Third parties face a natural hurdle when attempting to burst upon the electoral scene: legitimacy. Every political party wants voters to feel like they present a credible alternative to the other options available on election day, lest the stigma of “spoiled vote” is attached to the party’s brand.
It is no surprise then that party-switching elected officials are seen as monumentous occasions for minor parties. However, the danger comes when such a development is exagerrated in its scope.
We saw this in 2008 in the presidential race. Two former congressmen ran for President: Cynthia McKinney with the Green Party and Bob Barr with the Libertarian Party. McKinney garnered a relatively tiny amount of votes for an established third party, finishing 6th in the election. Barr fared better, turning in a solid performance but nothing for the recordbooks.
The problem was that these were Representatives- in other words, 1 out of 435 in any given two-year term. Both had been out of office for some time, eroding their name recognition. They lacked access to any significant funding networks. It was nice to add “former Congressman” to the top of a ticket, but it did little for electoral performance.
Two major examples of this have arisen in 2010 on a smaller scale. First, take Arkansas. In 2006 former Independent and Democratic Party state legislator Jim Lendall ran for Governor as the Green Party nominee. He garnered a meagre 1.7% of the vote in that race. This year is no different; current polling pegs the candidate at 2%.
Idaho provides another example. Jana Kemp was a state legislator as recently as 2006. As a moderate Republican, Kemp’s Independent candidacy appeared to have significant room to grow in a year where moderate Republicans are running strong as Independents. Yet evidence shows this may not be so; a recent poll put Kemp at 1% support, behind Libertarian Ted Dunlap at 3% and perennial candidate Pro-Life (yes, that is his name) at 2%.
Kemp’s example does come with a caveat, as another poll put her at 8.6% support a few days earlier. I do not intend to say that all party-switchers are inappropriate for political office. Picture this critique as two-fold: 1) if an office-holder has been out of office for a significant period of time, voters have a tendency to, well, forget them. 2) if an office-holder represented 2% of the population of a state, they probably aren’t going to have a huge profile with voters.
Nevertheless, third parties should be wary of recruiting state legislators or congressmen to run as the top of their ticket for a disportionately large electorate. While it sounds nice in a press release, a former legislator will not inherently result in a strong showing at the polls.
It is true that nominating a former officeholder is not a guarantee of success for alternative parties. Even candidates with name recognition face the “wasted vote” syndrome and the fear of “splitting” the vote.
Cynthia McKinney had other problems as a candidate that her short service in Congress could not overcome. And the Green Party was not likely to make inroads in a year when the Democrats nominated someone who sounded as left-wing as Obama.
Bob Barr had the problem that his record in Congress was not always in line with Libertarian views, and so you could not actually point to things he did in Congress as a reason to vote for him.
In any case, the “wasted vote” syndrome is most powerful in Presidential elections. Alternative party candidates for lower offices routinely get higher percentages of the vote than even the best third party candidates for President.
It makes very little sense for alternative parties to run candidates for President in any case, because they will get little publicity as the media concentrates on the potential winners. As candidates for President, Cynthia McKinney and Bob Barr did not do worse than other potential Green or Libertarian candidates. They just failed to make a breakthrough.
The breakthrough for the Libertarian Party will have to come at a lower level – Congress or state legislature.
Also, a lot of people still remember Tancredo from his 2008 presidential run.
Many times these parties nominate a candidate for the name value and the candidate does not have a voting record that matches the parties platform. This becomes a negative to the party overall.
I probably should have added an important note to this piece. While an elected official switching doesn’t mean instant access to the political scene, if it is the right race and a big enough name then you can achieve that effect.
For example, Tom Tancredo in Colorado is the best example. Unlike a US Representative trying to run for President, he ran for Governor in his home state where he once represented a decent chunk of the population. Tancredo also hasn’t been out of national politics for very long.
Alan Fran twelve minutes ago:
Only about 4 in 10 say they want to show support for the president with their vote.
Overall, 49 percent of those supporting their Republican congressional candidate are very interested in the election, compared with 39 percent of those backing the Democrat in their local race.
Still, the public’s generally dim view of Republicans gives Democrats some hope of blunting what could be big GOP Election Day gains.
That optimism has been buttressed by some candidates Republicans have chosen, such as Delaware Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell, who faces allegations of misusing campaign funds and has espoused conservative social views.
“As Republicans take the spotlight, voters become more focused on what they don’t like about the GOP,” said Democratic pollster Geoffrey Garin.
Republicans say that won’t work because midterm elections are usually about the party in power.
This piece offers an important word of caution to Libertarians. Not sure about other alternative parties, but I think Libertarians have tended to put too much stock party-switchers seen as having “big names”, only to see these individuals fail to uphold the party’s ideals or otherwise live up to expectations. Bob Barr is only one prominent example of this.
Middle Of the Road = Centrists = Big Tent = Thugs and Bugs = Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves
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[ReformNewsList] John Bambey: I accuse you:
…
Bruce Westcott
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[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
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Mr. [John] Bambey, I outright accuse you of dereliction of your accepted duties and responsibilities while acting as Chairman of the Legal Committee on behalf of the John Blare faction of the RPUSA.
Stick that somewhere in your files, Mr. Bambey.
Bruce Westcott (Former National Chairman of the RPUSA)
Chairman, Reform Party of Nevada
Do YOU Want The Truth?
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