The time is finally here: America has an NDP equivalent for this year’s presidential election.
Okay, I lied (slightly). “Americans Elect” is not exactly an NDP equivalent, but it is a third party—and a third party that’s seriously gaining momentum. For a country that has had a two-party election system since the time of its founding fathers, Americans Elect might actually be one of the biggest surprises for this year’s election.
However, Americans Elect doesn’t function like a traditional party. “Pick a president,” boasts the website, “not a party.” Thus, Americans Elect doesn’t have any of its own candidates. Instead, it is drawing from the pool of candidates running for nomination in both the Republican and Democrat primaries (and some independents as well). Its “primaries” are an act of asking Americans to sign up and “vote” for a nominee through an online poll. 15 states already have Americans Elect in their ballot, including Ohio and Florida, both of which were swing states in the 2008 election.
But here’s where it gets really weird: once the Americans Elect nominee is chosen (remember, this could be either Democrat or Republican), the nominee has to choose a running mate from the opposite party. Americans Elect believes that the main reason that American politics is so vulgar is because there is too much division among the house. Obviously, more diplomacy and teamwork is all that’s really needed to tackle those pesky controversial issues like abortion, gay marriage, and the environment.
The results of Americans Elect on the presidential race are unforeseeable right now, until a candidate has actually been nominated. Is there a chance that this third nominee can actually be elected president? Probably not. After all, if the Americans Elect candidate was so popular to begin with, said candidate would be the nominee for his or her home party. However, the Americans Elect candidate can siphon off a significant number of votes from the Democrat or Republican nominees, especially if the candidate is someone like Ron Paul (who already has a strong internet fanbase).
However, amidst all the fine details, it’s easy to forget what Americans Elect represents: it is a direct outcry against the two-party system in the US. While it might be excessively optimistic to say that this might be the first step the US is taking to get rid of the FPTP system, at the very least, Americans Elect is once again directly empowering the American People. And for a country where the majority has spent over fifteen years almost blindly following what their governments dictate, Americans Elect might be another influential fist to help knock Americans out of their current apathy.
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