Comments on: Who Will "Americans Elect" Elect? http://www.chrisweigant.com/2012/03/08/who-will-americans-elect-elect/ Reality-based political commentary Thu, 30 Apr 2026 02:50:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: dsws http://www.chrisweigant.com/2012/03/08/who-will-americans-elect-elect/#comment-20067 dsws Fri, 09 Mar 2012 21:07:24 +0000 http://www.chrisweigant.com/?p=5311#comment-20067 As I said in the other thread http://www.chrisweigant.com/2012/03/07/republican-factionalisms-future/#comment-20064, three parties doesn't work with single-seat plurality elections. As I said in the other thread http://www.chrisweigant.com/2012/03/07/republican-factionalisms-future/#comment-20064, three parties doesn't work with single-seat plurality elections.

]]> By: Andrew Barrientos http://www.chrisweigant.com/2012/03/08/who-will-americans-elect-elect/#comment-20062 Andrew Barrientos Fri, 09 Mar 2012 15:11:31 +0000 http://www.chrisweigant.com/?p=5311#comment-20062 Would 3 parties work well to promote policy for people? Could we evolve from Left/Right banter and engage in meaningful conversation? I hope so... Issues of today do not appear any different than they were many years ago: Illegal Immigration, Jobs, Social Welfare, Personal Freedom, Lobbying, Minimum Wage, Undeclared War, International Meddling, Corporate and Government Corruption. Both Democrats and Republicans have had their fair in each of them and neither has resolved the issues all together. Personally I welcome a third party in hopes that it will act as a focusing beam on these issues and set aside the petty politics that pollute polite social discourse. shhhh... 'I voted Ross Perot' Would 3 parties work well to promote policy for people? Could we evolve from Left/Right banter and engage in meaningful conversation? I hope so...

Issues of today do not appear any different than they were many years ago: Illegal Immigration, Jobs, Social Welfare, Personal Freedom, Lobbying, Minimum Wage, Undeclared War, International Meddling, Corporate and Government Corruption.

Both Democrats and Republicans have had their fair in each of them and neither has resolved the issues all together. Personally I welcome a third party in hopes that it will act as a focusing beam on these issues and set aside the petty politics that pollute polite social discourse.

shhhh... 'I voted Ross Perot'

]]> By: Hawk Owl http://www.chrisweigant.com/2012/03/08/who-will-americans-elect-elect/#comment-20059 Hawk Owl Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:05:28 +0000 http://www.chrisweigant.com/?p=5311#comment-20059 Paula, I fond myself nodding (in agreement & also admiration) for your thoughtful comments. The one line which made me pause in frustration (not at you) was your observation that Kucinich "has never been able to convince the bulk of the country or even the party to follow him." It's accurate, but I can't help thinking this "failure" is not so much his shortcoming as the way he fails to fit in with the "horserace" dramatizing which is the media's default position for evoking adrenalin in their readers/viewers/tweeters, etc. Thanks, again. Paula, I fond myself nodding (in agreement & also admiration) for your thoughtful comments. The one line which made me pause in frustration (not at you)
was your observation that Kucinich "has never been able to convince the bulk of the country or even the party to follow him." It's accurate, but I can't help thinking this "failure" is not so much his shortcoming as the way he fails to fit in with the "horserace" dramatizing which is the media's default position for evoking adrenalin in their readers/viewers/tweeters, etc. Thanks, again.

]]> By: Paula http://www.chrisweigant.com/2012/03/08/who-will-americans-elect-elect/#comment-20054 Paula Fri, 09 Mar 2012 02:53:28 +0000 http://www.chrisweigant.com/?p=5311#comment-20054 Hey Chris: If the candidate is Bloomberg or Huntsman or similar, Repubs will be siphoned off, helping Obama win. Most unhappy Dems are unhappy because Obama has been too "moderate", not because he's been "too progressive". Meanwhile, I don't think many Dems would rally around Kucinich, even though he's clearly more "progressive". He has earned deserved kudos for his fealty to his principles, but he has never been able to convince the bulk of the country or even the party to follow him. I think he functions more as an activist than a politician -- he succeeds in getting certain topics on the table occasionally that otherwise wouldn't, rather like Ron Paul on the other side. Warren's busy running for the Senate and would probably, correctly in my view, see a run in this third party as a waste of time. (Ditto Bernie Sanders.) Which is what it would be. As has been written elsewhere, one of the reasons there isn't going to be a white knight for the repubs is that it takes a lot of organization and money to mount effective campaigns. And separate from the challenge of mounting GOTV efforts and recruiting sufficient volunteers, I just don't think this is the election year for "centrists". One of the reasons Obama's approvals have been improving is because he's stopped being so conciliatory. At the same time the repubs have recently been so publicly extreme that they are managing to simultaneously terrify and motivate women into wanting to get rid of them. Enough, I think, to get women to the polls who might not have bothered a year ago. What kind of winning message would a "Centrist" be able to construct in this environment? Hey Chris:

If the candidate is Bloomberg or Huntsman or similar, Repubs will be siphoned off, helping Obama win. Most unhappy Dems are unhappy because Obama has been too "moderate", not because he's been "too progressive".

Meanwhile, I don't think many Dems would rally around Kucinich, even though he's clearly more "progressive". He has earned deserved kudos for his fealty to his principles, but he has never been able to convince the bulk of the country or even the party to follow him. I think he functions more as an activist than a politician -- he succeeds in getting certain topics on the table occasionally that otherwise wouldn't, rather like Ron Paul on the other side.

Warren's busy running for the Senate and would probably, correctly in my view, see a run in this third party as a waste of time. (Ditto Bernie Sanders.)

Which is what it would be. As has been written elsewhere, one of the reasons there isn't going to be a white knight for the repubs is that it takes a lot of organization and money to mount effective campaigns. And separate from the challenge of mounting GOTV efforts and recruiting sufficient volunteers, I just don't think this is the election year for "centrists". One of the reasons Obama's approvals have been improving is because he's stopped being so conciliatory. At the same time the repubs have recently been so publicly extreme that they are managing to simultaneously terrify and motivate women into wanting to get rid of them. Enough, I think, to get women to the polls who might not have bothered a year ago.

What kind of winning message would a "Centrist" be able to construct in this environment?

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