Time’s a’wasting
make our votes count instead of wasting them?
I truly believe America needs a third political party because no matter whom we elect, little seems to change. The French have a saying for this paradox: “Plus que ca change, plus c’est la meme chose,” “The more things change, the more they remain the same.”
America’s only two really successful third party movements began with significant ideological differences. In the early nineteenth century the antiJackson Whigs gave us two presidents (actually four; Harrison and Taylor died in office) and many congressmen, including Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and an upstart from Illinois name Abraham something-or-other. And the Republicans began as an antislavery party in 1852 and haven’t done too badly. Third party movements today should begin with clearly-defined principles and preferably at the grass-roots level. And they must be capable of electing a president, vice president and a congress. In this campaign Bernie Sanders’ ego trip has provided a vent for our frustrations and little else.
History reveals that extreme political polarization tends to discourage public interest and voter participation. Among modern democracies today our record is an abysmal 31st out of 34 in voter turnout. And today only 65 percent of Americans eligible to vote are even registered. Not only a disgrace, that’s plumb scary. In social psychology this would be termed “mass learned helplessness.”
There is no longer any ideological overlap or balance in our two-party system. Moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats are a thing of the past. “Democrat” and “Republican” have become mere synonyms for “liberal” and “conservative.” But compromise, no matter how ego-deflating or ideologically-distasteful, is usually more advantageous to both parties and their constituents in the long run than today’s bull-headed, categorical refusal to negotiate, mainly by the GOP.
Today a majority of Democrats and Republicans and 60 percent of independents, our largest constituency, agree that a third party is needed in 2020. Due to the difficulties involved in securing a place on the primary ballots, participating in the presidential debates etc., the time to begin organizing is now, not the year before the campaign begins. America’s future depends on what we do today. Are we up to it?
George B. Reed Jr., who lives in Rossville, can be reached by email at reed1600@bellsouth.net.