It’s basic arithmetic.

If a centrist third party emerged the other two would still have to fight for their alleigance by moving to the center and it would scare both parties into getting their collective acts together.

It’s not a big leap to switch from being a moderate Democrat to a moderate Republican or vice versa. But once you go libertarian a lot of things just seem to fit. You don’t have to choose between a bloated, tax crazy government or puritanical warmongers.

Of course the other option for a centrist party would be some form of religious socialism which would entail very high taxes to pay for the high tech bedroom monitoring equipment. I think the Neocons are pretty close to filling that niche.

Politics today is dominated by parties, as parties are the traditional aggregator of money and votes. The average voter doesn’t take the time to learn anything about the candidates until he sees the names on the ballot, and he makes his choice based on party affiliation. Politicians know this and draw districts that are safely Democratic or safely Republican. This makes the primary the most important election, and voters are even less well-informed during primary season than they are in the fall, and turnouts are extremely low. So the primary is the election most easily influenced by the Internet, and verily it only has to increase turnout by a little bit to be successful.

Our political system would work better if we had more pro-business Democrats and pro-environment Republicans in the mix. If the Internet can make this happen, by energizing campaigns with money and volunteers during the primary season, our whole system could change radically.

Third Parties are a huge distraction in the American system, for the reasons already outlined.

So here’s what the Internet has to do: discourage people from joining third parties, and instead encourage them to bring centrist views into the majority parties. Encourage centrist candidates in primary elections who aren’t dependent on labor or business money. Raise volunteer corps to knock on doors and drive people to the polls during primary season. Knock off the extremist elements that dominate the two parties.

The Internet does have its own politics, and those politics reflect the values of the mainstream of American life: they’re more moderate and more libertarian than either party. Wake up the sleeping giant that is the apathetic center and the world can be yours.

I personally was a diehard democrat until I started reading blogs about economics, history, etc. which over the course of about four years converted me into a libertarian. The more people educated about economics the fewer converts the democrats will win.

I’m not saying there is an intentional Left wing agenda but they generally don’t talk about the benefits of free markets much because they simply haven’t figured out a way to make it interesting.

Oh, and as a Metro-Atlanta resident, I share Spacey’s concern about Reed. The threat is real. That’s why people need to get off their duffs and V-O-T-E!!

Single Transferable Vote
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This STV ballot for the Australian Senate illustrates group voting tickets. Voters can either rank every candidate individually or use their preferred party’s preferences by voting “above the line.”
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This STV ballot for the Australian Senate illustrates group voting tickets. Voters can either rank every candidate individually or use their preferred party’s preferences by voting “above the line.”

The Single Transferable Vote, or STV, is a preferential voting system designed to minimise wasted votes and provide proportional representation while ensuring that votes are explicitly for candidates rather than party lists. STV achieves this by using multi-seat constituencies (districts) and by transferring votes that would otherwise be wasted. STV initially allocates an individual’s vote to their most preferred candidate, and then subsequently transfers unneeded or unused votes after candidates are either elected or eliminated, according to the voter’s stated preferences.

As of 2006, STV is used for elections in Australia, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Malta. It is also used for some local government elections in New Zealand — see History and use of the Single Transferable Vote.

Until we can vote online, the Ralph Reeders are still going to clean our clocks… least that’s how it’s shaping-up here in GA — again.