On Thu, 30 Sep 2004 17:52:34 EST, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Travis Pahl <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in small part: > > >When third parties get even 5% of the vote their agenda gets shoved > >into the big two parties agenda. > > Yes, but... > > (1) That's not necessarily "because". Often (as in the Socialist Party and > possibly the Perot case) it's because the same issues that gave rise to a > 3rd party was also manifest by other means.
There are many issues that have signifigant representation in the people that are quite simply ignored by the 2 major parties UNTIL the 3rd party forces it to be recognized. The other factors may have a role in influencing the partys final stance, but the decision to make or change their stance is a result of the third party forcing the issue. > (2) The Libertarian Party has never been close to a consistent 5%, and it's > had decades to do it, while the Socialist Party and Perot got there in less > time. My understanding is that the socialist was around for about 30 years before making it big. Travis > Lowell wrote: > > >> Republicans really got burned on the government shutdown. > > Right, because of the left-statist partisanship of the 4th Estate. The > media painted the Republicans as the evil obstructionists both when Reagan > shut down fedgov by veto and when the latter-1990s Congress did it by not > legislating $. > > There's an argument here that libertarian activists should go into > journalism as much as, or more than, politics. > > > > In Your Sly Tribe, > Robert > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > _______________________________________________ Libnw mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://immosys.com/mailman/listinfo/libnw http://immosys.com/mailman//pipermail/libnw
