Huntsman calls for third party, says system is broken

[Pyro]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/23/huntsman-calls-for-third-party-the-system-is-broken/

Now, he doesn't seem interested in running for a third party like Roemer did, but this is very interesting coming from a plausible future GOP contender.

"...someone is going to step up at some point and say 'we have had enough of this, the real issues are not being addressed'"

[Marokai Backbeat]

He's not wrong, but where he personally would prefer to go wouldn't be the answer. The system is broken, yes, but where things are crowded is on the right and center. We don't need some sort of moderate party; we have the Democrats. We need a progressive party.

[Rules for me, but not for thee]

Proportional representation please!

[Free Palestine]

Proportional representation please!

[Free Palestine]

Also, people really are mistaken.  People call for "a third party" when there are third parties.  And it distracts from the real problem -- which is the electoral system itself.  A "third party" would only come to replace one of the present to, or it will find some vicarious position between the other two, and become just as subject to the corruption and cronyism of the others.  What we need is not a "third party," but a change to the electoral system -- ideally proportional representation with multi-member districts.  This will facilitate the breakup of the two major parties, and allow for not just "a third party," but many other parties.

[Ljube]

Proportional representation leads to more corruption (see Europe).

[King]

Proportional representation leads to more corruption (see Europe).

Which country in Europe?

[Ljube]

Proportional representation leads to more corruption (see Europe).

Which country in Europe?

Italy and Greece. Both proportional. Both broken.

[Gustaf]

Proportional representation leads to more corruption (see Europe).

Which country in Europe?

Italy and Greece. Both proportional. Both broken.

Denmark, Finland, Sweden. 2nd, 3rd and 4th on Transparency International's list of world's least corrupted countries. All proportional. You'll have to make a more convincing case. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index

[Ljube]

Proportional representation leads to more corruption (see Europe).

Which country in Europe?

Italy and Greece. Both proportional. Both broken.

Denmark, Finland, Sweden. 2nd, 3rd and 4th on Transparency International's list of world's least corrupted countries. All proportional. You'll have to make a more convincing case. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index

You can't seriously compare the USA and Sweden. Italy is the best comparison: prosperous north and poor south.

[Phony Moderate]

Proportional representation leads to more corruption (see Europe).

Which country in Europe?

Italy and Greece. Both proportional. Both broken.

Uganda and India. Both use FPTP, both are....uh....yeah.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Does that mean that he has rescinded his endorsement of Romney?

[NHI]

Does that mean that he has rescinded his endorsement of Romney?

Who knows, frankly, I could carless about this guy's thoughts on politics.

[Rules for me, but not for thee]

Proportional representation leads to more corruption (see Europe).

Which country in Europe?

Italy and Greece. Both proportional. Both broken.

Denmark, Finland, Sweden. 2nd, 3rd and 4th on Transparency International's list of world's least corrupted countries. All proportional. You'll have to make a more convincing case. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index

You can't seriously compare the USA and Sweden. Italy is the best comparison: prosperous north and poor south.

What convincing arguments.

[Gustaf]

Proportional representation leads to more corruption (see Europe).

Which country in Europe?

Italy and Greece. Both proportional. Both broken.

Denmark, Finland, Sweden. 2nd, 3rd and 4th on Transparency International's list of world's least corrupted countries. All proportional. You'll have to make a more convincing case. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index

You can't seriously compare the USA and Sweden. Italy is the best comparison: prosperous north and poor south.

Huh? Your "argument" makes no sense at all. You claimed that PR leads to corruption, citing 2 examples of countries with PR and corruption. I cited 3 counter-examples of countries with PR and low corruption.

Why is Greece more relevant to compare to the US than Sweden?

[greenforest32]

Viable other parties will never exist as long as we have FPTP. Calling for just a third-party is paying deference to the idea of a two-party duopoly and term limits will only make things worse.

[Politico]

It's much better to have factions within the two major parties (e.g., moderate wings, libertarian wings, etc.). Most countries with more than two parties end up being a disaster where candidates win election with 30-40% of the vote, leading to claims of "doesn't really represent a majority," etc. It's much better to force consensus among various factions within the two party framework, and have the chips fall where they may.

[socaldem]

I think FPTP probably works best in an ethnically and regionally diverse country like the U.S.

With PR, we would likely end up with a bunch of regional parties and would likely have voting falling even more along religious/ethnic/racial lines... think the Israeli party system--yuck!

Can you imagine how rabid the right-wing tea party politicians would be if they were not in the GOP and didn't have the GOP establishment/Speaker Boehner forcing them to take tough votes, etc?

That said, I'd be willing to throw out Presidentialism and replace it with a parliamentary system!