Many conservatives put their faith in the two party system, hoping some candidate will reform the Republicans.
Rand Paul, who offers a few positive takes on some key issues, recently said: “I’ve been there. I’ve seen what it’s like in the third-party world. Our system is directed to the two parties and I made the decision when I started running for political office that I am a constitutional conservative and Libertarian-leaning Republican.”
Constitutional Republican? Sadly, Rand Paul seems to to be just another politician out to reform the GOP. It’s not going to happen, and worse, he offers the same failed path for patriots seeking real solutions. That road that must come from outside the elitist-controlled political parties. I wish he knew better.
Constitution Party founder Howard Phillips clearly stated why America needs the Constitution Party: “To capture the Presidency for an agenda of Constitutional renewal, we need a political instrument with clarity of principle and unity of purpose — one willing to offer a change in direction as well as a switch of drivers.”
We are out to change the system and with your support we are making progress. I urge you to visit our national webpage: it has a new look and is easy to navigate. It’s a refresher course on what we believe and our plans for winning.
When talking to friends and family about our Constitution Party, I often refer to what John Adams said:
There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.
Here’s a good take on spoilers, which didn’t happen according to this article from a former legislator. https://billingsnews.com/index.php/commentary/4015-libertarians-innocent-of-republican-losses
It is largely the fear of being one, that drives the effect known as Duverger’s law and which spurs supporters of a multi-party system to support some kind of electoral reform like IRV etc. It’s also the fear of the possibility which drives major-party candidates to try to appeal to, or pander to if your prefer, third-party voters.
And I wouldn’t say it’s a total myth that third parties can act as a spoiler, as that term is commonly understood, just that it’s rarely true of the LP because we (unlike the Greens or CP) don’t pull almost exclusively or even predominantly from just the left or just the right. That’s also why it wasn’t true of Perot, who wasn’t a libertarian and wasn’t exactly a centrist, but did pull almost exactly evenly from otherwise-D and otherwise-R voters because he had a pretty evenly-mixed platform of things that appealed to both. And at a minimum for it to even possibly be true, the third-party candidate has to *at least* have beat the spread, which by itself is a minority of third-party candidacies even before you get into the actual breakdown of their voters’ second choices.
That Libertarians are spoilers isn’t backed by facts. But, even if we were, why would we care? Neither the Democrats or Repbulicans deserve my votes because they don’t represent my values.
I agree that the system is in need of reform and am a big fan of IRV, but alt. party candidates are not spoilers, that is a myth peddled by the lamestream media.
Third parties will be spoilers unless we implement some form of range voting over the objections of our two party duopoly. We will continue to have bad government until there is some reform.
http://www.seconnecticut.com/irv.htm
That email blast is a serving of weak tea.
Rand has completely misread his dad’s appeal. As many were drawn to the substance of his message, that many more were drawn to his status as an outsider, as are the Trump and Sanders supporters now. Rand spent too much political capital trying to be an insider. Now if only Libertarians and Greens could tap into the “Fuck It ’16” vote the way Don & Bernie have.
You are right. Not “everyone”. My wife is one of three people left in the country that still sends him money!
NF, I’m not sure about “everyone,” but I hear you. Presumably the more dogmatic a person is, the less latitude he or she is willing to allow for deviations from the One True Way. RP1 seemed better positioned to maintain support of the most dogmatic than RP2 has thus far.
I guess this is what happens when you try to be libertarian, conservative and even constitutionalist all at the same time. His father pulled it off but Rand just keeps pissing everyone off!