BehindBlueI's
Grandmaster
- Oct 3, 2012
- 25,890
- 113
I'm not sure it matters on the left. I am aware of no left-leaning acquaintances who will vote an alternative even when they disagree with leftist policies and ideas. Hell, have ANY of the leftists on INGO even acknowledged Biden is a disaster?
On the other hand, voters on the right are seemingly always willing to commit friendly fire
out of purity concerns and champion their willingness to vote unstrategically at every opportunity
Ergo, I conclude any new third party will, like the Libertarian party, primarily siphon votes away from conservatives
'We have met the enemy and he is us'
I think it's selective bias in that the people with the most feelz also have the loudest voices online. The hardliners aren't going to switch from either party and that's not the target or expectation. Single issue voters aren't likely to switch either, unless the new party just happens to align with them. The people who tend to comment in INGO political threads are going to vote for Satan if he's a Republican and gets an "A" from the NRA. It's a self-selected group who is very into guns by virtue of being on a gun board and very into politics by continuously posting the threads.
The left has the same sorts of things, but they aren't any more lock step in reality. Remember the division over Hillary? Bernie Bros who stayed home rather than vote for her? Her numbers weren't remotely close to Obama's as far as core turnout. And it cost her the election. They didn't just show up to pull a lever because "D" behind the name. The controversy over how Hillary got the nomination, FBI reports about classified materials that hit the media shortly before the election, all of her Clinton-esque baggage overcame that.
Voting for someone else may have been an option, maybe they would have still stayed home. ANY 3rd party has a huge uphill battle vs the entrenched and enriched mega-parties, but getting people who already have name recognition, PAC support, etc. is going to be the best shot at it, IMO.
As far as Libertarians appealing primarily to conservatives, what conservatives are voting for legalization of all drugs, unfettered access to abortion, gay marriage, legalization of gambling without restriction, legalization of prostitution, abolishing the death penalty, etc? How about a complete opening of the borders for "market freedom" of labor? Any Republican who voiced a third of those would be a RINO or worse instantly. Some of it is pretty extreme for liberals. How many people of any political stripe do you think believe that "financial and human capital should move freely across borders"?