Maybe There Should Be A Third Party

Schieffer: Independent Voices Needed To Bring Republicans, Democrats Back To The Center

(CBS)  I have never been much for third parties and independent candidates.

For all of its flaws, the old two-party system has brought us a long way in this country, and I'm slow to change. But as I watch the Senate fumble around with the immigration bill, it made me wonder: Has our two-party system lost the ability to get anything done?

We keep hearing that both parties are playing to their base.

Republicans don't want to offend conservatives so they block real immigration reform.

Democrats fear the liberal left, so they don't want reform.

Result: Nothing gets done on that or anything else.

Yet polls show a majority of Americans want reform, want a guest worker program for illegal immigrants in this country, favor a way to make their status legal. Who speaks for that segment of the electorate? Certainly, not Democratic and Republican leaders, who are so busy pacifying those so-called base voters.

I hope we do see a third-party candidate in the presidential race next year, not because I favor anyone who might run as an independent, but because a third choice would force both the Republicans and the Democrats to move more to the center to stop an independent from siphoning off moderate voters.

If both parties are forced to shift their hunt for votes to the center rather than the edges of their parties, who knows? They may find some common ground every once in a while and actually get something done.

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E-mail Face the Nation.

[donnie900]

The only problem with a third party is they'd be the outsiders. Having to wheel and deal their way to their legislation. It might end up even more corrupt than our current administration.

Politics is too thick with favors and earmarks and innuendos. These people have failed at the great experiment. And now they're just milking it for whatever its worth.

[feelfree1]

Re: "I have never been much for third parties and independent candidates."

That, Mr. Schieffer, is already plain to see since you have so routinely revealed yourself as a Corporate/AIPAC tool, with little interest or knowledge in the field of journalism.

A third Party? How about a second one?

[myidoncbs]

The real problem is $MONEY$. It takes lots of money to get elected, and somebody has to pay for it. Once elected, the politician owes everything to those who bankrolled his election. All that matters to the politicos is pleasing their moneyed masters, so the will of the people no longer counts.

This is NOT democracy; it is plutocracy, or possibly corporatism, and it is only going to get worse if we don't completely rewrite the campaign finance laws.

[omega39-2009]

I see Bob and the corporate owned media who*res are misrepresenting the polling data on the immigration reform bill again.

[sasi1-2009]

Schieffer must not have the ability to reason, read, understand, or explain. This is the second time he's espoused this lie about the American public wanting the guest worker program, and wanting to give the illegals a path to citizenship. That is undoubtedly one of the biggest lies published on any of the network programs. In his first article, he did include the fact that 68% of the public want the illegals deported; however this was at the very end of the article. I have no idea how on earth he's able to speak out of both sides of his mouth, but he does a good job of trying!

[concordparty]

I certainly think something will fill the void left in the center by the two major parties. There are indications, like the Unity08 initiative to try and combine a Republican and Democrat on the same ticket.

There are a lot of small groups, like my own Concord Party, that are trying to figure out how it can be done. I think everyone is getting tired of the status quo.

[concordparty]

I certainly think something will fill the void left in the center by the two major parties. There are indications, like the Unity08 initiative to try and combine a Republican and Democrat on the same ticket.

There are a lot of small groups, like my own Concord Party, that are trying to figure out how it can be done. I think everyone is getting tired of the status quo.

[vastr-wcon]

Trying his best to be even more of a disgrace than Couric to cbs news, in particular, and the entire journalism profession, in general, Schieffer once again put out a piece so full of bs that only true believer in Saddam's WMDs could swallow it.

To get to the truth, everywhere Schieffer uses the work "reform" in relation to immigration, replace it with "AMNESTY". As poll after poll shows, Americans want NO AMNESTY to ILLEGALS; they want ENFORCEMENT AND STRENGTHENING OF IMMIGRATION LAWS FIRST AND FOREMOST.

But Schieffer is right that since the current two parties ignore the will of the people and try to ram through a "Piece-of-S***" AMNESTY BILL opposed by the overwhelming majority, they must be replaced.

This failure of Democracy is being repeated over and over again. Recently, the Mass legislature, Dems aligned with Repugs, DickNBushed the people of that state - and they should be ashamed of the way in which they thwarted the democratic process. The government trampled on the right of the people to vote on an issue - and they seem to be proud of that! What a disgrace. It is a sad time for democracy. The current two parties have failed the American people.

This disregard for democracy by US politicians is spreading elsewhere. The leaders of several EU countries are no trying to get a Constitution through the back door, after it was rejected by voting citizens.

[feelfree1]

concordparty,

Re: "I certainly think something will fill the void left in the center by the two major parties."

It would have to be pretty skinny, like a razor blade.

The differences between the Republican and Democrat Parties have become increasingly minute.

In this respect, your 'combined' ticket makes a good deal of sense.

I look forward to the National Democrats joining the Republicans in the race towards irrelevance.

[omega39-2009]

Posted by sasi1

Sasi1 it's not just CBS, yesterday Fox had on the founder of Mothers Against Illegal Immigration and I couldn't believe how viscously she was attacked by the paid shills on Cavuto's round table (or whatever I was watching). It is getting increasingly clear that this bill was written by business for business and they don't intend to let you, I or anyone else stand in their way.

[tylenol6]

I THINK THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WOULD LOVE A THIRD PARTY. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE SICK OF BUSH AND
EVERYONE IN CONGRESS. I WISH WE COULD VOTE THEM
ALL OUT. THEY ARE NOT REPRESENTING THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE. IT SEEMS ALL OF CONGRESS IS CORRUPT. THEY
ARE ALL BOUGHT AND PAID FOR BY THE LOBBYISTS.

[ammianus]

At last, Aureolus Victor proclaimed: %u201CThe politics of the Hegemon manifests two parties: The party of the voters and the party of the donors. Invariably the latter is triumphant and the former is vanquished. The liberty of our country and the safety of mankind alike demand that the party of the donors be abolished!%u201D

[harp1963]

If the Democratic Party was more of a conservative pro-labor party, they would wax the Republicans all the time.

[middleman8]

Sorry Bob' but I don't believe you understand how a three party system works.

dIn a three party system the votes are split three ways, therefor no party generly has a majority win, and the two loseing parties can join forces to stop the party in control or
force another election. First you will have to get rid of the mandatory four year term which garanties a dictator type system, which is real evedent right now.

[wogerwabbit]

Ammianus, you are so eloquent and so right.

We do need a 3rd party, but first we have to help the Dems whup the Repugs... this reign of hate and fear must end before a touch of sanity can be returned to this country and it's direction turned. I believe there are enough of us in the middle, Democrat, Republican, Green, Independent, whatever... to overwhealm the corporate pirates who have infiltrated our government and take our country back from these murderous crooks. Unity for America!

[roger3815]

I think something to upset the applecart might at least make the talking-points-snooze-fest the current congress has become sit up a take notice. Maybe.

[npaquette]

I am sick of the Democrats! Hillary Clinton is a neocon in disguise! They simply didn't understand our message when we took over in the last election. We want out of Iraq Now! WE NEED A NEW PARTY! WE want Corporate control to end! WE want the military arms industry out of here! Dam it WE WANT PEACE! The revolution is coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There's been a viable third party for over 30 years. They're called Libertarians. I suggest eveyrone that's dissatisfied with Democrat and/or Republican behavior to give the Libertarians a fair shot.

[cfin5]

The real problem is not needing a third party (in most cases) but rather the citizens need to wake up to the slow and steady loss of our nations soveriegnty from the globalists. Look at what is happening to our rights, economy, and unity as a nation like you would look at the "SUM" of a math equation. It's very easy to do knowing what the Constitution says and what the founding fathers explanations were as to how we got it......Plenty of flag waving politicians from both parties are eating our lunch everyday with hardly a wimper from the public, much less the media in general. Some examples: Bush wants these mexican trucks to roll around in our country like he thinks we dont understand what NAFTA has already done to us. Privately owned truckers ARE going to go broke and they know it!Dems advocate the non-union issue of abortion since 1973 that has eliminated 47 million of the customers that would have been buying the "AMERICAN UNION-MADE PRODUCTS" that gave labor workers a decent standard of living. Who was it that was buying our Chevys, Fords, and Chryslers??? I will leave you with a relevant quote on this amnesty issue my friends......"The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities"....President Theodore Roosevelt

[cdfoxtrot]

How about a second party? Sorry to break the news, but the Dems. and Republicans are both right wing parties, by global standards. The differences between them may seem enormous to Americans who've never seen true democratic choice, but they're minuscule to any outside observer. The best thing for the US would be for the dems. and reps. to merge and for a second party to either occupy the true "center" or be, God forbid, left leaning. And sorry, Hillary Clinton is NOT left leaning in any meaningful sense. Being left wing in global terms means embracing certain ideals that, in the US, are considered pure folly. Things like universal healthcare, nationwide highly subsidized public transport, abolition of the death penalty, a welfare system that ensures no one need die homeless, and so on. Now THAT'S democracy, but it will likely never come to America given the way people get elected.

[drivelphobe]

This article, like most, states erroneously that the majority of Americans favor a way to make the status of illegals, legal. This is the kind of baloney that irritates American citizens. What hogwash. The majority of Americans want illegals deported, and legal status only given to those that have gone through the legal process of applying for citizenship. We don't have any desire to assist the illegals in this country to do anything except leave. You can't believe one word from the press. They keep printing lies in an effort to convince themselves that a lie is the truth. Put the issue to a vote and you will see that no one wants these illegals here. We have to live with this garbage and we are sick of it. Deport and close the border to Mexico. Enough is enough. Start printing the truth and not just what you want the truth to be.

Mr. Schieffer, we do not need a third party...but we absolutely need to come to the center, particularly Bush's neocon mania has got to be defanged and the only way to do that is to oust the Republicans out of the White House. Congress can only do so much when there is a reckless, incompetent president determined to have his way. It has been painful watching our leader undermine basic American values, calling for preemptive strikes, building gulags in Cuba, trying to blur the separation of church and state, condoning torture, assaulting the independence of the Justice Department with politically motivated firings of justice prosecutors....I could go on and on. A third party candidate is not going to help any of this; we might wind up with another Republican neocon. The American people need to root out the excesses of this administration...first and foremost!

[sf_bay1]

Both parties lack statesmanship and common sense. I voted for Bush reluctantly because the other party was far too left. I'd do so again. What I want is a moderate choice with a statesman's character.

The collective American psychic is in the center. Time for a third party if the two parties fail again.

[paulreece]

A third party is coming... illegal immigration will destroy the Republicans and a new party called "LaRaza" will step up to fill the void. This party will dominate the polotical landscape of the southwest and eventually secede from the US and join Mexico.

[katg21]

A third party is coming... illegal immigration will destroy the Republicans and a new party called "LaRaza" will step up to fill the void. This party will dominate the polotical landscape of the southwest and eventually secede from the US and join Mexico.
Posted by paulreece at 08:04 AM : Jun 18, 2007

Are you joking?

[mike71067]

Sorry, but if you stand in the middle of the road, you are going to get run over. I am not going to compromise what I believe in for the sake of "moving to the center".

[katg21]

True, something has to change but will it? Don't think so. The division of this country scares me; power hungry politicians like it that way though. There is no way they will allow there to be more options.

[adventurepa]

I'm Still waiting for a candidate to stand out in this election. I like Mike Huckbee for his rational but not his view on religion or abortion, Ron Paul for his constitutional views, but not his views on abortion, Rudy cause he's rudy, but not that he is a bush wanna bee. Clinton cause she's female, but not more pandering to the congress. Obama is ok all around but don't he will get elected.
A third party candidate is just what we need.

[grumpas]

Yet polls show a majority of Americans want reform, want a guest worker program for illegal immigrants in this country, favor a way to make their status legal.

This is the biggest load of BS I have heard recently. I don't know what polls he is drawing his figures from? But, every poll I have heard about is the exact opposite. American are fed up with illegal immigrants. It's time to get serious about proscuting those responsible. That means the employer who hires them. But, no politican in Washington is going to do that. Because big business has them in their pocket. All this current immigration bill will do is make more of the same kind of mess. Until someone proscutes big business for hiring them they are going to come. We have had a guest worker program for years. Why does the idiot think they are here? If any of them has any desire to be part of this country they can...eventually! But, most of them don't.

[lfitts1]

So where does a pro-choice, pro gun control, fiscal conservative, social liberal vote. The problem with our political system is it is marginalized. The Republicans have to be to the right of Hitler and Limbaugh to be nominated, the Democrats have to appeal to the far left to garner the nomination. They then have to figure ot how to disavow any knowledge of their previous actions in order to get elected--or in the case of the current idiot in chief continue on the right wing path of the evangelical taliban.

The reasonalbe center who want concensus have been ignored and disenfranchised--the problem--how do you get a centrist candidate nominated and elected??

[marcodele]

The problem with third party candidates so far has been their fringe appeal: Ross Perot, Ralph Nadar, etc...

The problem is both parties, Dems and Cons, need to move toward the middle of America instead of their radically polarized supporters.

[questionnews]

As a long time independent I have been very frustrated with the extremists that always end up as the only options to choose from. It always comes down having to choose between the lesser of two evils. Neither party is the end all-be all of what is best for America.
The people that are so into their party that they support whatever the party puppets say they are to support and are unable to form their own views are some scariest people in the nation. It%u2019s like they can%u2019t even have a civil political conversations without first checking with their party leaders so they know what position to take. Once they do get their talking points, they blindly proclaim them and dismiss any other point of view as twisted & evil.

Having to choose between joining the Democratic or the Republican parties is much like having to choose between joining the Bloods or the Crips. To each the other side is the enemy, but they both do the exact same thing. If you think one party is more moral & honest than the other, you are truly delusional and there is no hope for you.

[gunownerdan]

Those dirty democrats and rotten republicans can ****************!!!
And no fighting either, I've got one for each of them.

[gunownerdan]

Should I vote for Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin?

I'm really having trouble deciding........

[book54552134]

Independents are an even more diverse group of people than Democrats. There are Liberal Independents, Conservative Independents, and Independents who don't know what they are.
Such a widely diverse group of people would never be able to agree on much of anything, much less an effort to form a 3rd Party since the fundamentals of such a Party would be to identify it's positions on the issues of the day. In addition, both of the major Parties would fight tooth and nail before allowing the formation of any 3rd Party since such a formation would be to their detriment.
A 3rd Party is a nice dream but in this country, with all the impediments placed against it, it is a pipe-dream.

[questionnews]

My apologies to any Bloods or Crips they may be on this comment board. It was not fair to compare gang bangers with something as low & disgraceful as a Democrat or Republican.

[processor2]

Latest Rasmussen Poll 6/18/07


George Bush approval rating = 32 percent

Democrats in Congress approval = 29 percent


DEMOCRATS HAVE A LOWER APPROVAL RATING THAN BUSH....LOL

...

[processor2]

Latest Rasmussen Poll 6/18/07


George Bush approval rating = 32 percent

Democrats in Congress approval = 29 percent


DEMOCRATS HAVE A LOWER APPROVAL RATING THAN BUSH....LOL

...

[gunownerdan]

"The only good democrat or republican is a dead democrat or republican."
As they say.......

[fascistusa]

The Problem is THE SYSTEM.

There are NO PARTIES. The is ONLY ONE PARTY. The Party of and for THE ELITE/The Rich/The Wealthy.

This Government MUST end. A NEW Government FREE from Alliances and Secret Motives MUST be established.

The (Not)Federal Reserve MUST be ABOLISHED. A NEW Monetary Sysytem MUST be established.

Currently, we are all SLAVES to our Fascist Government.

[questionnews]

fascistusa is here.
I guess the forum of reasonable conversation is now toast.
This is a person who feels having to work for a living and pay taxes is fascism. But I guess the 1/8 of 1% of the population needs a spokesman too.

[gunownerdan]

Democrats and republicans exist just to create the illusion of having a choice.

Oligarchy-
a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique; government by the few.

Aristocracy-
a government or state ruled by an elite, or privileged upper class.

Plutocracy-
a government or state in which the wealthy class rules.

[fascistusa]

Questionnews -

The Government Shill is here. All reasonable attempts at reality will now be disregarded.

Do I scare The Fascist Government and The Elite that much??

[questionnews]

fascistusa
Are you even reading the previous posts?
Swing and a miss dude!

[fascistusa]

Let me suggest Rawstory.com, whatreallyhappened.com, and Prisonplanet.com.

Some REAL News and Insight without Government Propaganda might just get you thinking.

Anyone who spews B*U*L*L*S*H*I*T* about how great this Country is and how Fair the Job Market is BRAINWASHED or the 3% that is actually doing well.

[questionnews]

If CBS news is "Government Propaganda" why do spend so much time here and comment so much? Won't you be polluted with it's brainwashing news coverage?

I am curious though, how would you describe a fair job market? And how would you create a fair job market.

[fascistusa]

Let me suggest Rawstory.com, whatreallyhappened.com, and Prisonplanet.com.

You ARE a Government Shill. Don't you have a job?? In this Land of Opportunity??!! Why are you home on a Monday?!! Huh?? Oh, wait. Government Shill. Monday - Friday w/ Benefits.

CBS "News" summarizes the Neo-Con/The Elite's Agenda. Right in ONE nice, little package. In order to beat an enemy, know thy enemy. Thanks, Fascists!

Destroy the (NOT)Federal Reserve. Sever America's ties with Israel. Eliminate ALL current Federal/Government/Corporate Employees. Kick The Elite out of The Country and TAKE their Corporations. Form NEW Political Parties after elimination the OLD.

[questionnews]

I work a rotating shift! You know work, which appears to be a disgusting thing to do from what you are saying.

You are still dodging the questions! If you can't answer them, no big deal

BTW I went to prisonplanet.com-Thanks I haven't laughed that hard in a while.

[gunownerdan]

The duopoly that controls America would never allow a third party to gain power.

[cfin5]

Questionnews......I'm with ya on the being frustrated thing. Everytime I go and vote I want to stick my head out of the curtain and ask, "How do you spell...PTHBBBBBBBBB? Anyway, the fair job market question as I understand it is sitting in a conference room with 150 applicants to a certain job. Then comes the lecture on how good the drug tests are these days followed by a break. Only 50 people come back in for the next session. This time we have to fill out what our "rap sheet" has on us and break time again. Now it's down to 8 people. We take the standard math, spelling, happy farm customer test, etc. And Oh! Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!......The 3 minorities get it. That's what happened to me and thankyou NOT very much to that company for wasting a full day of my time.