Dear Progressives: A Third-Party Strategy Is Doomed To Fail. A Warning From A Former Libertarian.
By: Scotty Cameron
Tags: 2016 Election, 2020 Democratic Primary, Libertarianism, Progressivism, Third Party

Greg Orman ad

Greg Orman ad 2

Greg Orman ad 3

Greg Orman ad 4

Greg Orman ad 5

Orman in a two-person race after Taylor drops out

Gary Johnson’s Senate bid

Larry Sharpe’s gubernatorial bid

Finally, starting a new party will only fail to gain any traction. If people like Jimmy Dore think that the problem with the Green Party is that it’s seen as a single-issue party and therefore a progressive third-party needs to be a clear multi-issue party in order to succeed. That logic already ignores how rigged elections are against third-parties. On top of that, it ignores that a brand new party will be overshadowed by the existing third-parties. The Libertarian Party is considered the third major and the Green Party is considered the fourth major party, and so a new party won’t get into the third and fourth major party spots anytime soon. A brand new party will come behind parties like the Constitutional Party and other lesser-known minor parties. If implementing progressive policies is a priority like is a priority for people, Jimmy Dore, then they wouldn’t push for a new party as their vehicle for change. Hell, the Jimmy Dores of the world wouldn’t push any third-party strategy if they cared about progressive policies they recognize that trying third-party strategy is doomed to fail period. Jimmy’s queen, Tulsi Gabbard, shot that idea down to his face. Of course, Jimmy Dore has thrown Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders under the bus and elevated Tim Canova, who is now an avowed Trumpist, so it’s safe to say Jimmy isn’t committed to progressive policies as he’d like to say. Farron Cousins believes Dore will be the next HA Goodman.

Jimmy being a manchild on 3rd parties

Kyle Kulinski OWNS Jimmy Dore on Third-Parties

Jimmy throws Bernie under the bus

Jimmy throws AOC under the bus

Jimmy Tulsi Stanning

Tulsi crushes Jimmy’s delusional dreams

So what should progressives do if a third-party route is doomed to fail? Keep trying to take over the Democratic Party. But it isn’t working. Really? Groups like Justice Democrats and Our Revolution have put forward have actually backed forty-one percent of successful primary challengers to incumbent Democrats, and have defeated corporate Democrats in primary challenges. Groups like Our Revolution and Justice Democrats started in 2016 and have had far more electoral success than the Libertarian Party and the Green Party which have been around much longer than those groups. Justice Democrats was started by Cenk Uygur and Kyle Kulinski to restore the Democratic Party to its progressive roots. Bernie Sanders started Our Revolution for the same reason. Jimmy Dore actually supported those groups at one point in time. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez successfully primaries Joe Crowly and unseated him. Crowly was fourth in line in the Democratic Leadership in the US House of Representatives, and he was beaten by a Justice Democrat and Our Revolution candidate. Just recently Marie Newman of Justice Democrats and Our Revolution defeated incumbent Democrat Dan Lepinski in 2020. Now some may bring up cases such as Brent Welder and James Thompson in Kansas. First of all, James Thompson won his primaries in Kansas and ran the two most successful bids a Democrat has ever run for the US House of Representatives in Kansas’ Fourth Congressional District. Brent Welder narrowly lost to Sharice Davids, by in large because Davids was from Johnson County which was the largest county in Kansas’ Third Congressional District. Also, Johnson County is the most affluent KS03 county. However, despite Welder’s loss at the national level, Rui Xu did win his primary and State Legislature race in Kansas’ Twenty-Fifth State Legislature District, which is in Kansas’ Third Congression District. Xu was an Our Revolution Democrat. What about Bernie Sanders’ 2020 bid? One, he actually had a fairly decent run, until the states decided it was safe to hold primaries during a pandemic and then voters who didn’t take the Coronavirus situation seriously decided to vote for Joe Biden. Now Coronavirus is out of control thanks to state that thought it was safe to hold primaries. Sanders actually remained in striking distance of Biden prior to the Arizona, Florida, and Illinois primaries, and had a very strong chance of overcoming Biden. Not to mention the fact that Bernie was leading the Primary prior to Super Tuesday. Some will argue that he lost states like Michigan, which he won in 2016. However, that ignores the fact that he also won states he lost in 2016 like Nevada and California. On top of that, Biden’s own voters actually agreed with Sanders on the issues more than they did Biden. Biden’s voters even held a more favorable view of Sanders than they did Biden. In fact, Marie Newman won her primary in Illinois a state Bernie lost. Those voters voted for Biden because they were misled into thinking Biden can defeat Trump and that’s why they voted for Biden. What this shows is that Bernie Sanders won the ideological battle but came shy of winning the electability battle. What this shows is that a progressive stands a greater chance at winning the 2024 Democratic Primary, and Democrats won’t be voting based on the fears of a Trump reelection. So taking over the Democratic Party is actually working.

Rui Xu

Our Revolution ad for Rui Xu

Marie Newman

Cenk on founding Justice Democrats

Justice Democrats are the way forward for Progressives

Justice Democrats and Our Revolution are already reshaping the Democratic Party

Jimmy Dore used to support Justice Dems at one point in time

Jimmy Dore not too fond of Justice Dems now?

Majority of Democrats like Bernie

Berniecrats are still winning

Bernie Sanders is a Franklin Roosevelt style Democrat

Kennedy, Roosevelt, and Truman were to Sanders’ left

Our Revolution and Justice Democrats are Bobby Kennedy style Democrats

Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, supported the ideas pushed by Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders is a Rooseveltian

Bernie is a New Deal Democrat

Could Justice Democrats and Our Revolution change their strategies to help increase their success? Sure. One thing groups such as Our Revolution and Justice Democrats do is run candidates for Democratic Party chair and positions within the Democratic National Committee (DNC). That way progressive officials within the DNC and local Democratic Party groups can push for open primaries and to increase outreach to Independent voters. On top of that, they can push the DNC to promote their primaries and push for more voters to participate in the primaries who don’t normally do so. Independent voter participation in Democratic Primaries tends to favor progressive candidates. One of the keys to Bernie’s victories in Nevada and California was participation from Independent voters. In fact, in states Bernie lost, he still won over Independent voters, the Independents who participated were outnumbered by Democrats hoodwinked into voting for Biden. So a progressive takeover of the Democratic Party should be more than electing progressives into government, but also electing progressives into Democratic Committees to help shape the rules and platforms of the Democratic Party and primaries. In addition to working to get more progressives into Democratic Party chair positions, progressives can also adjust their rhetoric. What does that mean? It means emphasizing on the fact that the ideas progressives support are ones supported by America’s most popular presidents. Medicare For All, Green New Deal, Living Wage, Universal Basic Income, and an end to war were policies supported by Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Abraham Lincoln. Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. supported the agendas pushed by progressives like Bernie Sanders. Progressives could invoke Franklin Roosevelt and Jack Kennedy to appeal to Democratic voters and destroy false electability narratives. Progressives could use Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower to bring Republicans into the progressive fold. If progressives emphasize the fact that their platforms were supported by presidents of both parties, it will destroy the false radical ideas narratives spread by mainstream media. These ideas are already supported by a majority of Americans, don’t let cable news pundits capture the narrative.

Martin Luther King and Franklin Delano Roosevelt were progressives

Republicans were Progressives before Democrats

When the Democrats became Progressives they got a 4 term president.

Franklin and Theodore Roosevelt were too much alike

Franklin Roosevelt was the appropriate counter to Donald Trump

Harry Truman knew how to fight Republicans

Dwight Eisenhower would be ashamed of today’s Republicans

Dwight Eisenhower warned us about today’s Republicans

Jack Kennedy’s vision of peace was abandoned by both parties

Jack Kennedy supported Keynesian Economics

Teddy Roosevelt supported a Living Wage

Jack Kennedy supported Medicare For All

Martin Luther King was a Democratic Socialist

Franklin Roosevelt was a Berniecrat

Dwight Eisenhower warned us about George Bush

Dwight Eisenhower was a leftist Republican

Franklin Roosevelt wasn’t a Third-Way Democrat

The Democratic Party needs to be Roosevelt’s Democratic Party again

Franklin Roosevelt was a Justice Democrat before Justice Democrats existed

Abraham Lincoln was to the left of the Roosevelts and the Kennedys

Dr. King was willing to make sacrifices to fight for what’s right so should we

The Real Martin Luther King

Dr. King was to Bernie’s left

Bobby Kennedy was to the left of his brother

Progressives need to fight like Harry Truman

Bernie should’ve branded himself as a New Deal Democrat

What progressives values are.

Now some may ask what do progressives do in November given that the race is between Biden and Trump? The best way to say it is to vote as you please. If you live in a swing state like Michigan, Wisconsin, or Florida it would better if you voted for the Democrat. If you live in a solidly red state like Kansas, Oklahoma, or Texas or a solidly blue state like Massachusetts, New York, or California then vote however you want. Whatever you do, DON’T VOTE REPUBLICAN! Aside from that, your vote is up to you.

In conclusion, the 2016 election is the perfect example of why a third-party candidate will never succeed in an election. When Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were as hated as they were and yet neither Gary Johnson nor Jill Stein could access the debates or gain recognition from the FEC that should tell progressives that a third-party strategy will fail. In addition to the 2016 presidential election, state, local, and congressional races also show the failings of third-party candidates and further proves that reforming the Democratic party is the realistic path forward for progressive victories. Progressives could try adjusting their rhetoric to be more Rooseveltian and emphasize that America’s most popular presidents were progressives. Also, progressives should work to get into positions in the DNC to push measures like open primaries and to encourage Independent voter participation. Reforming the Democratic Party is already proving to be a more successful approach to implementing progressive goals than pushing third-parties so why give up now?

Stay tuned for my next piece on why I left libertarianism.