The Invisible Third Party

[catherine]

Imagine you have 4 kids. You love and support all but one. The 4th kid you hide in the closet. You don't feed them. You want them to disappear while you go on grooming and praising the other 3.

Bernie is the 4th child of the Democratic Party.

He wears the badge of "Democrat" but his "parents" want to send him off to a foster home or worse.

Recently the Methodist church recognized that they need to create a schism because they can't reconcile the side of their membership that honors sexual and gender diversity vs those that don't.

I think the Democrats need to recognize a similar "irreconcilable difference." What do you think? Frankly, this Bernie Blackout and Bernie Besmirching on the part of the media and the DNC makes me all the more zealous about supporting him. Just on principle. The Dems are NOT LISTENING to their constituents.

[bae]

I think Bernie and his supporters need their own party.

[ApatheticNoMore]

There can be no viable 3rd party in the U.S., it's a ridiculous idea. Now if one of the existing parties becomes completely non-viable (and let's face it they are both close to it, however orange man party does have some 40% committed no matter what orange man devotees). Then maybe.

[bae]

There can be no viable 3rd party in the U.S., it's a ridiculous idea.

Why is that?

[ApatheticNoMore]

Because it's always just splitting the vote, maybe if we had ranked choice voting for President. I don't see that happening.

[bae]

Because it's always just splitting the vote, ....

Splitting the vote.

That has many assumptions embedded. For instance, that "the vote" is necessarily belonging to one of two parties, and anyone else participating is somehow going against the very structure of nature.

I see nothing in the Constitution that requires we hand over our government to two private political organizations.

[iris lilies]

Because it's always just splitting the vote, maybe if we had ranked choice voting for President. I don't see that happening.

It most definitely will not happen if we don’t do anything to make it happen.


But then once “it” has happened, am I supposed to go with the Bernieites? I dont think so.

so maybe you are right!

[LDAHL]

If I remember civics class correctly, if there was a strong third party and nobody got 270 votes in the electoral college, then the House elects the President and the Senate the VP. Wouldn’t that be a ratings boost for CSPAN?

[Alan]

Bernie is the 4th child of the Democratic Party.

He wears the badge of "Democrat" but his "parents" want to send him off to a foster home or worse.

That's because he's not a Democrat, he's usurped their brand while maintaining his official status as an Independent because his true affiliation as a Socialist hurts his election prospects. Rather than being a 4th child of the Democratic Party, he's actually a neighbor's offspring hanging out in the popular kids house and fighting for a portion of their inheritance.

[catherine]

That's because he's not a Democrat, he's usurped their brand while maintaining his official status as an Independent because his true affiliation as a Socialist hurts his election prospects. Rather than being a 4th child of the Democratic Party, he's actually a neighbor's offspring hanging out in the popular kids house and fighting for a portion of their inheritance.

Clever analogy, but I think the DNC is like the parents who give up on learning how to use the remote and sing the praises of days gone by. According to this article, most Democrats lean toward a more leftist stance, but the "parents" refuse to acknowledge it. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...oll/988558002/