Are you not ¨With Her¨ or on the ¨Trump Train¨? Here are the Third Party Candidates.
October 24, 2016
November 8, 2016 is coming closer and closer, and a new President of the United States will be elected. The general election is set to be a showdown between the Democratic former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and infamous Republican nominee, Donald Trump. But not all voters are content with these candidates, making both Clinton and Trump having really low favorability ratings. They are each more strongly disliked than any other nominee in the last 10 election cycles according to FiveThirtyEight analysis. These nominees each represent the two largest political groups: the Republicans and Democrats.
However, voters are not restrained to vote for a liberal or conservative. As a matter of fact, there are political parties outside the margins that each have their own nominee. This year’s primary season was dubbed the “Year of the Outsider” and many voters seemed to like anti-establishment candidates, but it’s difficult to tell whether this will truly help third-party candidates. Here are the major options if you’re looking to vote for someone other than Clinton or Trump in the general election.
Two of the most known third-party political groups include Libertarians and the Green Party.
The Green Party leans liberal in their support of ecological wisdom, decentralization, and nonviolence. The nominee for the 2016 election is Jill Stein, and she is trying to woo the votes of the Bernie Sander’s Supporters. Jill Stein is a physician, activist, and politician. @DrJillStein tweeted “We won’t get revolutionary change from a party sponsored by Wall Street & war profiteers. Either of them. #BreakFree #ItsaTrap #ImWithJill.”
The Libertarian Party has combination of fiscal conservatism and social liberalism. They have strong emphasis on individual liberty and responsibility. Libertarians believe in free market economics, protection of private property, and the individual’s right to perform any action which is peaceful and honest. Gary Johnson is the Libertarian nominee for 2016 and an American businessman, author, and politician. @GovGaryJohnson tweeted “3rd party candidate has never won? Hmm… Abraham Lincoln?”
The election is around the corner, and you should go vote. In a system designed to let two political parties (the Democrats and the Republicans) dominate, it is easy to conclude that voting for another party is a waste. Your vote for a third party can have an impact. If you live in a state that is not a swing state, you can make that choice without having to battle over empowering someone you despise.