Third Parties

I saw a recent news article about how Rep. Ron Paul was going to have sort of a competing convention at the same time and almost across the street from the Republican National Convention in August and it got me thinking - why would anyone who actually cares about what he says he believes do something that, by its very nature, will, if successful, produce an outcome that is the exact opposite of what he would want.

Ron Paul is a very principled member of Congress from Texas and has decided to run as a third candidate for president this year. Libertarian in viewpoint, he is a good speaker and takes very consistent positions, most of which are conservative except for the typical Libertarian indifference to abortion and homosexual activism. But, he is an isolationist so he's against the war in Iraq. This may draw some votes from both Barack Obama and John McCain, but not enough to give him the presidency. He has to know this; he's a smart man. He also has to know that while Democrats are determined, Republicans are fickle, so the likely outcome of his effort will be to give the election to Obama, an outcome that he should dread, along with every other person who claims to be conservative.

Elections are not so much about government as they are about power; power over other people. So while Ron Paul is apparently pleased to insure that power goes to those who abhor just about everything he stands for, those who might vote for him seem equally indifferent to the actual outcome of the election. People who vote for fringe candidates, while they may have an argument that they are being true to their principles, are guaranteeing victory to the opponent with whom they agree the least. It is one of the most bizarre phenomena in American politics.

Many countries in Europe have a parliamentary system which can function with numerous parties, everyone having a say. But in America, both the Republicans and Democrats are jealous of their power, and while they may not cooperate on anything much that would do the American people any good, they have together created a system in which it is almost impossible for a third party to prosper to any extent. Yes, there are one or two members of Congress from third parties, and I believe a senator or two, but no third party has ever captured the presidency since Republicans and Democrats became the two major parties. Former president Theodore Roosevelt tried to run as a third party candidate after losing the Republican Party nomination to Robert Taft in 1912. His candidacy doomed Taft precisely because of his popularity, and Democrat Woodrow Wilson took the prize. More recently, H. Ross Perot ran as a conservative third party candidate and gave TWO elections to Bill Clinton. There are those of us who believe that he did us no favors there.

So, my friends, if you intend to vote, please vote responsibly. We have five candidates for president now that I know of who could take a sizable number of votes in this election - the two major party candidates, Ron Paul who will siphon votes from the Republicans, Bob Barr, who will siphon votes from the Republicans, and Ralph Nader who will siphon votes from the Democrats. In addition, if you look carefully at your ballot this November, you'll see a whole line of names of people almost nobody but their relatives ever heard of seeking the presidency.

But this is a two-party system. The Democrats and Republicans have rigged it that way using tactics too arcane to discuss here. There are only two candidates who matter - Obama and McCain. If you are conservative and don't think McCain is conservative enough, voting for your favorite "real" conservative will put a hardcore liberal in the White House. If you are liberal and don't think Obama is liberal enough, same thing on the other side.

This election is critical for a host of reasons, not least the makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court and whatever progress we hope to make in the war Islamic terrorists started against us. I urge you to vote, but not to throw your vote away by guaranteeing victory to your worst nightmare.

JDK