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What minor party has the best chance to become a major party?

What minor party has the best chance to become a major party?


  • Total voters
    69
Liberals don't like the LP's opposition to federal social programs. Conservatives don't like the LP's desire to abolish "morality laws", especially legalizing hard drugs.

It doesn't matter what they like, it's what the People like. I think that if the system was open to actual political competition, the LP would already have much higher gains than it sits now (particularly on the local level) when artificially deprived from participation in the system. I don't know if it's "he takes things further than most people can accept" as much as it is "the major parties and the media portray him as taking things further than most people can accept". Ron Paul doesn't get a fair shake, and you know this.
 
Well, yes and no.

A lot of people dont see a problem legalizing WEED.... but a majority still have a big problem with the LP notion of legalizing everything.

Liberals don't like the LP's opposition to federal social programs. Conservatives don't like the LP's desire to abolish "morality laws", especially legalizing hard drugs.

It is going to take a while for attitudes to change enough for the LP to become a major party... IF they ever do.

Now "Libertarian Lite" could stand a MUCH better chance MUCH sooner.... but most libertarians won't compromise towards the middle enough to be considered "Libertarian Lite".

This is why Ron Paul doesn't actually win in actual elections.... he takes things further than most people can accept.

I will never compromise. I support legalizing all drugs.
 
Out of those, the libertarian party. I don't believe it ever will, nor do I really want it to, but they have the most loyal base.
 
I will never compromise. I support legalizing all drugs.


And there's the problem.


I'm an ex-cop and I could care less if you legalize weed and cocaine, as long as the entire production chain is "brought into the light" to undercut the cartels and gangs.

Crack and meth are just too damn toxic... no legal corp could produce and sell it, they'd have liability out the wazoo.

Heroin is terribly addictive and can get debilitating for heavy users. LSD is a crap shoot as to whether you have a pleasant trip or burn out your brain like my cousin.

And then there's BATH SALTS.... you know, the one people keep having violent psychotic breaks on, as bad or worse than PCP...


And this typifies the problem with "absolutely no compromise Libertarians"..... Politics IS the "art of compromise". Without compromise you are left with dictatorship.
 
And there's the problem.


I'm an ex-cop and I could care less if you legalize weed and cocaine, as long as the entire production chain is "brought into the light" to undercut the cartels and gangs.

Crack and meth are just too damn toxic... no legal corp could produce and sell it, they'd have liability out the wazoo.

Heroin is terribly addictive and can get debilitating for heavy users. LSD is a crap shoot as to whether you have a pleasant trip or burn out your brain like my cousin.

And then there's BATH SALTS.... you know, the one people keep having violent psychotic breaks on, as bad or worse than PCP...


And this typifies the problem with "absolutely no compromise Libertarians"..... Politics IS the "art of compromise". Without compromise you are left with dictatorship.

Most people wouldn't do meth, heroin or bath salts if marijuana and cocaine were legal. I'm not saying heroin should be widely available, I'm just saying for a very high price people should be able to use it if they wish. If they become addicted, and want to receive treatment, then we will have treatment/rehab centers specifically catering to heroin addicts. Otherwise, let them die. It's their life, to enjoy or destroy.

Compromise is not a good idea. I don't want anyone to compromise. I abhor neo-liberalism, but I don't want them to compromise with me. I want a full conversion or no conversion at all.

Let's face it, if we had 20 LP Congressmen who could keep the R's and D's in check, Washington would work a lot better.

_____

I support drug education programs in the schools, just like sex education. It's important people know the effects of drugs in a non-biased manner. Just the facts. Don't even tell the children they shouldn't do them. Just get to them before the drug dealer does.

I would never do drugs, nor would anyone I know. (or at least, that's what they say now)

However, it is my firm belief that my opposition to something does not equal good legal policy. I'm not the one writing the laws. Crimes need a victim. Charlie Sheen is not a victim.
 
In your opinion, what minor party has the best chance of becoming a major party nationwide or in at least three states?

I believe that honor belongs to the Libertarian Party, largely because the Justice and Green parties haven't been very successful in recruiting Democrats to their parties.

Although I doubt any party really stands a chance of becoming a major third party, but of those the Libertarians probably have the best shot. I've always thought the best chance of having a real third party would be if a couple of high profile politicians, (reps, senators, or governors), broke off and formed their own party. But in today's "toe the party line" system I think there's little chance of that happening either.
 
I'm an ex-cop and I could care less if you legalize weed and cocaine, as long as the entire production chain is "brought into the light" to undercut the cartels and gangs.

A lot of police feel that way now. Well the ones I personally know.

Crack and meth are just too damn toxic... no legal corp could produce and sell it, they'd have liability out the wazoo.

Someone will produce it, doesn't have to be a corporation. When someone OD's on scrips what happens? Anyway this is where personal responsibility should kick in.

Heroin is terribly addictive and can get debilitating for heavy users. LSD is a crap shoot as to whether you have a pleasant trip or burn out your brain like my cousin.

Never did horse, euuuwww... Don't know people that do it, actally the only person I knew on it OD'd. LSD, yea you can get a bad dose, that's just another reason for legalization, quality goes up. Most of the bad doses I've heard of just involved horrible back aches. I have heard of one brain fry, this was from my roomate, he was a Deadhead(grateful dead follower) though.

And then there's BATH SALTS.... you know, the one people keep having violent psychotic breaks on, as bad or worse than PCP...

Bath salts are a joke, those guys were already loco! :) One of the guys already made a death threat to his mother. No comment on PCP, I know not one soul that touched that.

And this typifies the problem with "absolutely no compromise Libertarians"..... Politics IS the "art of compromise". Without compromise you are left with dictatorship.

Politics = bad ;)

Dictatorships do indeed dictate, through force if I'm not mistaken, right? Libertarians are against the use of force to a large extent. Only time force should be used is in the defense of ones life, liberty, and/or property.

The other parties have no problem with the use of force.
 
It seems to me that it would be best to allow the really bad, addictive drugs such as meth and heroin to be available in an institutional setting under medical supervision.
That way, the addicts wouldn't be on the street and could have access to help getting over their addiction and back to a more normal life.

As it is, they live in the shadows, afraid of arrest, living hand to mouth with nothing to look forward to but the next "fix," until all too often they overdose, get some bad "stuff", or die of their disease.

Yes, disease. Isn't addiction a disease? Why not treat it as such? Wouldn't that be more effective than treating it as a legal problem rather than a medical one?
 
Given social attitudes of the younger generation. I am guessing in the next 10 or 15 years, the current libertarian party is going turn into the future republican party, with the old guard dying off as they are the core of the tea party and tend to be 55 or older, looking at some older polls from around last summer, if memory serves me right.

I am not sure if that satisfies the requirements of the OP in terms of a minor party becoming a major party, but its how it tends to happen in this country.
 
Most people wouldn't do meth, heroin or bath salts if marijuana and cocaine were legal. I'm not saying heroin should be widely available, I'm just saying for a very high price people should be able to use it if they wish. If they become addicted, and want to receive treatment, then we will have treatment/rehab centers specifically catering to heroin addicts. Otherwise, let them die. It's their life, to enjoy or destroy.

Compromise is not a good idea. I don't want anyone to compromise. I abhor neo-liberalism, but I don't want them to compromise with me. I want a full conversion or no conversion at all.

Let's face it, if we had 20 LP Congressmen who could keep the R's and D's in check, Washington would work a lot better.

_____

I support drug education programs in the schools, just like sex education. It's important people know the effects of drugs in a non-biased manner. Just the facts. Don't even tell the children they shouldn't do them. Just get to them before the drug dealer does.

I would never do drugs, nor would anyone I know. (or at least, that's what they say now)

However, it is my firm belief that my opposition to something does not equal good legal policy. I'm not the one writing the laws. Crimes need a victim. Charlie Sheen is not a victim.

It is true that crack was a reaction to a rise in cocaine prices, partly due to law enforcement efforts to cut into the trade. Meth was a reaction to gov't making crack ingredients difficult to obtain. Yes, some people would do cocaine instead if it were legal and reasonably cheap. But not all.

Legalizing weed and plain coke, I'm okay with. Heroin, LSD and peyote I'm not sure about. Crack and Meth are too toxic to be produced and sold legally, no legit company would touch the stuff in today's litigation climate.

The problem here with no-compromise Libertarianism is that only about 2% of the population wants to live under that system. If you refuse to compromise what will you do with the 98% who disagree? There's your problem, and there's the reason the LP almost never wins an election, as much as the structurally-imbedded two-party preference.

Libertarian Lite COULD win elections... start off with just legalizing weed, removing unConstitutional restrictions on the right to bear arms and self-defense, and trimming the Social Welfare state down to a more modest "safety net" that is focused on "giving a hand UP" instead of a "hand-out". Do this instead of trying to legalize EVERYTHING all at once, and instead of trying to end ALL social welfare INSTANTLY, and you might get some traction.

Focus on minimizing our involvement in foreign wars rather than foreswearing all military action unless we're actually invaded, and people will see that as a more reasonable and desireable position.


Spend more time focused on restoring the liberties people are most interested in, and minimizing the bureaucracy nobody likes, and more middle-of-the-road positions on most other things.... extreme positions and calls for instant and catastrophic change tend to scare people off.

You may, over time, be able to get where you want to go (more or less) by incrementalism, but when Libertarians take an "ALL or nothing, NOW or never" attitude they turn off the majority of voters.

There are only two ways to have everything YOUR way with ZERO compromise...
1. Total dictatorship (a total contradiction to all Libertarianism stands for)

Or

2. Almost everyone agrees with LP on effectively everything (never happen... you can scarcely get 2/3rds to agree on ANYTHING, let alone 90%+ on EVERYTHING).



Any democratically based system, by necessity, operates on compromise.
 
None...it won't happen in this century.
 
There will be NO parties before a third party becomes major,

The problem is the parties are currently WAY to polarized and partisan and to polluted with hacks but even with that said no other party even has a fighting change because they also have hacks and unfortunately the hacks are usually the loudest and get the most press,

SO there will be no parties ?(only meaning there wont be such stupid strict partisan guidelines to be in a party) or the current parties will have to kick out the hacks.
 
Legalizing weed and plain coke, I'm okay with. Heroin, LSD and peyote I'm not sure about. Crack and Meth are too toxic to be produced and sold legally, no legit company would touch the stuff in today's litigation climate.

I used to argue that weed and mushrooms and such should be legal but perhaps other drugs should not. Recently I reevaluated that and now I say all drugs should be "legal", but all are subject to FDA approval and regulation.
 
There will be NO parties before a third party becomes major,

The problem is the parties are currently WAY to polarized and partisan and to polluted with hacks but even with that said no other party even has a fighting change because they also have hacks and unfortunately the hacks are usually the loudest and get the most press,

SO there will be no parties ?(only meaning there wont be such stupid strict partisan guidelines to be in a party) or the current parties will have to kick out the hacks.


Word on the street is that the GOP in California is becoming a 3rd Party.
 
It is true that crack was a reaction to a rise in cocaine prices, partly due to law enforcement efforts to cut into the trade. Meth was a reaction to gov't making crack ingredients difficult to obtain. Yes, some people would do cocaine instead if it were legal and reasonably cheap. But not all.

Legalizing weed and plain coke, I'm okay with. Heroin, LSD and peyote I'm not sure about. Crack and Meth are too toxic to be produced and sold legally, no legit company would touch the stuff in today's litigation climate.

The problem here with no-compromise Libertarianism is that only about 2% of the population wants to live under that system. If you refuse to compromise what will you do with the 98% who disagree? There's your problem, and there's the reason the LP almost never wins an election, as much as the structurally-imbedded two-party preference.

Libertarian Lite COULD win elections... start off with just legalizing weed, removing unConstitutional restrictions on the right to bear arms and self-defense, and trimming the Social Welfare state down to a more modest "safety net" that is focused on "giving a hand UP" instead of a "hand-out". Do this instead of trying to legalize EVERYTHING all at once, and instead of trying to end ALL social welfare INSTANTLY, and you might get some traction.

Focus on minimizing our involvement in foreign wars rather than foreswearing all military action unless we're actually invaded, and people will see that as a more reasonable and desireable position.


Spend more time focused on restoring the liberties people are most interested in, and minimizing the bureaucracy nobody likes, and more middle-of-the-road positions on most other things.... extreme positions and calls for instant and catastrophic change tend to scare people off.

You may, over time, be able to get where you want to go (more or less) by incrementalism, but when Libertarians take an "ALL or nothing, NOW or never" attitude they turn off the majority of voters.

There are only two ways to have everything YOUR way with ZERO compromise...
1. Total dictatorship (a total contradiction to all Libertarianism stands for)

Or

2. Almost everyone agrees with LP on effectively everything (never happen... you can scarcely get 2/3rds to agree on ANYTHING, let alone 90%+ on EVERYTHING).



Any democratically based system, by necessity, operates on compromise.

Exactly.

What is needed is not a wholesale move toward the libertarian philosophy, but a move in that direction.
The same can be said for the adamant liberals and conservatives, or those who call themselves that, and aren't willing to compromise and come up with practical solutions to national problems.

We even have a polarization and lack of willingness to compromise between the Republicans and Democrats, despite all of their similarities. That sort of polarization, lack of willingness to compromise, lack of interest in pragmatic solutions to problems is hamstringing Congress currently.
 
It is true that crack was a reaction to a rise in cocaine prices, partly due to law enforcement efforts to cut into the trade. Meth was a reaction to gov't making crack ingredients difficult to obtain. Yes, some people would do cocaine instead if it were legal and reasonably cheap. But not all.

Legalizing weed and plain coke, I'm okay with. Heroin, LSD and peyote I'm not sure about. Crack and Meth are too toxic to be produced and sold legally, no legit company would touch the stuff in today's litigation climate.

The problem here with no-compromise Libertarianism is that only about 2% of the population wants to live under that system. If you refuse to compromise what will you do with the 98% who disagree? There's your problem, and there's the reason the LP almost never wins an election, as much as the structurally-imbedded two-party preference.

Libertarian Lite COULD win elections... start off with just legalizing weed, removing unConstitutional restrictions on the right to bear arms and self-defense, and trimming the Social Welfare state down to a more modest "safety net" that is focused on "giving a hand UP" instead of a "hand-out". Do this instead of trying to legalize EVERYTHING all at once, and instead of trying to end ALL social welfare INSTANTLY, and you might get some traction.

Focus on minimizing our involvement in foreign wars rather than foreswearing all military action unless we're actually invaded, and people will see that as a more reasonable and desireable position.


Spend more time focused on restoring the liberties people are most interested in, and minimizing the bureaucracy nobody likes, and more middle-of-the-road positions on most other things.... extreme positions and calls for instant and catastrophic change tend to scare people off.

You may, over time, be able to get where you want to go (more or less) by incrementalism, but when Libertarians take an "ALL or nothing, NOW or never" attitude they turn off the majority of voters.

There are only two ways to have everything YOUR way with ZERO compromise...
1. Total dictatorship (a total contradiction to all Libertarianism stands for)

Or

2. Almost everyone agrees with LP on effectively everything (never happen... you can scarcely get 2/3rds to agree on ANYTHING, let alone 90%+ on EVERYTHING).



Any democratically based system, by necessity, operates on compromise.

Despite our victory in one of Texas' Congressional districts, NORML supporters are being picked-off one by one.

Ron Paul, Barney Frank and Dennis Kucinich won't be returning to Congress. That's 3 guys we've just lost.

We have a few Libertarian-Lite Senators already: Rand Paul, Mike Lee, etc
 
The onl;y party that represents US Citizen interests

America First Party

GOP is for foreign corps
DEms are for foreign criminals
 
"Fighting for Faith..."

So that means Atheists would not be allowed to join AFP?

That is just for the religous in USA. To keep them happy.

Core ideas are economic.
No Free Trade
Pro worker policys
 
In your opinion, what minor party has the best chance of becoming a major party nationwide or in at least three states?

I believe that honor belongs to the Libertarian Party, largely because the Justice and Green parties haven't been very successful in recruiting Democrats to their parties.

The Libretarian Party. I think as our youth becomes more educated in politics, you will se a very young and strong libertarian party. Most people that I know that label themselves as Republican are better represented by the Libertarians. I don't think that they are gonna become one of the Major parties, but I think they will have an increasing impact over the next 20 years.
 
The Libretarian Party. I think as our youth becomes more educated in politics, you will se a very young and strong libertarian party. Most people that I know that label themselves as Republican are better represented by the Libertarians. I don't think that they are gonna become one of the Major parties, but I think they will have an increasing impact over the next 20 years.

I think expansion of online registration - especially with facebook will help get everyone signed up, so that at least they can vote if they want to. That should raise the overall minor party vote from 3% in Presidential races to 30% by default. There are enough Americans pissed off with both Repubs/Dems to vote against them every chance they get.
 
In your opinion, what minor party has the best chance of becoming a major party nationwide or in at least three states?

I believe that honor belongs to the Libertarian Party, largely because the Justice and Green parties haven't been very successful in recruiting Democrats to their parties.

Other: The Republican party. Bah dum bum
 
None. We will always have two parties in the US. Its our tradition. That's how our electoral system is set up to deter third parties.

You need to brush up on history then. Political parties were rejected by the Founding Fathers, and didn't surface until the rift between Hamilton and Jefferson occurred. There was also the Era of Good Feelings in 1816-1824 where only one party existed.
 
I think expansion of online registration - especially with facebook will help get everyone signed up, so that at least they can vote if they want to. That should raise the overall minor party vote from 3% in Presidential races to 30% by default. There are enough Americans pissed off with both Repubs/Dems to vote against them every chance they get.

I have seen in my highschool an increasing interest in politics. The major problem is the majority of them follow their parents views. If more were like me and wanted to immerse themselves in every viewpoint (whic is entirely possible as young people are very likely to be open minded), then I believe there will be a huge youth shift to Libertarians or at least Libertarian-like candidates such as Ron Paul. I know after I posted on facebook and twitter about Ron Paul a few times, more people at school started talking about him. Social media is powerful and it could easily be used to rebalance power because our 2 parties now have entirely too much power over the country
 
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