Half of Americans support the formation of a new political party

October 31, 10:48 PMUtah County Libertarian ExaminerDevin Rees

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MSNBC reports that a recent poll shows that half of Americans would support the formation of a new political party. Chris Daggett, an independent candidate for New Jersey governor, has a chance to win the election, according to recent poll data. Also, recent controversy surrounding New York's 23rd Congressional district has highlighted the divide within the Republican party.

Americans were certainly not happy with Bush Jr.'s years in the White House. Obama's approval ratings are also on the decline. Could 2010 or 2012 be an election in which we see a lot of "non-mainstream" candidates elected? Could a third party like the Libertarian party see a candidate or two elected?

The American political system does is not very friendly to the entrance of new parties. Without any success in previous elections, the candidates have to gather a large number of signatures. Even after making it on to the ballot, most third party candidates receive little mention from media sources and are not invited to political debates.

It would probably take a couple of big names to jump ship to a third party before that party would receive media attention. There is definitely some kind of political movement that has formed around Libertarian ideals. This Libertarian wing of the Republican party is fairly influential.  Is this movement, as seen in the End the Fed rallies, the "Ron Paul Revolution", and other such events, a faction in the Republican party or could it turn in to its own political party?

According to my political science class, a social movement tends to focus on one issue or at least one set of issues. This movement takes positions on everything from the wars in the middle east to the economy to the Patriot Act and civil liberties. Does that make it a political party? Well, given the lack of success of third parties, it is more likely that the Libertarian-minded will continue to try to influence the Republican party from within, although certain Republicans like Senator Graham have repeatedly stated that the Republican party will not build a platform based on Libertarian principles. Given public backlash against big government and the last couple of administrations, perhaps they should consider it.

Here's an interesting video of Ron Paul's speech at a convention supporting third party candidates to be allowed in debates and be a viable option in elections. It runs about ten minutes long, but it has some very good points. The speech is from over a year ago, 9/9/08.