3rd Parties

[Warforger]

Why exactly are they not that pragmatic at all? I mean, they constantly keep trying to campaign for big seats, the Presidency, governorships (ok Jesse Ventura won one time, but shortly after his party didn't win again) senate etc. and yet they never win. What I think they should do is get a national campaign fund and focus on small elections,, such as state legislative elections, House seats, mayorships and eventually they can work their way up. That way they can send their funds to elections they can actually win and not face as much of an up hill battle as the two main parties won't be donating as much funds. Not to mention when you set your eyes on such high ranking positions such as the Presidency, nevermind the Spoiler effect, how exactly will you work with a congress of whose members you have no connection to if you're even elected? Perhaps the Presidency run is more to get their party more well known, but the funds used for the Presidency could easily be used just to win smaller elections. Basically, why aren't they building a strong grassroots base first? Wouldn't that make more sense than to just run for offices?

[TNT]

Actually a lot of third parties did ran in the smaller elections, or at least the libertarians did in my state.

[LordJaric]

One way would be for someone to make noise, a lot of noise, to get people to notice them.

[Warforger]

At 11/8/12 12:48 AM, TNT wrote: Actually a lot of third parties did ran in the smaller elections, or at least the libertarians did in my state.

They do, but as far as I know they don't pour their resources into them.

At 11/8/12 01:08 AM, LordJaric wrote: One way would be for someone to make noise, a lot of noise, to get people to notice them.

Jill Stein tried that and it wasn't big, people forgot about her immediately.

[Dawnslayer]

At 11/7/12 11:43 PM, Warforger wrote: Why exactly are they not that pragmatic at all? I mean, they constantly keep trying to campaign for big seats, the Presidency, governorships (ok Jesse Ventura won one time, but shortly after his party didn't win again) senate etc. and yet they never win. What I think they should do is get a national campaign fund and focus on small elections,, such as state legislative elections, House seats, mayorships and eventually they can work their way up.

It can actually be harder for a third party to run for a local office than to run a federal candidate. This is especially true in states that run "top two" primaries: there's only two slots open for election day, and whoever gets the most votes in the primaries fills those slots regardless of political affiliation. You have to be a pretty damn amazing third-party candidate to get ahead of the multiple Democrats and Republicans that run in such an election; sometimes you don't even get two different parties under that system.

Not to mention when you set your eyes on such high ranking positions such as the Presidency, nevermind the Spoiler effect, how exactly will you work with a congress of whose members you have no connection to if you're even elected?

Political gridlock arises mostly from one major party refusing to cooperate with the other major party. A president who isn't a member of the big two isn't a part of that conflict, so you might get the reverse effect: actually getting things done. If nothing else, the major parties won't band together to block off the third-party agenda because that would mean agreeing on something.

Perhaps the Presidency run is more to get their party more well known, but the funds used for the Presidency could easily be used just to win smaller elections. Basically, why aren't they building a strong grassroots base first? Wouldn't that make more sense than to just run for offices?

Ultimately, your question assumes that they don't. Voters have a very narrow view of who runs in elections; we see who we are voting for, and the rest are inconsequential because we can't affect them. But just because you or I don't see a third-party candidate running for a local office on our ballot doesn't mean they're not doing it. Third parties do run local, grassroots campaigns. It's just that they rarely fare any better in local elections than they do running for President.