27 June 2008
Many Political Parties Shape U.S. Political Agenda
“Third Party” politics has long history in the United States
Viera, Florida -- On the surface, there does not seem to be much in common among a teetotaler, a socialist, a reformer, an environmentalist and a bull moose. But in the U.S. political arena, they symbolize a wide range of past and present “Third Party” organizations, and have influenced U.S. presidential elections.
Many of the numerous smaller parties or independent candidates have been important factors – by drawing attention to campaign issues that otherwise may be ignored, by increasing voter turnout and by sending a message to the major parties by accumulating protest votes. In some cases, political experts argue, a third-party candidate also can change the outcome of an election.
Every state has its own rules for putting candidates on the ballot. While listing is automatic for Democrats and Republicans, third parties face extra challenges such as obtaining a set number of voter signatures on a petition or paying registration fees. This often limits the number of state ballots on which a candidate’s name may appear.
The United States has followed a two-party system since the Civil War in the mid-19th century, when the Democrats and Republicans coalesced into separate major political parties that control national elections.
It was not until the turn of the 20th century that third-party presidential candidates of any note appeared on the scene. One of the most notable early third-party candidacies was that of a former U.S. president – Theodore Roosevelt. In 1912, Roosevelt, who was president from 1901 to 1909, broke away from the Republicans and formed the Progressive Party, nicknamed the “Bull Moose Party” because Roosevelt said he felt “as strong as a moose.” Roosevelt carried six states totaling 88 electoral votes and gained 27.4 percent of the popular vote, the second highest percentage of the four candidates running. The Republican split enabled Democrat Woodrow Wilson to win the presidency.
There have been other times in which political leaders unhappy with their party have formed their own political organizations. In the 1948 election, there were two breakaway Democrats in the race – Strom Thurmond, who ran for the segregationist States’ Rights “Dixiecrat” Party and won 39 Electoral College votes from four states, and Henry Wallace, a Progressive Party candidate.
Even though Thurmond did not keep Democrat incumbent President Harry Truman from winning the presidency, he demonstrated the role third-party candidates can play in enabling a particular region to send a message to the major political parties . Thurmond’s support was entirely from southern states. Thurmond later joined the Republican Party.
In 1968, when Republican Richard Nixon won the election over Democratic Vice President Hubert Humphrey with 43 percent of the popular vote and 301 electoral votes, Democrat George Wallace, the former governor of Alabama, ran on the American Independent Party line and gained 13.5 percent of the popular vote and 45 electoral votes. Since Wallace’s campaign, no third-party candidate has won any Electoral College votes, although some have earned significant percentages of the popular vote. Ross Perot did in 1992 by gaining 18.9 percent of the national vote.
One of the most notable third-party candidates in recent history is Ralph Nader, who won 2.7 percent of the popular vote as the Green Party candidate in 2000. Nader won no Electoral College votes, but some Democrats still argue Nader cost Al Gore the presidency by taking votes that would have otherwise most likely gone to the Democratic candidate. These Democrats note that more than 97,000 people in Florida voted for Nader in a state where Gore lost to President Bush by 537 votes. Had Gore won Florida, he would have had enough Electoral College votes to win the presidency.
Nader is among the potential dozens of third party candidates competing for the presidency in 2008, although this time he is running as an independent. Among them will be Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr. Barr is a former Republican congressman, worrying some from that party that he could take votes that would typically go to presumed Republican nominee John McCain.
The current third parties that have national voter registrations of more than 100,000 are the socially and economically conservative Constitution Party, the left-of-center Green Party and the fiscally conservative but socially liberal Libertarian Party. Among smaller third parties are several state Conservative parties, the Centrist Party, the Socialist Party and the Communist Party.
Over the years, while third party candidates stand little chance of being elected, their organizations have supported policies that have been incorporated into American society. For instance, the efforts of the Prohibition and Socialist parties helped give women the right to vote; the Populist Party’s support for reduced working hours led to the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act; and the American Independent Party’s toughness advocacy led to the 1968 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act.
