NYT: Non-Partisan Voters Practically a Third Party
August 7th, 2008 | by Ken |At least, that paraphrase is my interpretation of a recent bit of news-commentary on the statistics of party affiliation:
the share of the electorate that registers as independent has grown at a faster rate than Republicans or Democrats in 12 states. The rise has been so significant that in states like Arizona, Colorado and North Carolina, nonpartisan voters essentially constitute a third party.
read the rest of the New York Times article here
Of course, being the mass-media establishment that it is, the Times chose to focus the piece on the fact that the Democrats are gaining significant ground on the Republicans, rather than take much time to consider what it means that more and more people are registering their discontent with the two-party circus.
My take: The mainstream media is very content to throw out tidbits like this suggesting that third-parties may be due for a rise in November. After all, if something big did happen, they would want to be able to say that “they were on top of it,” supposedly chronicling history in the making. The truth, quite obviously is that history is being written and made on the blogosphere, that intense web of text, links, audio, and video. On the blogosphere there are far fewer and less powerful editors, thus content flows more freely and opinion is not pitched to the lowest common denominator (bizarre crime stories and celebrity politicians). Where non-partisan discontent will end up finding a home in November is still up for speculation. These people need to know that they have a choice. Minnesota’s state fair is just around the corner and I plan to be there with the Constitution Party, letting people know that there is a choice between McCain and Obama and his name is Chuck Baldwin. The more that concerned citizens, people who are smart enough to know that the two-party system is failing them, are aware of alternatives, the more likely it is that they will get over their fears of “wasting their vote” and do the right thing. 2008 may not see the election of a third-party candidate, but, if we really push for it, this may be the year that millions of voters embrace third party politics. So get out there yourself. Eat food on a stick and let people know that they have a choice!
