Growth of third parties reflects voter unease: Constitution Party makes Wyoming ballot

Trib.com ^ | March 29, 2012 | JEREMY PELZER

[SatinDoll]

Yes, like John McCain.

[guitarplayer1953]

ping

[what's up]

Everyone knew the phrase hearkened back to Wilson and the post-WW1 world.

However, Bush used the familiar phrase in quite a different sense. He used in a sense where it could be used to get Soviet cooperation in a post Cold War era primarily for the effort to move against Saddam in the Gulf War.

It was in no way Bush's intention to get a one-world Gov't.

[Clintonfatigued]

If we had a Parliamentary form of government, it would make more sense. The Constitution and Republican Parties could form a coalition against the increasingly leftist DemocRAT Party. However, I currently can’t see such a thing working in this system.

[PhilCollins]

Constitution Party candidates won at least four races, within the past 10 years. One of their candidates was elected to the Montana State House. Three of their candidates were elected to county offices, in Nevada.

While I lived in California, in 2000, I voted for the American Independent Party (the CA affiliate of the Constitution Party) candidate for the U.S. Senate. While I’ve been registered in Illinois, since 2002, I voted for four Constitution Party candidates (two for president, one for the U.S. Senate, and one for governor). In all five races, I thought that the republican nominees were too liberal and that the race wouldn’t be close. If I thought that the race would be close, I would have voted for the Republican, since I didn’t want to help split the anti-liberal vote, helping the Democrat win, with about 49% of the vote.

[darrellmaurina]

Here's the reference to Montana State Rep. Rick Jore, the Republican legislator who eventually joined the Constitution Party:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Jore

The situation with Rick Jore was key to whether the Democrats or Republicans would control the state legislature, so it got a lot of media attention at the time.

The Nevada affiliate of the Constitution Party was formed in 1967 and is known as the Independent American Party. They cite several people being elected to office, including a County Commissioner in Tonopah, the Mayor of Mesquite, and (in 2006) Jackie Berg as Eureka County Clerk/Treasurer and Cel Ocha as the Constable of Harry Reid's hometown of Searchlight.

The Nevada link is here: http://www.iapn.org/newiap/2010aboutus.html

Apparently Jackie Berg is still in office in a tiny central Nevada county, cited here: http://www.co.eureka.nv.us/clerk/clerk01.htm

She and Ocha are listed as current officeholders here: http://iapn.org/Office-holders.htm

Searchlight, other than being Sen. Harry Reid's hometown, is basically irrelevant. It's unincorporated and has only 539 people according to the 2010 census.

None of the other two Nevada people are still in office, or at least none of them are on the 2012 candidate list, posted here: http://www.iapn.org/newiap/2012candidates.html

As far as I can tell, this means the Constitution Party has managed to elect a grand total of five people to office in the last decade. Maybe there are others, but apparently only two of them are now in office.

Some may consider that a good track record of success. I don't, though I grant it may be a start.

I will give the Constitution Party serious consideration at the point that they start winning significant numbers of elections and prove they do more than split conservative votes leading to Democratic victories. So far, they aren't even posing a significant threat to the Republican Party, let alone the Democratic Party.

As conservatives, we need to focus on doing what we can to keep Romney from being nominated because I believe Romney is likely to lose to Obama, and even if he wins, he can't be trusted with key issues such as Supreme Court appointments. Whatever good the Constitution Party may be able to do long-term, they can't help defeat Barack Obama this year.

[xzins]

Robert Owens was a 2008 candidate for Ohio Attorney General, obtaining nearly a quarter million votes and smashing all previous vote total records by a non major party candidate seeking statewide executive office.

[Darren McCarty]

You just proved my point unless you have a New York fusion system. It's a protest vote. Owens got 246,002 votes and it was viewed as a major breakthrough and a record. 4.83% as the only 3rd party candidate. Corday got 2.8 million votes and Crites ran awfully and still got 38% with 1.9 million votes. Owens ran again under the Constitution Party line in 2010 and got 130,000. 3.39%, splitting with the libertarian.

Until the CP candidates get at least 34%, they're not even mathematically in the ballgame. Until it's the low 40%, it's not even a realistic chance, and that is for one elected office, let alone an attempt at a majority.

The CP can't even get on the board in the conservative areas in this country.

[xzins]

For someone looking to get out of the liberal 2 parties, one would look for a principle group that is trying to grow. The CP has had their numbers and recognizability grow.

They fit my criteria.

They’re on the ballot in a number of states including my own Ohio.

[PhilCollins]

For seven months (July-Feb.), I hoped that Gov. Buddy Roemer would win the republican presidential nomination. Since he dropped out of the GOP race, I haven’t decided whom I prefer, between Romney & Santorum. I agree with Santorum, more often, but Romney is more likely to win the general election, since he was a governor, like Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. Santorum was a congressman and senator, like Bob Dole and John McCain, two losers. I agree that the Constitution Party won’t prevent Obama from being re-elected.

[skinkinthegrass]

very interesting site...stuff. :-)

[GeronL]

Sounds like a good thing to me