Nine months ago a USA Today/Gallup Poll showed that a slim majority (52%) of Americans were in favor of a third political party. The margin was larger in favor of a third party by Republicans than by Democrats. While disgust with congress and both parties seems to be at an all time high, would having a new third party really help or become an obstacle. It should be clear that no one wants a repeat of the gridlock that almost shut down the government in August 2011 and then was partially responsible for the governments credit rating downgrade.
Now some will say that the Tea Party which was responsible for electing a new batch of lawmakers in both the congress and senate in 2010 is that party, those same people should also note that the Tea Party is not really a political party. The Tea party candidates are all registered Republicans and no political party is registered as the Tea Party. As there are no clear cut real numbers of percentage of Tea Party voters versus Republican because of the conservative overlap effect we can go by the 2008 statistics to give us an idea of the voter makeup in this country. As of 2008, 36% identified themselves as Democrats, and just 27% as Republicans. That leaves the biggest percentage to the independent voter at 37%. Of those 15% lean Democratic, 10% lean Republican, and 12% have no leaning either way. Obviously these numbers can change drastically in an election based on current events and the candidates involved. What these numbers do show is that the majority of voters are independent and their core beliefs fall somewhere between both parties platforms.
With a new elections on the horizon America is now being inundated with countless debates and political ads by the Republican parties for president. The candidates for the same party are fighting and mudslinging at unprecedented levels about who is more conservative and who best follows the party platform. But is that what the average Republican voter wants? Is that what the average Independent voter wants? Even those registered as Democrats who would vote a Republican, is that what they want? Does the average voter really believe in their parties platform 100%? Depending on how it is worded my guess is that if a poll were created you might be able to get a high majority over 50% of voters to agree to a platform that took from both. So for the sake of argument one could suppose that a third party could be viable and doable and even successful. But is it really necessary?
There are currently approximately 40 registered political parties in America. All have their platforms and members etc. Some are considered bigger than others. So would adding another party really help when we already have this many? Having more lawmakers from more parties with differing viewpoints and platforms could cause more gridlock than we already have.
Maybe the real answer lies not with addition but with subtraction. Maybe a much better alternative would be the elimination of political parties. Candidates and lawmakers whose core beliefs are the constitution and representing the majority of American people and doing what is in all of we the people’s best interests. Let their core beliefs and values stand on their own instead of a party platform. Then let the voters decide. If this is all just wishful thinking that any party would give up their special interests and political power for the better of the people and nation then maybe we should have a new majority third party. Maybe it should be called the Common Sense Party.