Time for a Third Party?

​Or even a fourth? How exceptional we are with our two-party system! Not that I advocate creating a dozen or more splinter parties as we see in some other countries. But having only two parties can cause extreme splits with little room, at least nowadays, for practical compromises that serve the people. I remember learning that a two-valued orientation leads to simplistic black-and-white decisions. Something is either good or bad, right or wrong. There’s no room for nuance. But perfection is not a human characteristic. So, shades of gray are almost always called for...

​Consider Liz Cheney, now vilified by her own Republican party. Yikes! She comes from Wyoming, the reddest state in the country, and from a Republican family of national note. Yet her strong sense of the importance of democracy over Donald Trump’s ego-driven lie about the stolen 2020 Presidential Election has made her a pariah for many Republicans, and her strong role as vice-chair of the January 6th House Investigation Committee will likely cause her to lose her primary to run again for her Congressional seat. I think she should turn her back on Congress to found a new political party, the Conservative Party of America. Such an organization would provide a more comfortable political home for principled Republicans of the Nelson Rockefeller, Dwight Eisenhower, and George H.W. Bush type. It would give centrist Republicans—RINOs according to those on the hard Right—a place to call their own. In fact, as many as a third of current Republicans, the Never-Trumpers, would likely move over into it. And while we’re at it, I’d like to see Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman AOC establish the Democratic Socialist Party of America as an official fourth political organization. It would be the one I personally would proudly join. Life is about change, and here is a suggested political transformation that I believe would keep us from tearing our country apart. What do you think?