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[nenjin]

Of course, that's exactly what the Tea Party was supposed to be, and was for about five weeks in 2009 before the Republican bankrollers bought the name and dressed up God Guns n' Gays as fiscal conservatism.  It's hard to imagine that exact same co-opting not happening again in such a scenario.

And I think that's the real issue with the Republican party, and most likely the Democratic party. When the current mode falls out of fashion, the bankrollers retreat from leadership positions, bide their time and wait for a new movement to emerge. Then they fund it, capture it, market it, re-frame it and take it back to the "core" ideology. It almost happened with the Occupy movement, if ya'll remember, until they basically got labeled as criminals.

The real irony would be if Santorum were to win the nomination and moderate Republicans broke out and tried to form a stable 3rd party. I'd eat my hat, but hell, I might join in that happened. The differences between moderate democrats and republicans are sometimes so minor, it feels like we're already halfway to a 3rd party....we just need to commit.

[Zrk2]

Really, we do need to undo the fiscal/social merger that the Republicans are. It doesn't work; one cannot advocate less government and more government at the same time. I'd love to see the Republicans collapse, because the Democrats would too within a president or two, and you guys could finally get some other options into your political spectrum.

[nenjin]

In the interest of bi-partisan criticism, we need to sever the fiscal-anything links as much as possible.

While I find the Republican obsession with money and social engineering outrageous, I find the the Democrat version just as bad, if not worse. Democrats go in for garden variety corruption, the kind you simply go to jail for. Republicans go in for corruption and trying to re-shape the political and social landscape at the same time. And that actually, I think, gives them a lot of cover.

[Zrk2]

Well, go big or go home.

[nenjin]

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/29/snowe-explains-decision-to-leave-defends-tough-criticism-of-senate/?hpt=hp_t3

"The tragedy here is that everybody I know who comes to the United States Senate, comes to get something done. And that's the real reason they come here," said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Connecticut, who is one of those moderates retiring this year. "And yet people are sort of pulled apart by this process and end up in warring camps, a kind of perpetual partisan tug of war which forgets the people who were good enough to send us here and the country that we pledged ourselves when we took our oath to support. You know, I hope people listen to the words Olympia Snowe spoke yesterday and that particularly members of the Senate respond."

If anyone was part of that irony discussion a little while ago, you have an example right here.

[RedKing]

And if there's anyone who knows something about forgetting the people who elected you to office and the country you pledged yourself to support, it's Joe Lieberman. What a mensch.

[Dutchling]

Mensch? As in human?

Anyway, I saw something about a US third party on the news a few days ago. They had enough signatures but lacked a good candidate. Anything happened regarding that?

[RedKing]

Mensch? As in human?

Anyway, I saw something about a US third party on the news a few days ago. They had enough signatures but lacked a good candidate. Anything happened regarding that?

Whoops...Yiddish fail. I should have said schmuck.

I haven't seen anything about a new major third party. I suppose the Greens and Libertarians are always still around (and lack a good candidate).

[nenjin]

I suppose if you said it sarcastically, it still works.

[Nadaka]

Mensch? As in human?

Anyway, I saw something about a US third party on the news a few days ago. They had enough signatures but lacked a good candidate. Anything happened regarding that?

The 3 largest 3rd parties in the US are Libertarian, Reform, and Green.

Libertarians have Gary Johnson and possibly a few other contenders. Ralph Nader has been the guy for both Reform and Green in the past, but I don't know what they are up to this year.

[RedKing]

Mensch? As in human?

Anyway, I saw something about a US third party on the news a few days ago. They had enough signatures but lacked a good candidate. Anything happened regarding that?

The 3 largest 3rd parties in the US are Libertarian, Reform, and Green.

Libertarians have Gary Johnson and possibly a few other contenders. Ralph Nader has been the guy for both Reform and Green in the past, but I don't know what they are up to this year.

Looks like Buddy Roemer might try to get their nomination, although I had read he was going through the Americans Elect party. It's all froth at the fringe in the big picture, though.

[nenjin]

That's really code for a Santorum dig, isn't it?

[GlyphGryph]

I don't understand why they even run presidential candidates. It seems like they'd be much better off putting all their effort towards getting invested somewhere regionally and getting a few congresscritters elected. I've never even lived in a place where they've RUN people for congress, best I can tell. Only third party I ever hear about is the Cool Moose party.

I'm generally up on things, so the only way I can justify it is that the third parties just aren't really trying to do anything real.

[nenjin]

Define "real." They have objectives and agendas. But most of them are considered radical in mainstream American politics.

The real problem for them is they are so far divorced from the business of government that they don't have tangible access. They don't sit on any committees, seat (almost?) no members in either house and don't have the funds to buy advertising. So. It's awfully hard to have a tangible impact on the American political scene as a political party from your backyard.

[RedKing]

This just in: Andrew Breitbart dead at 43.

They say it's ill-favored to dance on someone's grave, so I'll just leave it at that.


New poll in Tennessee shows the state at +21 for Santorum, which is what I'd expect. Rasmussen has a national poll with Romney flying out to a +16 lead, but as I've said time and again, Rasmussen consistently seems to put the momentum front-runner several points higher than everyone else.