If third party operators were serious, they'd stop running joke candidates for federal and state offices, serving only as spoilers, and put their efforts into getting Instant Runoff Voting or Ranked Choice (because MMPR is way, way outside the current US structure) mainstreamed as fast as possible.
The fact that the Green party doesn't have at least 3 seats in the CA state lege is proof that they can't be taken seriously as a party. The system there SHOULD support multiple parties. But the greens don't even seem to run.
Lyndon H. Larouche Jr sends his YAR!
You could peel off a shitload of mainstream moderates with that campaign! It is not a bonus, it's the prerequisite.
The Sightline Institute is a great environmental/smart growth group in Seattle that added electoral reform to their policy portfolio because they saw that those structural changes make everything else more likely.
A friend of mine said something so real about the liberters when Trump was at their convention and cemented why they’re a joke: They got him to agree to a bunch of their demands in exchange for appearing on their stage… you don’t need 50 state ballot access to do that. Complete waste.
and/or start at the local level ffs! those you could maybe even actually win! this is how you build a party! yes it takes time, but guess what, decades and decades of playing let's pretend in the pursuit of being spoilers has gotten you literally nowhere, so...
If third party operators were capable of doing politics and advancing policy, they'd already be in one of the two major parties and working for change in a structure capable of enacting such change. Third parties are for the yahoos too self-righteous to work with people they agree with 80%.
Especially federal level. I think if a third party could get some state offices, then maybe we see ranked choice at some point. But throwing a Green candidate at President randomly ain't it.
As a NH resident, I'm asking you not to give the Libertarians any good ideas, please.
MMPR also uses list politicians, who are just party hacks with no constituency and does nothing to stop cronyism or improve representation.