I just wrote a whole post about third parties — and about the current news from Texas, where Bob Barr is claiming that he’s the only Presidential candidate who followed the rules to be listed on the ballot — but to read it you’ll have to go to The Art Of The Possible, where I’ll be guest blogging every Monday for a while.
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September 1st, 2008 at 2:01 pm
I really love this piece. It’s sort-of TomTomorrowish (one of my favorite cartoonists).
I love how I didn’t realize until the last panel that these two characters are the two parties (despite the title of the post). Brilliant!
This comment was written by marmelade.Report this comment to the moderators
September 1st, 2008 at 2:57 pm
The only question is, who’s the Democrat and who’s the Republican?
White Hat looks older, wears a bowtie, and sports a mustache, so I’d vote for him being the Republican. Then again, if he’s one of those “ironic facial hair” guys, then he’s probably a Democrat; actually, he’s probably a Green in that case, though in context that’s not one of the allowed choices.
This comment was written by sylphhead.Report this comment to the moderators
September 1st, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Today, I feel as if I am from a different planet. Nothing I read makes sense. Yes, this cartoon hits the nail on the head, but all it does is make me sad. Isn’t the logical conclusion:
The two American Parties end up supporting these positions only because they are accepted as common sense by the overwhelming majority of voting Americans?
This comment was written by Petar.Report this comment to the moderators
September 1st, 2008 at 4:59 pm
well, I dunno, so I looked it up. here’s what the gallop people say (@gallop.com):
Tax cuts vs. deficit: When pollsters ask Americans whether they would favor or oppose cutting federal income taxes, Americans are quick to support that action because it will put more money in their pockets. But, when Americans are given options of cutting taxes or spending more on domestic issues such as education and Medicare, or holding down the federal budget deficit, Americans are less supportive of cutting taxes, and in many instances, would prefer to spend more money on domestic problems. (April 2008)
War on drugs: poll asked Americans if the nation has made much progress, made some progress, stood still, lost some ground, or lost much ground over the last year or two in coping with the problem of illegal drugs. The results show the public essentially divided into three equal segments: 34% saying the country has made progress, 31% saying they country has stood still, and 32% saying the country has lost ground (October 2007).
Death penalty: 69% of Americans respond “yes” when asked this question: “Are you in favor of the death penalty for a person convicted of murder?” (October 2007)
Military spending: 44% of Americans say the United States is spending too much on the military and on defense, while just 22% say the country is spending too little (February 2008)
Gay marriage: 40% currently say marriage between same-sex couples should be legal; 56% disagree (May 2008)
Except for perhaps the death penalty issue, I wouldn’t call any of these issues to have an “overwhelming” single-view opinion (depends on your definition of “overwhelming”).
Shouldn’t those of us in the - say - 40% minority have ONE of the two major parties speak for us? at least on some of these issues?
This comment was written by marmelade.Report this comment to the moderators
September 1st, 2008 at 8:35 pm
What Marmelade said. :-)
(Thanks for looking all that up, M!)
This comment was written by Ampersand.Report this comment to the moderators
September 2nd, 2008 at 6:49 am
With McKinney and Barr heading up the two largest 3rd parties, it looks like even 3rd-parties are having trouble standing apart from the big parties. IDrewThis has a good review of how Barr’s election represents a reversal of the few progressive views that the Libertarian party holds, and McKinney is similarly just a cast-off of the Democratic party.
This comment was written by Silenced is Foo.Report this comment to the moderators