2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Has the seed been planted for a new political Party in this country? [View all]Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)Last edited Mon May 2, 2016, 12:05 PM - Edit history (1)
As others have pointed out in this thread, the new-party route requires that an enormous effort be put into getting ballot access. If that project succeeds, it means that the people who are against the Republicans split their votes between the Democrats and the new party, enabling the Republican to win with a plurality short of a majority.
The Democratic Party's internal processes are far from perfect, but a clear majority of the voters could still take it over. (You complain about the superdelegates? I don't like the current rules but even those superdelegates can be ousted. Primary the elected officials. The party apparatchiks who hold DNC positions will be harder to oust but even that project is easier than nationwide ballot access for a new party. Anyway, a new party that could win in November could win the presidential nomination even against the 15-20% of the delegates who aren't chosen in primaries or caucuses.)
The seed that SHOULD be planted this year is that even the party establishment's overwhelming favorite can be given a close race by a candidate who lacked name recognition, who had other factors against him (age, religion), and who started out with almost no money, but whose campaign was powered by progressive ideas. That's something to build on -- within the Democratic Party.