Regardless of what you believe about voting for a 3rd-party president, it won’t lead to change or revolution or a new world order, but could greatly impact the overall power of the president and executive branch of the U.S. government under the current bi-partisan political structure.
What’s the appeal of a 3rd-party candidate? Who typically supports this option?
According to Burnmyvote.com, a resource for connecting disenchanted bi-partisan voters to a 3rd-party candidate who matches their ideology, ambiguously suggests voting 3rd party will lead to some sort of great political change. The majority of campaign messages from other 3rd parties center on the notion that you don’t have settle for the lesser of two evils or a 3rd-party president will buck the bi-partisan system. The exact nature of this supposed change is left open to interpretation or not mentioned at all. The campaigns are only focused on the election, not what potentially comes afterward.
While 3rd-party voters’ field-of-dreams motto of “if you vote for them, things will change” has some merit and adds some flavor to the conversation on politics, ultimately, this belief fails to acknowledge how our current political system actually works.
So, how DOES it work?
Currently, the U.S. Senate consists of 54 Republicans, 44 Democrats, and 2 Independents. U.S. House seats 247 Republicans and 188 Democrats (no 3rd-party members). While these public servants should be beholden to their constituencies, the truth is party ideology and platforms take precedence. In their book, Setting the Agenda, Cox and McCubbins explain how majority parties within the U.S. House of Representatives control session agendas and committee assignments to ultimately influence legislative policy.
Members of Congress must find the balance point between toeing the party line and the needs of their constituents and districts. The primary need of their districts is typically resources, i.e. jobs and money. However, these members also desire to be reelected. Reelection is easier by maintaining party support and voting in line with the ideology of the party.
The president performs a similar balancing act between an obligation to the people of the country and his/her party. The president can pressure a member of Congress within his party to ensure particular roll call voting so legislation can pass or fail.
With a 3rd-party president, party pressure is non-existent. Ultimately, there is no benefit to the member of Congress to vote in line with the party of the president; as demonstrated by the unwillingness of the Republican-majority House to cooperate with the current Democratic president. President Obama, although, has the support of the Democrat and Independent members of Congress to sponsor and move legislation.
A 3rd-party president lacks the structural support needed to be able to operate within our current political system. For example, my home state of Indiana has only 8 elected officials registered with a 3rd party – and they are only small city council members, none in the state-level government. There are no 3rd-party governors or Congressional representatives. Currently, in the legislative branch of our government, there are only 2 registered members of a 3rd party, Senators Bernie Sanders (VT) and Angus King (ME). (Ballotpedia)
Any proposed legislation of a 3rd-party president would struggle to obtain the number of votes needed to move forward. It’s quite possible any legislation from the executive branch wouldn’t even make it to committee, as it requires a member of Congress to “sponsor”- essentially put their name on it- the bill.
Further, amendments to the Constitution require a 2/3 majority vote in both the House and Senate. Without party support within the legislative branch, executive power is open to reduction by a collaborative bi-partisan legislation. Executive powers perceived to be over reaching, such as executive orders, have the potential to be rendered unconstitutional, thus limiting the overall power of the president.
But there is a solution…
During the 500th episode of Dan Savage's Lovecast, Dan, in his typical passionate prose, went into gloves off critique of the Independent and Green Parties’ singular focus on the presidency, rather than local and state government. In response, the Green Party argued their candidates are represented in many local and state elections. While there are many candidates running as various 3rd parties, and this is a valiant effort and step towards greater political inclusion, this is just a drop in the bucket of political representation and power that must be reconciled before a 3rd party should even consider putting up a presidential nominee. Ultimately, Dan is right in his condemnation over the “hail Mary” push for a 3rd-party president without a greater foundation of 3rd-party members in local, state, and legislative government.