spoiler

Democracy, Democratic Party, Green Party, Hillary Clinton, Jill Stein, Presidential Recount, Third Party November 12, 2019

Democrats should abandon the third-party “spoiler” argument

History and polling data show third-party candidates have rarely spoiled presidential elections for Democrats. Truthout By Matthew M. Heidtmann November 9, 2019 With the 2020 presidential primaries in full swing, a common narrative in U.S. politics has resurfaced. Recently, former Secretary of State and former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton suggested on the podcast “Campaign HQ” that current Democratic candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) is part of Russian efforts to influence the 2020 presidential election. While Clinton did not directly mention Gabbard by name, she insinuated that the congresswoman is “the favorite of the Russians,” and that Russian operatives are…

campaign reform, Democracy, Green Party, National Politics, political corruption, Third Party May 21, 2015

The Lesser of Two Evils is Still Evil

CounterPunch by John Halle May 20, 2015 Notes on Spoiling For a decade and half, the spoiler factor has been a third rail of progressive politics. Some of those who have raised the issue are genuinely concerned with the prospect of a third party candidate enabling a far right victory. But others are Democratic Party hacks who, in Matt Taibbi’s phrase “would triangulate their own mothers” to maintain their lock on power. Spoiling for them is a bad faith exercise in maintaining electoral politics as a bipartisan gated community from which left, populist candidates are excluded. Fortunately, there are signs…