The “Big Lies” of campaigns in U.S. Elections (A series) — “The Two Party System”
This is part one in a series of writings on the ideas we operate with, in U.S. campaigns and elections, which in fact, are lies.
Invariably, when a discussion of supporting a candidate that is not a Republican or Democrat, an instant objection, and a Big Lie is raised by many:
“This is a two party system”
There is possibly no bigger assumption and thus Big Lie spread than this. Why is this perception rampant? There are two factors involved. Constant messaging, media, and party re-enforcement of the lie and slow steady ballot access suppression by both large parties across our country. Yet even in the face of those things, the fact that only two parties exist or can compete is a LIE. It is not factual. It is spin and manipulation. It is verbal bullying. As much as we are combating such behaviors in the schools and in the workplace, we have not translated that to the political arena. The time to fix that is now! When you hear people say that statement, please, call it out as a lie.
Parties are parties….and nothing more.
Democrat? A party. Republican? A party. Green? A party. Libertarian? A party. These and many many more are political parties. Period. The have a right to exist in our country. Do you know what none of these parties are? A “third party”. Only legislation makes certain parties “Major” or “Minor” or “Recognized” or “Unrecognized”. Legislation or Federal Elections Commission rules create the artificial situation. The original Constitution stated that certain human beings within our borders only counted as ‘three-fifths’ of a person. Those humans though were no different than the 100% count people. Much the same, the categorization in laws re-enforces people’s perceptions and distorted view of reality. To change that, we must change our language. Join me in saying:
From here forward I declare that there are no “Third Parties”. Just parties….and nothing more.
Our Voting system does not force only two parties
“Single member district representation with plurality (first past the post) winning means you can have only two parties.” LIE! How do I know this? There are other countries that elect members to their legislative bodies. Where, like here, only one person wins in each district, and yet more than two parties compete for votes and get members seated. Our neighbor to the north, Canada, is one such nation. They are not the only ones either.
How do they get this accomplished when we don’t? Easy. Voters refuse to compromise their own integrity as much as we do in the USA. They have parties based on Left/Right dynamics (Conservative/Liberal/New Democratic Party), Green, which focuses on certain areas of policy more, and Bloc Quebecois, which is a regional party that looks out for Quebec’s interests. Different parties, different reasons for being, all playing on the stage. FIVE!!
Do all five compete equally everywhere? No. But this is not important. Many places, it is Conservative vs Liberal with also-rans. But other places are a different mix. Liberal vs NDP, NDP vs Green., Liberal vs Quebecois. The more dominant parties change with the changing look of people across the big nation or even a large city. Its natural and way more representative.
In the USA, we have many districts where only one party is on the ticket in November. Why the vacuum? The “Big 2” like it that way. The two parties are happy, the people are left without choices. And you wonder why people are not participating?
As I write this, over 40% of the USA registered voters are registered as or consider themselves independent of either of the two parties. You cannot tell me there is no room for a few more parties to thrive here. The trick is for all of us to stop complaining and start effort of our own, or join groups that already exist. If you are not happy with what is, then the next logical step is to act differently. Its totally legal. Do it!
Most of our problems are occurring because only two parties have a place at the table. (But that is for another post)
“Two Party System” Is A Bald Faced Lie!
