A New Chapter in American Politics is Opening
by Sean A. Langley, Guest Contributor
You know, I truly do believe we're on the verge of a new era in U.S. politics, and, quite frankly, it's due to the disapproval towards the presidential nominees of America's two most popular political parties that has caused it.
For the longest time, it's been Republican or Democrat. Nothing else ever seemed to come close. And it was simple: Conservative, Pro-Military, Big Business Republicans vs Liberal, Tiny Business, Anti-War Democrats. Red or blue. That's been about it, despite the fact that the highest political party population is actually Independent. So it was always the Republicans and the Democrats vying for political party, from the House to the Senate to the White House.
But the year 2016 will mark when political power truly seemed to shift in a direction nobody ever saw coming. I'll spit this out blunt and to the point. And if I hurt your feelings, don't bother telling me because this is the honest truth of the matter, no matter who your favorite is: Both Clinton and Trump have been terrible for both parties.
Trump has shouted and swore, used harsh language and essentially taken the issues that Conservatives have long supported as our major ones in today's time to extremes that many find appalling. Throw in his long-time history as a Liberal Democrat before suddenly switching to Republican and his friendship with the Clintons in the past, he comes off as one of two things: A Liberal that thinks Conservatives and Republicans are maniacs so to get their approval he needs to be maniacal about it or a fresh convert to the Republican party that takes things waaaaaaay too far.
Neither comes off as the kind of man that we want in charge of our international situation. His brash, insulting attitude and extremist behavior seems like it would start wars, if he was telling the truth. Worse, what if he wasn't?
Then Hillary Clinton, who essentially tries to bribe minorities, blame majorities, has supported the 4th lowest approved President in U.S. History and now is looking extremely guilty due to the Benghazi questioning. And man, did Loretta Lynch do nothing but make her look even more guilty. It doesn't matter which side of the fence you're on, this hit during the worst of times and made her look horrible, even if she's innocent (which I don't believe she was).
This has left the U.S. People extremely angry and disgusted with their final choices: A woman that looks guilty of illegal activities and murder or a guy that comes off as a pretender and/or madman that could lead us to wars we don't need or want.
So naturally, what do you think happened? People started looking for other options. The Bernie Sanders supporters were disgusted when Hillary won and the Cruz supporters were disgusted when Trump won. Both thought “Well, I'm the party nominee, so you have to vote for me or for the party you hate.”
Next thing you know, that little known party know as the Libertarian Party completely surged in popularity to heights that were never seen before. And the timing was perfect. There were 3 guys, McAfee a Liberal, Petersen a Conservative and Johnson a lukewarm. Johnson won but that was partially the issue. Johnson wasn't Conservative enough for the ex-Republicans and Conservative Independents that wanted a Conservative and he wasn't Liberal enough for the ex-Democrats and Liberal Independents that wanted a Liberal.
Regardless of Gary Johnson's disapproval by many, he still is rising in the polls above and beyond any other Libertarian Presidential nominee in the history of the United States. And while it's unlikely he'll ever win the 2016 Presidential election, he's scored a massive moral victory: The Libertarian Party will now remain in the memories and minds of American voters as an alternative for every single U.S. Election probably for as long as there is a Libertarian Party. This election marks the end of a simple two-party voting system and now has an established 3rd Party. And with the Libertarian Party holding an open, even system between Conservatives or Liberals as nominee's, it'll always draw interest from those dissatisfied with the Republican and Democratic Party.
But it doesn't just end there. There are two other parties that got more interest after Gary Johnson still left many American dissatisfied. The Green party and the Constitution party have always been very far and distant 4th and 5th place in the major political party popularity polls. They are still fairly distant but both have truly risen up farther than before. The Constitution Party only has access to 18 state election ballots. But they got 150 of the 270 electoral votes needed. That means with access of about a little less than 1/3 of the states of America (not even some of the largest ones!), they got over half of the electoral votes they needed.
That's a pretty decent accomplishment for a hard-right Conservative party that a few years ago barely qualified for a Wikipedia page. The Green party has had much more access to more state-ballots and has gotten more than the 270 electoral votes needed, as a Liberal Eco-Socialist party. However, the Constitution Party is in progress right now of getting 20 more states available to them. As in, it's happening not a possibility. There are petitions for all but 3 of the rest of them. Darrell Castle is not going to be the 2016 Presidential Nominee due to the lack of electoral votes for the party. Jill Stien is very unpopular as she's a Liberal that's anti-Obama and anti-obamacare. But they both scored moral victories of their own.
The Libertarian Party made a mistake all it's own by electing a lukewarm like Gary Johnson. It allowed for the overflow to fill up the Green and Constitution Party. So what does all this mean?
It means by 2020 or 2024, we will almost certainly see full state access to all 5 major political parties of America for voting.
I'm not kidding. The Libertarian, Constitution and Green parties have made their presences known to the nation at large. The Republican and Democratic party are weak right now. I'm sure many Republicans and Democrats want to believe they can repair the damage but I think the damage done is permanent. I don't think the Republican or Democratic party will ever be able to hold sway over the U.S. People again now that they all know that there are other options available.
So now, the Republican Party is no longer the only Conservative Party and the Democratic Party is no longer the only Liberal Party. And the Libertarian party can provide any level of either for those that want a more 'balanced' approach or not so extreme. And for those that want to go harder to the right or left of politics, they have the Constitution and Green Party available to them. They have a place to go besides simply choosing Red or Blue.
I think the time of two-party voting is over for America. And maybe it's right that it does. Trump and Clinton have both shown the fault in that. If we only have one of two options, we'll inevitably reach a point where neither are acceptable.
Just to throw something else in, Mystery Man Evan McMullin (a former member of the GOP) is now running for President on the Independent Campaign, describing himself as “A Conservative alternative to Trump or Clinton”.
In many ways, he looks very appealing to Conservatives, aside from the fact that his history is murky. We know he was a former CIA agent before being involved with the GOP. We know he's pro-life, he supports the troops and wants a larger military, we know he's pro-2nd Amendment and that he's anti-Obamacare. He supports gay-marriage but thinks we need to move on. He wants to increase jobs, trade, energy and environment, he wants to put education back in the hands of teachers, he wants to secure borders and hold the government accountable for its actions. He wants to change the immigration system and he wants America to take a leading role in international politics. He wants to end poverty in America.
Those are all awesome things but HOW? That is the biggest thing. HOW? How is he going to do all that? What's he going to replace Obamacare with, how is he going to hold the government accountable, how is he going to increase jobs, attack poverty, improve energy and environment, increase trade and make America the leading nation in international affairs? All of these are very good ideas but the “how” is drastically important. A mystery and an enigma, many are not willing to invest in him just yet.
But already, those that resorted to Clinton, Trump or Johnson as a last-resort are looking to McMullin. Some are committed, some are still examining. But already, McMullin has almost overnight risen higher than most Independent Presidential hopefuls do in months and months of hard work. People all over are trying to get him exposure and recognition.
What this means, is that the Independent Party essentially has found a voice and someone to start something. Again, I don't think McMullin can do it. Not from lack of ability or effort, but from joining in way too late in the game. But if people are this desperate that they'll give an Independent (and former Republican) this much recognition this fast, it's a sign that the Independent party has risen up itself.
So now, in addition to the ground and foundation for the next election to be almost even between 5 major political parties in America, people are now more aware of Independents than before.
The Republican and Democratic party have each practically shot themselves in the foot.
Their time as the dominant political parties in America may be at an end. In some ways, this can be a good thing. With Conservative and Liberal alternatives now available ,both parties will be forced to fulfill certain promises they have both made over the generations. In short, they're going to have to start acting like Republicans and Democrats if they ever want presidential elections to come down to just the two parties ever again.
Even then, there will be people who will prefer the Constitution, Libertarian or Green party over Republican or Democrat. And now, with Independent campaigns more popular than before, this allows failed party nominee's the option to rise up and challenge whoever may have bested them. In short, by 2020 or 2024, if Cruz were to win Republican nominee, Romney could challenge him on an Independent Ticket and be a very real threat (where before, an Independent campaign would seem almost hopeless).
Whatever happens, the Red and Blue parties are going to be stinging from this and we may be sitting back and telling our grandkids how there used to only be two parties to choose from because hardlyanybody knew anything about the others.
This is, largely, the fault of those two parties. Before Trump and Clinton became nominees, the other parties never had a single chance and Independent campaigns were doomed to failure. Now, all parties will be more of a chance than ever.
Think this is far-fetched? Think back. The first American political party was the Federalist party led by John Adams and Alexander Hamilton. It was to be THE American political party, as it promoted friendly relations with Great Britain and opposition to the French Revolution. No one saw a rival coming until it came in the form of the Democratic-Republican Party, led by Thomas Jefferson. The Democratic-Republican surprised everyone by overwhelming the Federalist party and effectively destroying it, calling for strong and literal usage of the U.S. Constitution, as well as being pro-French Revolution and anti-Great Britain feelings. That's right, no joke: The first Pro-Constitution Conservatives were a combination of Democrats and Republicans that formed the first opposing political party. Seems insane, huh? Even today, there are PRECIOUS few but still some Conservative Democrats (they're largely the ones not voting for Clinton or Sanders OR Jill Stein).
With the Federalist Party and it's pro-Federal Government and Pro-Great Britain attitudes out of the way, everyone thought for sure this was to be THE ruling party. That is, until it split into two seperate parties due to Andrew Jackson. The Republican Party, which was anti-Jackson and the Democratic Party, which was known as “Jacksonians”.
Nobody thought that would ever happen. It went from Federalist Party to Federalist vs Democratic-Republican Party, to Democratic-Republican Party to Democratic Party vs Republican Party.
With THAT tiny little tidbit of U.S. History in mind and the polls of popularity for all 3 minor parties rising and both major parties dropping...does it really seem so insane to believe in a 5 party electing system?
Or does it seem inevitable?
This leaves another huge question we might want to take into consideration.
If a 5-party system becomes a reality, how is our government going to handle it?
Think about it. Are they going to sit back and decide whoever has the most votes of the 5 parties gets to be President? Or are they going to essentially select the most popular two and make the US people decide from it?
If it can go any way and if its only one election between 5 Presidential nominees (and a possible Independent as well), it won't make the majority of the voting population happy. So if it becomes a case of one primary election to decide the two most popular Presidential nominees, it'll become a very interesting political issue of people taking sides.
The Constitution Party is, as I said, hard-right and Conservative. They'll almost certainly support the Republican party if they put up a proper Right-wing Conservative. The Green Party is largely Liberal with eco-socialism beliefs, so as long as the Democrats put forward a Liberal, they'll support the Democratic Party. And vice-versa, I really believe that the Republicans would support a Constitutionalist and the Democrats a Green party member. That is, unless a Libertarian or Independent comes along that's more agreeable to Conservative or Liberal views overall.
Whatever happens, this'll be interesting and we're in for one heck of a ride. So sit back and enjoy yourself. A new era in American Politics is going to begin and quite frankly, it's anybody's ballgame.
And those are the stone cold facts...Because I said so.
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