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Title: Paul: Reject the major parties, go for a third
Source:
AP
URL Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5 ... SnR4V9L_yGzr2USAwY4BQD933IPV02
Published: Sep 9, 2008
Author: SUZANNE GAMBOA and SAM HANANEL
Post Date: 2008-09-09 22:41:13 by a vast rightwing conspirator
Keywords: None
Views: 155
Comments: 10
Paul: Reject the major parties, go for a third By SUZANNE GAMBOA and SAM HANANEL – 31 minutes ago WASHINGTON (AP) — Libertarian-leaning congressman Ron Paul is urging voters to reject John McCain and Barack Obama and support one of the third-party candidates for president. Paul, a Republican who abandoned his White House bid earlier this year, is gathering some of the candidates, independent Ralph Nader among them, on Wednesday to make his plea. "The strongest message can be sent by rejecting the two party system," Paul said in prepared remarks obtained by The Associated Press. "This can be accomplished by voting for one of the non-establishment, principled candidates." He recommended Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party, former Georgia Republican Rep. Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party, former Georgia Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney of the Green Party and possibly others. He invited them to his news conference Wednesday. Paul won no primaries in the Republican nomination contest but developed a strong following on the Internet and set a single-day record for raising money online. Thousands attended his protest last week near the GOP convention in St. Paul, Minn. Some Republicans have been concerned Paul could siphon votes from the party in the same way Democrats accused Nader of doing in 2000 when he ran under the Green Party banner. But when Nader ran in 2004 as an independent, he garnered just 0.3 percent of the vote from 34 states. The Constitution, Green and Libertarian candidates received even fewer votes. Nader claims he has enough signatures to get on the ballot in 45 states this year. Nader predicted the gathering of third-party candidates would "raise the eyebrows" of pundits who are skeptical of the viability of independent presidential campaigns. The candidates will agree on several common issues they believe are being ignored by the major parties. "This is the beginning of the realignment of American politics," Nader said. Paul espouses limited government and individual responsibility. He is a critic of election laws that he says are designed to prevent third-party candidates from getting on ballots and participating in debates.
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#1. To: Cynicom (#0)
Now... who was right all along? Hmmm? Paul finally admits that legitimizing the GOP party through his candidacy, seeking a nomination that he could NOT possibly get, maybe wasn't such a good idea. His run as a GOP was a waste of time and all it did was to make it easier for the libby-leaning GOPs to support McCain. Interesting, isn't it?
Antiparty - find out why, think about 'how'
*sigh* - Here we go again. Support a third party that has ZERO chance of being elected. Arrrrgh. Look, folks, the game is rigged, OK? Let me put that even more clearly: THE GAME IS RIGGED. You can vote for a Republican or a Democrat of your choice, that's it. Third parties are SO disadvantaged that it's not even funny. It's like a swimming match where two guys get rocket powered flippers, and everyone else gets a 200 pound anchor hung around their necks. It's like a road race where two drivers get the latest in Indy car technology, and everyone else gets a tricycle. It's like a hurdles race where two lanes have hurdles that are six inches tall, and everyone else has a series of 20 foot high brick walls with broken bottles set in the tops. The game is RIGGED. Third parties have NO chance whatsoever.
#2. To: a vast rightwing conspirator (#0)
 | Gold and silver are REAL money, paper is but a promise. |
#3. To: Elliott Jackalope (#2)
You are correct that it is rigged. The two majors have colluded in writing campaign laws and such that make it virtually impossible; and what they didn't at the fed level has been completed at the state level by the two parties working with those cohorts to do the same. Third parties have to jump thru hoops that the two majors have avoided because 'they've already been there so long, blah blah blah'. Wish I could remember the years, the hearings, etc., held a number of years ago shown on CSPAN where the two parties were back patting each other; complete with their special table set up for first one party, and then the other; and then when it came to third parties, there was something like 10 - 15 people sitting at this table, with this including academicians, along with attorneys and 3rd party representatives. Would make for a good showing to non-believers. And what gets me is people who believe that merely being on the ballot in some states will get them someplace! Oh well, perhaps in their lifetime, if they live long enough, they will see for themselves.
#4. To: Elliott Jackalope (#2)
The alternatives are: 1) Don't vote at all 2) Vote for Republicrat or Demipublican Clones. Truth is, if enough people weren't convinced that their third party protest vote was a "waste," Third Parties would be getting double digit support rather than fractions of one percent. Not enough to win an election, but enough to make their agendas impossible to ignore.
Support a third party that has ZERO chance of being elected
#5. To: Rupert_Pupkin (#4)
There is one option that at least has some appeal to it: Vote ONLY against incumbents, regardless of party. VTBO / DRIP (Vote The Bastards Out / Don't Return Incumbent Politicians). Out of all of the options we have available to us, that would seem to me to be the one that has the best chance of producing at least some positive results.
| Gold and silver are REAL money, paper is but a promise. |
#6. To: Elliott Jackalope, YertleTurtle (#5)
On another thread, Turtle said that the best strategy is to have one party in the Executive and the other in the Legislative Branch, because it guarantees partison gridlock (keeping up the two party charade) and as little harm as possible. That's probably the best voting strategy. The best of our bad options is to hope for a GOP Congress with Obummer as President. McKeating with a Democratic Congress would be the next best thing, if it weren't for all of Mad Mac's good friends in the Democratic Party.
#7. To: Rupert_Pupkin (#6)
Actually, given current polls and trends, I'd say it's more likely that the GOP is going to lose badly in the Congressional races, but eke out a victory in the Presidential contest. So, Democratic Congress, Republican Executive. Then we can just sit back and count the days until McInsane loses his temper and starts the next World War. Fun times for everyone.
| Gold and silver are REAL money, paper is but a promise. |
#8. To: Elliott Jackalope (#7)
He's giddy with the thought of being put in charge of the big toys: 
-Schweizerische Schutzenseitunt (Swiss Shooting Federation) April, 1941
#9. To: Elliott Jackalope (#5)
That's probably a good strategy if a lot of people would use it. I think that the focus on term limits in 1994 was wrong. I'd prefer that elected and appointed officials get no pension plans at all. That would prevent career politicians.
Rivers of blood were spilled out over land that, in normal times, not even the poorest Arab would have worried his head over." Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
#10. To: Elliott Jackalope (#7) (Edited)
And when Mad Mac wants to start World War III, the Democratic Congress will do nothing to stop him (even though they say that they would to get elected). Most Democrats are sold on neocon foreign policy, and those who aren't are so afraid of being tarred as "unpatriotic" to offer any opposition.
Actually, given current polls and trends, I'd say it's more likely that the GOP is going to lose badly in the Congressional races, but eke out a victory in the Presidential contest. So, Democratic Congress, Republican Executive. Then we can just sit back and count the days until McInsane loses his temper and starts the next World War. Fun times for everyone
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