Isn't it kinda weird that third parties only make an effort every 4 years?

Is this meme format supposed to imply that water is bad for you? Because that's what I get out of it.

They're not simply 'third parties'. They are political parties organizing around every kind of issue, local or not, without any support or exposure and against the two major parties. What happens is they typically have to caucus with one of two parties anyway to not be fighting both.

Third party candidates and their voters are some of the most engaged political operatives out there.

Presidential elections are the only times the vast majority of people even look or engage in politics whatsoever. That's actually the rare point in time every four years where there is enough visibility for any party, even the two major ones.

Actually many of them do try that, it's just that they'll only ever relevant enough to reach a wide audience during presidential elections when more people are tuned in, disgruntled, and actively looking for alternatives before the cycle repeats itself.

ranked choice voting (or similar)

proportional representation

If we could have both of these, it would be American democracy—only better!

Have you ever participated in local politics?

The third party situation currently is inherently going to draw candidates that are not practically minded. Any one that might align with a third party platform but have any hint of practicality go participate with one of the two likely parties.

In some areas, it's not even two parties, it's just one of the two. In those areas, you'll see both left and right candidates in the primary for the practical choice, and the other mainstream party devolves into the same state as "third parties", with far out impractical people trying to run.

Election reform to make third party candidates viable would lead to more practical sensibilities in those third parties

IIRC something happens if one manages to get 5% of the vote, which would enable them to more seriously compete the following election. So, the pitch is they aren't trying to win this time but for the election after - if they can get 5% this time. Didn't get 5%. Next election rolls around: rinse and repeat.

It's a pipe dream. In 2016 we had two of the most disliked candidates running in the big two, and an uncharacteristically decent looking candidate running for the LP. That was prime time for the LP to get that coveted 5% and start making wheels turn. They got 3% and remain on square one. We will not EVER see better conditions for a 3rd party success than Trump v Hillary v Johnson. Not with fptp.

If 3rds want to ever actually get their shit together, they need to work together for reform like ranked choice. Their differences in policy don't mean squat until then, so wake me up when that shit starts to happen. (it won't happen)

If third parties were more effective then the screaming about them "stealing votes" that are supposedly owed to the two main parties would just be louder.

Isn't it weird that people only pay attention to third parties every 4 years? Maybe that's why we only have two shitty choices.

Volunteer. Get educated. Quit blaming others.

I mean tbf I've seen the libertarians and greens run those races too, it's just that being a third party under fptp bites those candidates just as hard as their presidential candidates.

Also having such a hopeless position means they're not actually accountable to their supporters, meaning refusing to actually try to build a movement doesn't actually hurt them.

chances are, they probably are, but corporate media is never going to give them any airtime so you never hear about it

Bernie is okay, though. I'm sure you hear less about all US candidates in general during midterms, especially when the average congressional district is unlikely to have one running every other election.

That's because they're not in it to actually win. A number of them are in it to act as spoiler specifically, why else do you think Jill Stein still around?

Slaps Table THANK YOU!

I would not be surprised if a lot of money was funneled into third party campaigns during general elections by PACs of the two main parties as a spoiler strategy. I would be shocked if you tracked campaign contributions to the Green party and to Jill Stein in particular, and didn't find that most of it came from some Republican PAC. If Jill can siphon any votes from Biden, all the better for the Trump campaign.

The Democrats probably do it, too, except Republicans locked out dissent with the "Thou Shalt Not Defy Our (current) God, or we'll destroy your local race with vengeance next chance we get" tactic, and it works. Many Conservatives may disagree with Trump, but they're all terrified little bitches of standing up to him because they'll get dumped on an lose their jobs if they do. So there's fewer spoilers for Democrats to fund.

But I'd be real money that most of Stein's financing comes from conservative PACs, and that's why you only see her pop up out of here gopher hole once every 4 years.

The "get your name out there" idea is the problem.

For a third party to be successful they'd need to first build a massive grassroots movement behind it. That takes a lot of effort and may not be successful.

And what happens if you build that grassroots movement but the Democrats say "hey people seem to care a lot about this issue so lets put it on the platform." Then what if the Dems actually deal with that issue? Well then that grassroots movement was a success! Except the leaders of the movement may not "get their name out there" as their name isn't on a ballot that everyone sees.

Basically US third parties are mostly about giving name recognition to a few individuals (who may or may not have brain worms) so they can get on TV and have some notoriety. People voting third party feel like they're sticking it to someone... when really the people they're sticking it to don't have enough votes to do much and the people they're voting for just want to be on TV.

I did not expect to see a Chaeyoung/Twice meme on Lemmy...

It’s no different than those that suggest voting for third party candidates. Every four years- predictable as the sunrise.

I'll guess it that people who like third parties fall into 2 categories: people who are really focused on one issue in particular (green party, free soil party, pirate party), and people who are really individualistic (Angus King, Bernie Sanders, Jesse Ventura, etc.). The former aren't really there to win, but rather to draw attention to the issue. And the latter don't wanna join someone else's party.

Greens / libertarians are just slightly different flavors of liberalism. There's still only one ideology allowed.