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Andrew Yang to launch a third party

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141–150 of 166 posts

Re: Andrew Yang to launch a third party

#142
post #5

3rd, that would be the Green Party, no? There is also Libertarian, Democratic Socialists, Socialist, and a handful of loca parties that only show up in ballots during election season. I wonder if this will be a true leftist party or simply another milquetoast Democrat-light party.

Any party that isn't the big two is considered 3rd party. I know Andrew Yang is big on UBI, but I don't think he is super far left, as far as I know, his platform is give everyone UBI and let capitalism do it's thing.

He is as far left as the Democracts on most other issues though. Things like climate alarmism, immigration, CRT and gun rights.

Though maybe that was just for show when he was running in their party.

Re: Andrew Yang to launch a third party

#143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard to forecast this. Trump supporters are effectively a cult, and every time something came along that made me think "ok, this time he's done it" (e.g., shooting someone on 5th Ave, which he was correct in his assessment), I've been proven wrong. We are still in uncharted waters.

Nope. They represent the economically moderate, culturally conservative segment of the population. (Fun fact: if you put Germany’s CDU’s positions into NYT’s political party poll, you end up in Trump’s Patriot Party: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/09/08/opinion/repub... .

What's fascinating is that the CDU has long been criticised for having moved left, and that "real conservatives" have no political home anymore. That's part of AfD's success.

Re: Andrew Yang to launch a third party

#144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I suppose the question ultimately will be whether his party pull more votes from Democrats or Republicans I think it's pretty clear that he'd pull more Dems than Reps. That would be a very bad thing in 2024, so you'll probably see a lot of encouragement from Republicans and an lot of discouragement from Democrats.

After his performance in the NY mayoral election where he went from frontrunner to 4th place behind people who never had a national spotlight, he's going to be pulling votes from nobody.

His policy platform came off as uninformed. Overly-naive in certain respects and overly-corporatist in others - appealing to neither side of the aisle.

Re: Andrew Yang to launch a third party

#145

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.

I do not know why you are being downvoted so, but I know a lot of republicans. They adore Donald Trump and have contempt for the GOP leaders who did not “stand up for him” after the election. There is a real sense of anger at the Republican establishment. I know people who literally mailed back RNC donation solicitation envelopes coated in slurs and swear words after the election.

I have a large number of GOP voters that voted for Biden because they believe Trump is an idiot.

My opinion is that the party will reform under someone new. Trump is too old at this point to be relevant beyond 2024.

Re: Andrew Yang to launch a third party

#146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I suppose the question ultimately will be whether his party pull more votes from Democrats or Republicans I think it's pretty clear that he'd pull more Dems than Reps. That would be a very bad thing in 2024, so you'll probably see a lot of encouragement from Republicans and an lot of discouragement from Democrats.

This is such a discouraging and sad view point. I'm not saying it's wrong, just pessimistic, and not blaming you for saying it just venting. Who cares if it's more x than y. Most voters are moderates. Myself, and many moderates, feel completely unrepresented by either side. Not liberal enough to vote D, and not conservative enough to vote R. You'd think they'd be drifting together, but increasingly are drifting furth…

> Not liberal enough to vote D, and not conservative enough to vote R.

Is COVID a hoax? "Can't rightly say!"

Does the climate emergency exist? "Some people say otherwise, it's none of my business."

Should American women be allowed abortions? "I really have no opinion."

Is Trump a delusional psychopath? "Can't see any difference between him and Biden!"

Do these people really exist?

----

I moved to Europe in 2016, and America seems increasingly weird to me.

Here you have these two right-wing parties already, and you're like, "No, I need another right-wing party".

Here it is over a year and a half into the worst pandemic in living memory, and no one's even talking about giving people medical care, something the rest of the developed world has had for generations.

Both parties compete to see who will increase the military budget faster and who will suck up to Wall Street harder.

Sure, the Democrats are sane and have flashes of competence; the Republicans are delusional raving loonies who lie every chance they can get and only have a tenuous grasp on reality. Big difference. But still, not so much range.

Re: Andrew Yang to launch a third party

#147
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is such a discouraging and sad view point. I'm not saying it's wrong, just pessimistic, and not blaming you for saying it just venting. Who cares if it's more x than y. Most voters are moderates. Myself, and many moderates, feel completely unrepresented by either side. Not liberal enough to vote D, and not conservative enough to vote R. You'd think they'd be drifting together, but increasingly are drifting furth…

A lot of my views trend liberal, but I don't really feel very well represented by the Democratic Party... really I think we would do better to have multiple smaller parties and a better voting system, and to somehow remove the giant monetary influences that seem to corrupt all decision making. The past five years have really done a number on us all. You're right about the huge divide that's developed, it's scary.

It just "developed" all on its own? It wasn't that one side went batshitinsane?

Because from here in the Netherlands, it sure looks like the Republicans went totally off the deep end and aren't ever swimming back to shore...

Re: Andrew Yang to launch a third party

#148

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.

I could see a Trump party on the right, a Yang party on the left, and a third party right down the middle full of disenfranchised moderates from both sides of the aisle

Yang is not a leftist. He's not even left of the Democratic party, and they aren't a left-wing party.

There's a simple litmus test.

Do you think workers should control the means of production? You're a socialist.

Do you think capital should? You're a capitalist.

The Republicans, Yang, and the Democrats are all capitalist parties.

Re: Andrew Yang to launch a third party

#149
post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope. They represent the economically moderate, culturally conservative segment of the population. (Fun fact: if you put Germany’s CDU’s positions into NYT’s political party poll, you end up in Trump’s Patriot Party: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/09/08/opinion/repub... .

What's fascinating is that the CDU has long been criticised for having moved left, and that "real conservatives" have no political home anymore. That's part of AfD's success.

You wouldn’t find posters like this even at a Trump rally: https://www.smh.com.au/world/farright-white-noise-of-alterna...

Compared to Europe, Trump’s “immigrants are bringing crime” stuff is on the gamer end of the right wing.

Re: Andrew Yang to launch a third party

#150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could see a Trump party on the right, a Yang party on the left, and a third party right down the middle full of disenfranchised moderates from both sides of the aisle

Yang is not a leftist. He's not even left of the Democratic party, and they aren't a left-wing party. There's a simple litmus test. Do you think workers should control the means of production? You're a socialist. Do you think capital should? You're a capitalist. The Republicans, Yang, and the Democrats are all capitalist parties.

Human beings are really funny.

Ask someone in a neighborhood about how many houses should be built and virtually all of them will tell you that theirs should have been the last one.

Ask someone about what is left and right in politics and they will move the middle around so they aren't either on the far left or right. As if their personal political opinions are some sort of core fundamental property that the universe is organized around.

Looking back in history, humans did the same thing with the solar system. We just tend to assume that we are at the middle of things.

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