Are 3rd Party Candidates Useless?

Note: This is a press of an article written in Salon.com…..I do NOT agree with their conclusion…..but in all fairness I would like to offer this critique to my readers……

For the last 25 years , probably longer, I have been voting outside the box in general elections…….meaning I have been a supporter of third party candidates.

I do not agree with all those weirdos that say I am throwing my vote away when I vote for an alternative candidate……what they want is for the voter to just accept the two worthless major party candidates and vote for the least objectionable one.

The American electorate goes to the polls in November to elect the next President of the United States. To be fair, a little more than half of the eligible U.S. population votes in presidential elections—57.5 per cent in 2012. The rest of the voters do not bother. They either find it too onerous to get to the polling booths (the election is conducted on a workday) or they simply do not find the choices vibrant enough. This election is not an ordinary election. The two candidates are the most hated people to run for the U.S. presidency. Polling data show that the two of them, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, are running very close to each other. What seems to drive voters to the candidates is not enthusiasm for them but dislike of the opponent.

Source: Clinton Trump Avoid Issues – LA Progressive

To me…that is a thrown away vote!

This article in Salon is a perfect illustration of how the press wants the elections to go……

The problem is that a presidential race is not the place to air these views if one is not a truly viable presidential candidate. Relegated to the low-single digits in the polls (Public Policy Polling’s latest national poll has these three candidates pulling a collective 9 percent), the Libertarians and the Green Party are a sideshow, entertaining us mostly by being silly distractions from the intense, constant, laser-like focus on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his rival Hillary Clinton.

Source: These jokes aren’t funny anymore: Can we all agree now that the third-party candidates are useless? – Salon.com

Their assumptions are BULLSHIT!

They are basing this on polls which at best are a mere sideshow to reality….it is a popularity contest that is skewed in whatever direction they want it to be.

Personally I look at platform……let’s say candidate A has a 10 point platform (usually more) and you agree with 8 of the points and candidate B also has a 10 point plan and you agree with 3…..why would I vote for the lesser?

I do not look for popularity in a candidate but rather sound platform points.

This is why there is no viable 3rd party candidacy…..the media and the pundits do not want a 3rd party and they will use every mean available to keep it the same 2 stale and outta touch parties.

I refuse to allow any media outlet determine who my candidate for president will be.

As long as the population allows this to continue we will NEVER have a true “open” election. I agree with Dr. Stein…..”I would rather go down swinging than committing politician suicide by voting for either of the two major candidates” (a paraphrase)…..

Johnson Flubs Again

First a head;s up…..I will defend Johnson in this post but it by NO means that I endorse of support the Libertarian cause….

Most of us political junkies know of Johnson’s “Aleppo moment” and he had yet another “moment on MSNBC……

Gary Johnson had what he called another “Aleppo moment” Wednesday night when he was flummoxed by the question, “Who’s your favorite foreign leader?” The Libertarian presidential candidate, speaking at a televised town hall event at the University of New Hampshire, didn’t have a ready answer but got more time to think when running mate Bill Weld said his was Shimon Peres, only to be told by MNSBC host Chris Matthews that it had to be somebody living, ABC News reports. “You got to do this. Anywhere. Any continent,” Matthews told Johnson. “Canada, Mexico, Europe, over there. Asia. South America. Africa. Name a foreign leader that you respect.”

“I guess I’m having an Aleppo moment … the former president of Mexico,” said Johnson who wondered, “What is Aleppo?”—or possibly “What is a Leppo?”—when asked about the Syrian city earlier this month. CBS reports that when Matthews asked which former president of Mexico he was talking about, Johnson said he had a “brain freeze” and Weld eventually helped out, saying “Fox,” for Vicente Fox. “Fox! Thank you,” said Johnson. “He was a terrific leader.” After getting Johnson off the hook, Weld went on to name German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the living leader he most admires. (Johnson says the Libertarian ticket is the only one “that offers Americans a chance to find common ground.”)

To be honest if I had been asked that question out of the blue…I would have had a hard time naming a world leader that I respect…..first it would have caught me off guard and second I still cannot think of one that I actually respect even now.

Dr. Jill Stein– Rebel With a Cause

As an ex-rebel myself I am always impressed by people that stand up for what they believe….in 2016 that person is Dr. Jill Stein……

The first inkling that she was a person that would not shrink from confrontation…..

If the man won’t let Jill Stein participate in Monday’s presidential debate, then Jill Stein will just hold her own debate. Politico reports the Green Party candidate will hold a “Let Jill Debate” protest outside the first showdown between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton at Hofstra University in New York then follow it with a “People’s Debate” on social media. Earlier in the week, the Stein campaign had mulled having 100 supporters risk arrest in an attempt to “escort” their candidate onto the debate stage, according to the Guardian. Neither Stein nor Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson were polling high enough—the cutoff is 15% nationally—to qualify for the debate. Johnson says he’ll be watching the debate and live-tweeting it.

Then on the night of the first presidential debate she made good on her threat…..

Green Party candidate Jill Stein was removed from the Hofstra University campus for the second election in a row on Monday. Stein—who was arrested before a presidential debate in 2012—was met by police and campus security after she boarded a media bus to the university ahead of the Hillary Clinton-Donald Trump debate and USA Today reporter Eliza Collins tweeted about it. Stein had planned to hold a “Let Jill Debate” protest outside the event, which she and Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson were excluded from.

Officials say Stein was removed because she didn’t have the proper credentials. “She was on the college campus, we asked to verify for proper credentials, she did not have them, and she was nicely escorted off the campus,” a police spokeswoman tells CNN. Stein went on to live-tweet the debate, offering her own answers, as well as lines like: “I’d be terrified with Trump’s finger on the button but I’d also be terrified with Clinton’s finger on the button.” Johnson also live-tweeted the Hofstra debate. “Neither of these candidates is willing to stand up for free trade. Why am I not at these debates?” he wondered.

Good for her!

Personally I feel that parties that give candidates at every election should be included….especially those with national attention regardless of the poll numbers.

There should be an independent group that controls the debates…..the media is NOT a good source of unbiased BS…….there should be a switch that cuts the candidate off when they digress into campaign posturing….issues only needs to be the rule.

Jill Stein on U.S. Policy in the Mideast

My regular readers know that I am thinking Green and that I firmly believe that foreign policy will be the most telling of issue in this election….

I have written extensively about the positions of the two major candidates and their issues on foreign policy….but I have written very little on the stands of the Green Party candidate, Dr. Jill Stein……and then I found an interview with her on this subject…..

The foreign policy positions of third-party candidates haven’t received a great deal of media attention in the 2016 presidential election, but that could change in the weeks ahead as polls continue to tighten in crucial battleground states.

“[M]ost voters think/assume that Clinton is going to win. That can de-motivate turnout, or shift votes to [third] parties,” tweeted elections analyst Nate Silver.

RealClearWorld had the opportunity this week to discuss a variety of foreign policy issues with Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein. This email interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Source: Jill Stein on U.S. Policy in the Mideast | RealClearWorld

Nothing in this interview would change my mind on Dr. Stein…..her answers to the few questions were commonsense answers that I can live with….

Voters need to look at all aspects of their candidates positions….just to follow someone because of rhetoric is sheer lunacy…..look what it has wrought in the last 50 years…..

These may not make sense to you….but to anyone that knows about international relations they make perfect sense and are positions that could end many of the conflicts we do NOT need.

That’s it for today my friends…I am off to lecture…..will be back tomorrow….

Eugene V. Debs–Consummate 3rd Party Candidate

I was once asked why I thought that a third party candidate could eve be successful…..it is a good question but usually asked by someone that has all their hopes tied to the major party candidates….Americans seem to always look for change and to put their desire in the hands of the two parties….and as of yet they are always disappointed…..and yet they do it all over again with the next election.

But to answer the question…..Eugene Victor “Gene” Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies), and five times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States. Through his presidential candidacies, as well as his work with labor movements, Debs eventually became one of the best-known socialists living in the United States.

Maybe this short video will help explain the person and his politics…..

Another historical perspective brought to you by the mind of the old professor…..

I have always been a person that looks for the principles of a said group….if they are positive in my mind then I shall follow them to whatever end they search.

I have also always been a Left leaning politico….their issues are more in-line with my thinking……I have gone mainstream occasionally….and each time I have been badly disappointed…..I try to learn from my mistakes.

This election, 2016, is no different……the candidates for the two major parties are a disappointment to me….NOTHING good will come from this election…..NOTHING!

Why Your Third-Party Vote Is Not Wasted

The key word in the title is N-O-T!

As I predicted I have been hit with a bit of a BS thing when people learn that I am leaning for an alternative candidate….in my case it is Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party.

I have been getting the usual cowardly predictions of doom and gloom if I vote that way….or that I am crazy for not following the sheep and voting for one of the worthless candidates we have this time. I vote for issues and principles…I care NOTHING for rhetoric.

First let me say…BITE ME! It is my vote and I will give it to whoever I want. Plus I refuse to let some nose picking ass scratcher dictate to me when it comes to voting.

If Americans truly cared about their country then they would research what is best before voting….but they had rather let some mental midget like Alex Jones or a handful of MSM pundits tell them where to place their vote.

It was in George Washington’s Farewell Address that he warned political parties would be “potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of government.”

This is exactly what’s happened as both parties serve moneyed interests rather than the will and the common good of the American people.

According to Pew Research, in the 2000 Presidential election cycle, 29 percent of voters were Independent. Gallup’s most recent poll brings that percentage up to a stunning 42 percent, compared to 26 percent Republicans and 29 percent Democrats.

Source: Independents Decide 42% Of The Vote. Why Your Third-Party Vote Is Not Wasted – Collective Evolution

If the voter truly wanted to “Make America Great Again” then they would spend more time learning about the candidates and less time bending over for their masters. They could see the flaws and see the weaknesses….but sadly they cannot see past some vague message that has nothing to do with their governing style.

For me issues are far more important than the platitudes I am giving by the major candidates….I do NOT fall for slogans……I want to see answers to the important questions of our time…..so far I got NOTHING from the 2 “biggies”…

You vote for the idiots….I will vote for solutions…..whether they win or not.

Jill Stein Should Be America’s First Female President

I admit it…I am thinking Green for this election….I cannot find one thing that I like about the two major candidates…..one is a loud-mouth and the other a consummate liar…..

Unlike most voters I am not afraid of a 3rd party candidate……and the best one this election is one Dr. Jill Stein.

It is interesting to see how I am getting push back for the bobble-heads on the Right…these are the same people that hate the “establishment” in DC bit will vote for someone to go there and”change” things….(pause here for raucous laughter)…….the whole superiority of the 2 party thing is just pathetic!

Like I said I am thinking Green and here is why……

Source: Dr. Cornel West Is Right, Jill Stein Should Be America’s First Female President

Dr. Stein at least has principles…..something that other woman cannot say…..

Think Green!

Jill Stein Should Be Part of a 4-Way Presidential Debate

It is only a matter of weeks before we have our first debate between the Mouth and The Warmonger….but to be fair there should be two other candidates in this debate…Gary Johnson and Dr, Jill Stein……

If a candidate is on the state’s ballot then they should be part of the process…..polling should have nothing to do with the debates…..

After the Republicans and Democrats finished their conventions in late July, the Green Party gathered this month to nominate Dr. Jill Stein for the presidency.

fter the Republicans and Democrats finished their conventions in late July, the Green Party gathered this month to nominate Dr. Jill Stein for the presidency. Stein’s campaign—with her party on ballot lines in the majority of states, and her poll numbers surging ahead of Green numbers from recent presidential elections—has the potential to be a breakthrough bid for the Greens, and for a more robust democracy.

Stein recognized the prospect in an optimistic yet urgent acceptance speech in which she spoke of “unstoppable momentum for transformational change.” The candidate who talks of ushering in a “Green New Deal” told the Green Party Convention that the party has “an historic opportunity, an historic responsibility to be the agents of that change. As Martin Luther King said, ‘the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.’ I know that arc is bending in us, and through us. And we are actors in something much bigger than us as we struggle for justice, for peace, for community, for healing.”

Source: Jill Stein Should Be Part of a 4-Way Presidential Debate | The Nation

This would be fair and balanced….but we all know that the political process has nothing to do with “fair and balanced”……and the media will not do the right thing….they want to be the “king maker”…..so qualified candidates will not be part of the debates..

Everyone these days see the problems with this system and yet they do NOTHING to see it changed……debates with all qualified candidates would go a long way to help change occur…..

Stein and Johnson have earned the right to be part of this process…..

Did Green Party Pitch for ‘Greater Good’ Resonate with National Audience?

I have constantly stated that this election was in need of a good alternative to the two major candidates….neither of which will do anything to make this a better country….

On Wednesday, 17Aug2016, CNN did something that NO other network will do…they gave an outlet to alternative candidates….first it was the Libertarians and Johnson and now it was Stein of the Green Party…..below is an op-ed on the subject…….

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and vice presidential candidate Ajamu Baraka took part in CNN’s first Green Party town hall Wednesday night, laying out their proposals to abolish all student debt, establish a single-payer healthcare system, create a foreign policy based on humanitarian values, and to establish a “Green New Deal” that would both create millions of jobs nationwide and help transition the country to 100 percent renewable energy by 2030.

Source: Did Green Party Pitch for ‘Greater Good’ Resonate with National Audience? | Common Dreams | Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community

I watched and I liked what I saw and heard…..but that is me…..confused voters or those on the fence need to at least give the Green Party a look….I think they can find something in their platform that would appeal to their sensibilities….

In case you missed the town hall on CNN…..I had considered given my breakdown of the townhall but if the reader is not interested they will just blow it off….but if there is interests then why not form your own opinion……

Anything would be better than the two sleazoids that come from the major parties…

Let me reiterate….Think Green!

Beyond A Protest Party

I am not a supporter of either of the two major candidates……basically because they are jokes….one is a self-centered dick and the other is a war hawk slobbering over the chance to start more conflicts and make her M-IC handlers smile.

If you are like me then you have two other choices….the Libertarian Party or the Green Party to which I am leaning……

The Libertarians have some good points on the international stage and on privacy issues but their stands on the domestic economic stuff is a bit scary….at least to me.

That leaves the Green Party and Dr. Jill Stein.

But what does the Green Party need to do to start winning the voters over?

To move beyond symbolism, the Green Party needs a strong infrastructure and a commitment to down-ticket elections.

There wasn’t fancy catering, blaring music or the release of thousands of balloons at the Green Party’s presidential nominating convention in Houston, Texas. Nor was there the presence of thousands of cops from dozens of state and federal agencies, or hundreds of cameras snapping photos as mainstream television reporters prepared outside for live standups.

Rather, one bored-looking campus security officer stood outside the University of Houston’s (UH) multipurpose room as the party’s media coordinators handwrote my press credentials and handed me the weekend’s schedule of events. One might not even know a convention for a political party was happening at the campus at all — many UH students I spoke to over the weekend didn’t.

Source: Beyond a Protest Party: What Will It Take for the Green Party to Start Winning?

If you are not a nose picker or a secret war hawk then there is a logical choice for your vote……