Is the Time Ripe for a New Party?

To answer this question, two contributing questions must be answered: Is a new party necessary, and is it possible? These answers are straightforward:

  1. Most of us will agree that change is necessary. So, if the political monopoly formed by our twin party tyranny is beyond reform, then a new party is necessary.
  2. New parties started from scratch have never yet grown powerful after the first parties in our nation formed and thereafter blocked all new ones; but new parties arising from the break-up of failing major parties have succeeded! So, at least when this condition is met, it actually is possible.

So, how does the land currently lay?

With the two major parties dominating for such a long time, it seems impossible to many Americans that a new party could successfully form and grow to where it can take over and serve the people instead of the 1% and their corporations. Our antiquated electoral system imposes the domination of two major parties and turns third parties and candidates into election spoilers that may divide up all the good votes so that an unpopular evil candidate can win. Therefore, habitually, too few Americans dare to vote for new parties. And so – despite the fact that, for a number of years, the majority of Americans has been wishing for a new party alternative – faith in its realization is still shaky. Maybe no longer rightly so. Circumstances make all the difference. What are the circumstances?

We currently have a mass exodus of people from the “Democratic” Party after its very undemocratic tampering with last year’s presidential primaries and its continued, stubborn dedication to its corporate paymasters in the face of a public awakening and outrage about its GOP-like corruption (examples: tampering with last year’s primaries, the rewarding of corrupt former party chairwomen, the selection of Tom Perez as the new party chairman, failure to vote for cheaper medications or demand Medicare for All, failure to oppose oligarchs in the new presidential cabinet, the continued soliciting and taking of massive amounts of corporate money with strings attached, pushing for yet another catastrophic war, and so on).

The millions of political refugees leaving the “Democratic” Party need a new party to go to. We also have independents as the largest voter block nowadays (at least 40%). These are people who already felt unrepresented by the party duopoly years ago and are ready for a new party which WILL represent them. Last, but not least, we have a vastly popular politician, the most popular politician in all of America and in a long time, who has been trying to bring people back into the hemorrhaging “Democratic” Party in his effort to return that party to its people-rather-than-corporations-serving core principles it had decades ago. But even he hasn’t been able to do so. Nor does the “Democratic” Party show any signs of letting itself be reformed, not even recently. It’s upper reaches are filled to the brim with unscrupulous bribe-takers who happily sell out the people, just like the Republican Party, and it has been proven time and again that these crooks won’t release their strangle-hold as long as the party and its undemocratic structures still live. All the “Democratic” Party does these days, is block a representative choice for American voters, and we are becoming aware of that.

When you sum it all up, it looks like there remains only one way forward: form a new party from the fragments of the crumbling “Democratic” Party, preferably under the leadership of that most popular politician (Bernie Sanders) who is most popular because he DOES represent all the disgusted, unrepresented people among independents, Dem-refugees, and even traditional GOP voters. This mix of circumstances is exactly what destroyed the predecessors of our current major parties and created our current major parties centuries ago from the ashes of their disintegrating predecessors. So, current circumstances make a new major party in our country both necessary and possible — and even our most likely of all conceivable solutions. Something to think about, isn’t it?

Before you think that all this is mere theory, a movement has already formed to perform a modern repeat of Abraham Lincoln’s Whig-Exit and creation of the Republican Party (over the issue of slavery back then, over the issue of corporatism today), and in only three months since going public in alternative media (since our mass media will hush it up like it originally tried to hush up Sanders’ presidential campaign) it has already gathered over 30,000 signatures. Today, yes today, it is launching a phone storm of Bernie’s office to let him know of the growing movement and ask for his support.

For those who worry that Bernie Sanders might decline or hesitate too long, let’s not forget that in Bernie’s wake other people’s candidates have been rising and could take over for him when necessary. The issues represented by them matter tremendously to the majority of Americans.

By the way, as I explained before, in State of the Revolution, I don’t consider party reform attempts like those of Bernie Sanders, Brand New Congress, Our Revolution and the Justice Democrats mutually exclusive with this new party creation attempt. Rather, I see them as complementary. Reform and internal shake-up of the “Democratic” Party can pave the way for a new, better party; and the threat of a viable new party can soften the neoliberal/corporatist resistance and provide a contingency plan for us, the people, if (or when) the DP reform fails.

Things move quickly nowadays, sometimes too quickly to keep up. Here are some of my articles and posts about this new party movement, Draft Bernie for a People’s Party, if you wish to learn more:

1. A Party for The People without a Party (02/15/2017)
2. The Strongest Case for a Third Party (03/07/2017)
3. Three Punches for the People: #3 Third or New Parties (04/15/2017)
4. Highly Informative Interview about the New Party Movement (04/25/2017)
5. Are you ready for the New New Deal? (04/25/2017)

This article appeared first on my own Beanstock’s World (with more formatting and links since they get filtered out when pasting here).

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Alligator Ed's picture

Third parties which are viable, spring from schisms in existing parties, just like the Lincoln example you cited. The Democratic party is torn asunder, with Corruptodems hanging on to power and money for all they're worth (not much in my opinion).

A decisive march away from the Democrats, preferably led by America's most popular politician will permanently weaken the Democratic party, lowering its prestige and power to the equivalent of a third party, coequal to the newly liberated Left-wing of the old Democratic Party.

The rise of Donald Trump is also having repercussions in the Republican Party, though not yet so obvious as the chasm in the Democratic facade of unity. The Libertarian wing, which early supported Trump for his anti-war stance, is now becoming disillusioned with him. Their numbers are relatively small. I don't know whether Rand Paul has sufficient savvy or charisma to start up a newer version of the existing, relatively feeble Libertarian Party. But this is worth a thought.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Alligator Ed They're trying to circulate the idea that the Republicans are fragmented and the Democrats are coming together.

They're so fucking transparent with their stupid pre-made narratives.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Pluto's Republic's picture

…to break the duopoly, if nothing else.

And the Dem Establishment & Elite are just the folks to go start one. They know best how to get past the barriers they institutionalized to block the forward progress of third parties in the US.

The real Democratic Party will do much better guided by its FDR roots, which should take center stage. This is where America's Left can establish strong pro-peace values that will lead the Party to stand, once again, for the benefit of the American people and for future generations.

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
Hawkfish's picture

@Pluto's Republic In our first past the post executive elections, it's really the only long term stable state.

Which doesn't mean another party can't rise (like the GOP did) and switch us to another duopoly. Just don't expect wider choice over the long term.

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We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg

Pluto's Republic's picture

@Hawkfish

The mathematics of winner-take-all elections, rather than proportional representation is actually what causes a two-party system to become like a block of cement. The key feature of the resulting duopoly is that it pleases almost no one. There is no nuance in direction or vision, so half the population is completely infuriated at any one time. And, the top-down "deals" and dogmas of the Parties ensures that the entire population is unrepresented most of the time. Furthermore, mathematical models demonstrate that winner-take-all duopolies make a third party structurally insupportable, often resulting in election outcomes that are the opposite of the sincere intention of the majority. This built-in adversity in the system can last for a decade or longer and derail the future of an entire generation. When both Parties in a duopoly are corrupted by money or power, the population is trapped in a failed state with no way out.

It's hard to create a more discredited democracy than this antiquated mess does in the US.

Here's how that happens:

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____________________

The political system is what it is because the People are who they are. — Plato
Hawkfish's picture

@Pluto's Republic Thanks for posting.

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We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg

Dirk Droll's picture

@Hawkfish Electoral reform could give us that wider choice. The Draft Bernie initiative plans for that to be on the new party's agenda, I believe.

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~ Dirk Droll: Exploiting others is not self reliance.

don't think a third party can co-exist and win within the political structure we have.

Nancy Pelosi just got a challenger and he's a 'pretty hard-core' Bernie Sanders supporter

San Francisco attorney Stephen R. Jaffe is a lifelong Democrat and he intends to do what no Democrat has been able to do so far: make it to a runoff election against House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Jaffe, 71, is an employment attorney who became a volunteer for the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign last year. [more]....

Something has to happen. I'm sick of losing. Everything and everyone is on the brink of disaster.

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"Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich."--Napoleon

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@dkmich It wouldn't be a third party for long. The only thing holding up the Dems is the fact that DHS now controls our elections. Oh, and the fact that the mainstream press is part of their political machinery.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Focus! No, I don't think time is right for a third party, I think it is too little, too late considering Citizens United has turned the system in to full blown oligarchy. There will never be enough voters because there is no democracy, but if you all want to keep pushing that boulder uphill go on. Start with the two states with the most "democracy"? CA and NY. Wall Street West and Wall Street East. The other 48 will love it.

More and more, the violent revolution is already happening upon the citizenry, the turning of the corporate screw. Third-party talk is political kabuki intended to distract from the asset-stripping reality. Tell how a third party is going to fix the broken economy, what are the steps? How long will it take? How many people are going to die while campaign money goes to high-priced consultants trying to buy votes? What about K Street? World War WTF? Any plan to build affordable housing?

The political class are stuck in first-world problem thinking, while half the country already slipped in to third-world living standards, politicians didn't even notice and now it's too late.

Thanks for asking. Smile

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@eyo
"It'll never work! You haven't figured out a precise endgame! Plus - people! You know how they are!"

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@FutureNow , She says, from curled inside her box. Ha! thanks for noticing. {hug}

Peace & Love

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@eyo Depends on what kind of party you're talking about. I'm thinking Black Panthers.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Big Al's picture

I can't imagine too many don't feel that way. The poll ratings of Congress are abysmal and have been for decades. If that ain't ripe I don't know what is.
It won't work but I encourage people to boycott and protest against the duopoly in any way they can. Perhaps that will work.
Highlight the mockery of our supposed democracy, use it against our masters who use that supposed democracy as their ticket to ransack the world.

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dance you monster's picture

I honestly don't think we have the time.

Climate Change is a locomotive bearing down on us, and two- or four- or six-year cycles to replace critters in DC are just not going to be fast enough. Besides, those in power are not planning to give up those seats. No one resists relinquishing power more than an officeholder who does not deserve it, and they have all the strings to pull. That goes for change within the Dems or outside their little (and getting littler) clubhouse.

We cannot prevent the Dems' demise. We could hasten it, if we chose to. That's a different topic, though.

Moreover, more intriguing to me right now is the thought of planning, and effecting, what will be possible after the system, the nation, the planet goes belly-up. If any of us is still around after the American "experiment" fails, what would we want to see to improve our chances of survival? We might, might, have time to bring some of that about.

So my contribution here took a dark turn. Sorry, but you asked. . . .

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is really necessary or wise, do you? Second, which newer US political parties do you consider have succeeded? I know of none since the Republican Party, formed in 1854.

I've had an essay on this in progress for a long time. I probably should finish it already.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@HenryAWallace The Democrats are, at this point, basically the Whigs--but
now we're not in any kind of Republic, so-
given that DHS is in control of our elections--
it's not going to work the same way it did in the past.

On the other hand, political parties can be more than a strictly electoral affair.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

https://caucus99percent.com/content/can-we-talk-really-talk-talk-real-dy...

However, I'm not sure what the Democrats are like is the issue.

Did your thread help you decide on a kitchen color or a color scheme for table and chars?

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@HenryAWallace As for the kitchen, I'm still chewing it over; depends on how much it would cost to re-face the kitchen cabinets. If I did that, it would change everything; the only restrictions I'd have would be the color of the granite counters, which are light and kind of speckled (and also don't go with the golden oak). As for the dining room, I'm heading away from the daring, bright orange. In related news, my partner went to the website for one of those dining room sets I was looking at, and can you believe that you have to have a buyer's agent contact them for the price?

I know my mom brings me these magazines just so I can get ideas, not to actually buy what's in them, but I was shocked at how, well, rich an area I'd strayed into. It's a kind of weirdness in America that our decorator's magazines, circulating out to everybody with any disposable income at all, showcases things only a 1%-er could afford!

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

ebay, etsy and rubylane all have furniture. I have not looked at much of it. However, when I have time on my hands and I don't have the energy to do anything but play online, I browse chairish. Sometimes, I see things I love to have at the price; sometimes not.

If you can find something you like in the area where you live, it's likely to be a deal because they have to price bearing in mind they may also have to charge the customer a few hundred just for "white glove" shipping.

Just a thought.

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Shahryar's picture

Any new party will get corrupted as soon as it shows any success. Name recognition would let Elizabeth Warren take it over. Even villains like Chuck Schumer would jump on-board and faux libs would think it meant "we" were winning.

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@Shahryar

Warren or Schumer would jump on board. I don't think even Sanders would.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Shahryar It's kind of awful that Warren still has a 48% approval rating. I know why the people feel that way; they don't have time to keep track of the shitty corruption of most of these politicians, and they remember she spoke out against Wall St. But it's still sad.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

gulfgal98's picture

for a new political party. Climate change is barreling down upon us and we do not have the time to go through the traditional political process. We would be better off organizing outside the political system like Occupy. If that does work, the only other option will be a revolt. Desperate people will do desperate things and the current corrupt duopoly has done everything to ensure we will probably end up in a revolution.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

@gulfgal98

even a revolt is a realistic option anymore.

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gulfgal98's picture

@HenryAWallace but as the population of this country is becoming more and more impoverished, there will be a tipping point.

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Do I hear the sound of guillotines being constructed?

“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F. Kennedy

@gulfgal98

might advocate it if I thought it would happen and had even a remote chance of succeeding. As it is, though, I don't think it does. I think it's too late. And, if it looks like it might happen, government will pull a rabbit out of a hat, like the New Deal or the Great Society, knowing they can take it back. 2008 should have been a tipping point. But they did the opposite of a New Deal. They bailed out the banks and immunized them, leaving the rest of us twisting in the wind. They aren't afraid of us anymore.

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Strife Delivery's picture

A 3rd party needs a catalyst, which often involves an individual taking a group of supporters and sub-leaders with them.

Sanders for instance could be one of the biggest changes to American politics in modern history, but he has no courage, so he won't. He instead will keep the corrupt, decaying, and ultimately dying Democrat party alive.

Regarding the time is ripe, perhaps, I don't know. America has some of the most obedient and docile people on this planet. Even with all these talks about the times being dangerous, the people will revolt, revolution and all of that, perhaps I'm too cynical. I really don't know what can actually happen here that would cause the American people to revolt?

Maybe Draft 2.0? But I doubt any politician would ever go through that mess again.
The sudden disintegration of Social Security and Medicare? Eh maybe?

I feel that this country will be stripped of all its wealth and will burn to the ground. The people will suddenly smell the smoldering ruins and wonder what happened, while the rich hop onto either their yachts or private jet and disappear into the sunset.

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k9disc's picture

the right path on Big Brother, the Monopoly Guy, and Johnny Law.

I also think the platform is, potentially a good starting point for solidarity.

It's a bit gimmicky, but I'm sure humanity is gonna need a trick play somewhere in the near future. This party strikes at ownership -- Directly, yet completely obliquely for modern politics.

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“Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.” ~ Sun Tzu

@k9disc
I like the sound of the Pirate Party (even better than the All Night Party), but didn't it fizzle out in Iceland at the last minute?

Now, if only we could give Howard the Duck another chance . . .

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lotlizard's picture

@SancheLlewellyn In the last state election in 2012, the Piraten made a spectacular debut, vaulting over the 5% cutoff into the state legislature (the Landtag).

In the state election this year on May 14, the Piraten won’t even come close to getting 1% of the vote. Slipping silently into history, just another flash in the pan that once in office didn’t know what to do to keep a positive spotlight on themselves and multiply their political power.

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