Countdown to Electiony: 12 Days
After having already served two terms as President and taking a four-year hiatus, Teddy Roosevelt attempted to win the Republican nomination for the 1912 campaign from then-President William Howard Taft, whom he hated. Failing that, he pulled his delegates from Republican convention and formed the Bull-Moose Party, naming it after an animal that is slightly larger than Taft's fat ass.
The creation of this offshoot party caused endless infighting amongst those loyal to the Republicans and those loyal to Roosevelt, effectively splitting the vote. In the end, both parties (and the American people) lost, as Democrat Woodrow Wilson won the election.
Teddy eventually returned to the GOP, and Republicans have never fought amongst themselves again.
(Originally published as part of a series on third-party candidates. Sorry, I'm lazy and the first World Series game is starting.)
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all voters must see these vids on youtube and comment.
thanks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=layFiC31fOc
BobL: Do you actually know anything about the Libertarian platform, or do you just buy into the overexaggerated negative lies about the party?
Jim @ ",..and that's why we need a change from the Dems and the GOP. Vote Libertarian, Vote Libertarian, privatize the sidewalks now."
Congratulations Jim, you have just suffered an epic reasoning fail. If Teddy Roosevelt, one of the most popular presidents in American history, couldn't do more than split vote for one party then what makes you think anyone else can? I know, I know, he hadn’t read The Fountain yet.
On the other hand the Libertarians do make an excellent place for all the free market fanatics who think that the whole banking failure was because of too much government regulation to marginalize themselves in. Don’t let Ayn Rand’s boyfriend himself Alan Greenspan is calling for more market regulation bother you one bit. That Objectivist paradise will come if you just wish hard enough Jim.
Third parties make a difference, but only in parliamentary systems. We don't have one of those. Too European for our Founding Fathers. And anyhow, it's a good thing there aren't any Bull Moose around — Sarah'd shoot 'em. I'm worried about Bullwinkle, even.
DaveW and ron, you are both wrong. A vote for the two-party status quo (McCain or Obama) that's been screwing us over for the past few decades is a wasted vote. This is an important election, and that's why we need a change from the Dems and the GOP.
a third party vote is a wasted trip to the polls, this election is too important for that.
Serious note to all you posters who have been valiantly pushing your third party candidates for President: Forget the White House. If you want your party to make a difference, work on your congressional representatives. The only thing a third party candidate can do in the Presidential race, for the foreseeable future, is to split votes and lose elections for candidates. Get your party well represented in Congress, first.