The Myth of the Third Party Solution

[TaraJo]

Not sure how this is a "myth". If a third party ever does get enough votes to affect an election in a big way, it could cause issues for the major two parties. Unfortunately, the electoral system in the US is set up so that things tend towards a two party system.

Yeah, exactly. If a third party shows up at this point, all they'd wind up doing is playing spoiler to the major political party that is closest to them ideologically. Think about it: suppose Ron Paul had decided to run on the libertarian ticket. That would split the Republican vote and Obama may have been able to have the first ever electoral college sweep...... while getting a whopping 40% of the popular vote.

I do think would be better off if we opened up the third parties, but we need to change our electoral college system to do it. An automatic run off for any races without a candidate that wins at least 50% of the vote would be a good place to start.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7tWHJfhiyo

Here's part of the problem.