong. This is why Bernie and AOC have the potential to succeed where the Geronocrats failed.
That is ultimately why Trump got to where he did - by being more lively than the other bastards. Milquetoasts get roasted by default, and the vast majority of the Geronocrats have the vitality of a corpse.
Yeah but Trump did it within the party, right? The Tea Party laid the groundwork and then MAGA took over when Trump won the primary seemingly out of nowhere. Now the old GOP is dead and buried, it’s just the name that remains, but it’s Trump’s party now. (I know the policies are just an acceleration of Bush era politics, but that’s because the old conservatism and current fascism want mainly the same things, it’s just more openly sadistic now… and cultish: swear allegiance to Trump and talk about any policy with “President Trump wants…” like he’s a goddamn emperor). There’s no room for a John McCain or Mitt Romney in the MAGA GOP — hell, even Liz Cheney is siding with Dems now. The problem is the Dems need to change into a party that would give her the finger on principle, which they haven’t. Hell, they’re not only campaigning with Cheney but begging for appeasement with MAGA… That’s a bridge too far for most of their supporters, and that’s why the Dem party is now at its most hated and vulnerable to be taken over by true progressives. Parties can change over time so we shouldn’t dismiss the option, because really they’re only institutions which are as good or bad as the people comprising them.
That said, by all means, I’m not opposed to AOC and Bernie doing this via a third party, just that the infrastructure isn’t really there for them to win. People are uncertain about third parties (even Trump changed his mind because he initially wanted a Patriot Party but gave up on the idea) and it might lead to a three-way race in future elections where Dems eat up votes from the hypothetical Progs. I don’t know if it’s more likely to succeed, it might be in some places — I remember a guy running as an independent and nearly winning in a down-ballot race. Also, thinking back, the third parties just tended to put pressure on the Democrats to implement policies (like with FDR), but they didn’t actually govern. I’m rambling at this point, but I guess the main idea is that I’m just worried that the system needs to change in some fundamental ways for third parties to have any chances. Maybe I’m wrong.
I agree with being lively though. That has to happen with either approach.