Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Andrew Yang to launch a third party

politico.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 166 posts

Re: Andrew Yang to launch a third party

#81

Post by krapp »

dsr_ wrote: post #59
benburleson wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure if it's just a vocal minority, but it sure seems to be the Party of Trump, no longer the Republican Party.

All the Republican Party needs is for DJT to die of natural causes, so that candidates can quibble over who is the true inheritor of his mantle. Eight years after that the name of Trump will be invoked as a meaningless benediction the way that Reagan is used now.

>All the Republican Party needs is for DJT to die of natural causes, so that candidates can quibble over who is the true inheritor of his mantle

I think Trump stopped being a viable figurehead for his own movement once the stop-the-steal movement and insurrection failed to prevent Biden's election, and date after date after date for Trump's triumphant return passed without incident. Republicans are going to have to move on from him either way.

Re: Andrew Yang to launch a third party

#82

Post by Apocryphon »

Cola wrote: post #39
oxymoran wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He wouldn’t be able to capture the GOP endorsing UBI and universal healthcare.

I think UBI and healthcare would be the least of his issues. Trump showed that social conservatism/fiscal liberalism could be a winning formula for GOP voters. I wouldn’t be surprised if some young, socially conservative candidate in 2024/2028 who is willing to cancel debt/fund stimulus/healthcare wins by a landslide.

They could've done that for many election cycles, but the GOP is ultimately in the hands of big business donors and isn't about to do that. Not that the Democrats aren't either, but they are at least offset by unions and similar groups.

Re: Andrew Yang to launch a third party

#83

Post by spiderice »

DoubleDerper wrote: post #75

Ranked-choice voting could be make the most meaningfully positive impact on US democracy in decades. Regardless of your politics. More messaging, coverage, and support for ranked-choice voting is necessary, and we should all hope to see more of it in coming months/years.

The fact that every single person in power got elected without ranked choice voting makes me think there is no chance of that ever getting passed. No politician wants to hurt their own job security.

Re: Andrew Yang to launch a third party

#84

Post by Apocryphon »

I've always wondered why the U.S. never had a decently-sized Pirate Party as a third party, unlike many European countries. A tech-focused, liberalish with some libertarian ideas, some outright radical ideas, would very much fit Yang's political aesthetics.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_Party

Re: Andrew Yang to launch a third party

#85

Post by dane-pgp »

davidw wrote: post #50
Ericson2314 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be a pedant, you should rank those likely to make it to the last round, but with the spots left over (working your way from your last choice up) you can rank whoever you want. Eric Adams won by a smidgen, and yet 15% of ballots were invalid by the last round. Perhaps those 15% gave 0 fucks about Garcia vs Adams, or perhaps they were mistaken about how best to vote. We really need proportional representation, but d…

None of these systems are perfect. I lived in Italy for a number of years and... boy oh boy does proportional representation have its own series of problems. RCV seems like an attainable reform though, and better than the current system.

I've heard Italy used as such an example before, but wonder whether the problem could be mitigated by choosing a different proportional voting system. For example, elections for the Chamber of Deputies use closed party lists (whereas other countries manage with open lists, or no lists).

Which political problems in Italy do you think would go away if they switched to a less proportional system? Wouldn't the same divisions and deal-making just end up happening within parties rather than between parties?

Re: Andrew Yang to launch a third party

#86

Post by throwaway34241 »

I like Yang. So much of politics feels like figuring out who to blame for all our problems - is it corporations / immigrants / the rich / the poor / other countries / the government etc.

Yang's message about blaming automation / technology might be still be wrong, or at least overly simplified. But it's at least laying the groundwork for taking a problem-solving approach instead of a fight to the death, since it suggests we should take a look at the economic forces that shape the job market instead of trying to punish whichever group is the bad one.

Obviously there's tactical issues trying to run as a third party candidate in the US. But Yang certainly is aware of that already, so he must have some angle. Maybe as another comment suggested his party could field candidates for local races that have ranked-choice voting (which includes mayoral races for major cities like NYC).

Or he could even participate in the debates and get his message out, but keeping an eye on his poll numbers, so that he could withdraw before the election if it looks like he's just going to spoil the race towards the candidate most-opposite his beliefs.

Re: Andrew Yang to launch a third party

#87

Post by [deleted] »

mc32 wrote: post #71
robotresearcher wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> He was quashed in the debates in lieu of ratings What does this mean? I know what the words mean, but can't catch your meaning.

I think poster thinks Andrew was not called upon often because other candidates had better draw (for their ratings). Back in the debates it was obvious the party had some favorites and some less than favorite candidates. Andrew was among the latter.

[deleted]

Re: Andrew Yang to launch a third party

#88

Post by rrradical »

davidw wrote: post #50
Ericson2314 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be a pedant, you should rank those likely to make it to the last round, but with the spots left over (working your way from your last choice up) you can rank whoever you want. Eric Adams won by a smidgen, and yet 15% of ballots were invalid by the last round. Perhaps those 15% gave 0 fucks about Garcia vs Adams, or perhaps they were mistaken about how best to vote. We really need proportional representation, but d…

None of these systems are perfect. I lived in Italy for a number of years and... boy oh boy does proportional representation have its own series of problems. RCV seems like an attainable reform though, and better than the current system.

Yep, and to add, we have proof there is no perfect system: http://tech.mit.edu/V123/N8/8voting.8n.html

(Not to suggest we shouldn't move on from the very flawed FPTP!)

Re: Andrew Yang to launch a third party

#89

Post by alphabettsy »

xvector wrote: post #78
ngokevin wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He went from a virtual unknown normal dude to the last six standing the Democratic Presidental primaries, outlasting senators including Kamala Harris. And he made UBI a household idea, a major factor to lobbying for cash relief during the pandemic. He did get stomped in the mayoral run. I followed it closely and it felt as though the media had it out for him.

> as though the media had it out for him. I feel like there has been a lot of anti-Asian bias in the media, especially around that time.

It’s not just the media.

Re: Andrew Yang to launch a third party

#90

Post by dane-pgp »

danrocks wrote: post #72
notJim wrote: post #6

Yang has never been my top choice, but I think he's generally a good dude. However a third party could be disastrous for the democrats, who can only just barely win elections due to the current structure of the electorate. Hopefully he will be more strategic than that, however. A third party could be really beneficial in some areas where democrats dominate everything.

Maybe there should be a strong third party precisely for the reason you're describing - could be disastrous for the Democrats. It could also be disastrous for the Republicans. My point being that, if a third party is sufficiently strong to cause significant damage to either of the two major parties, then said affected party would be fairly motivated to help bring about electoral reforms that we badly need.

This should be Yang's strategy. He should encourage Democrat voters to lend their support to his party in states where Democrats control the legislature, and Republicans to vote for his party in Republican run states. The threat would be that those legislatures have to enact a spoiler-free voting system before the next state elections or they would lose their majority.
Post reply on HN