Third Parties Are Our Only Hope

By Daniel Bein

When I heard about Ron Paul's idea to have the major third party candidates band together I thought it was a great idea. The third party candidates should be making as much noise as possible, touring together and debating each other, demanding equal time, and attempting to convince the American people that there is an alternative to the two major War Parties. Though I still feel Paul should have run as a third party candidate, I believe this is the next best thing. A left/right alliance against the empire is essential. Ron Paul proved this was possible with the grassroots coalition he built.

Many would claim that this is not possible because the differences between the left and right run too deep. Yet some of these same people claim that supporting Sarah Palin is somehow a good idea. It is foolish to believe that a supposed paleo VP candidate on a pro war ticket will change the fact that the differences between paleos and neocons are completely irreconcilable.

My mind has been wandering quite a bit since it became clear that Bob Barr is a treacherous scumbag who may well be a covert agent of the GOP. Since his intentional sabotage of Ron Paul's attempt to unite the third parties, I have realized that the GOP will stop at nothing to stay in power, and they may succeed. The idea of seeing another four years of the neo-cons running riot over our liberties and our Constitution is so frightening that I've even considered voting for Obama. Obama is in no way a peace candidate, but he's marginally better than McCain, and I still feel that a repudiation of the neocons is imperative. But it was pointed out to me earlier today that while McCain will attempt to go to war with Iran, and anyone else who opens their eyes at him, he will face opposition from a hostile congress, whereas if Obama chooses to go to war with Iran, or Pakistan or anyone else, he will face no opposition. One must not forget that the Democrats are internationalist hawks. They are not a true alternative to the neoconservative ideology of world domination. That only exists with the third party oppositiong. For this reason I will keep the faith, endure the sneers and taunts that come my way for my "mindless protest voting" and continue to support third party candidates.

With Barr's recent treachery and the damage he is doing to the chances of third parties running a successful opposition, continued support for third party options is even more important than ever. Whether it's Baldwin or Nader (but not Barr, because he's not a serious candidate), the choice is clear: we must support third party alternatives, because a vote for McCain or Obama is a vote for empire. Sarah Palin shouldn't cause anyone interested in peace and freedom to make the serious error of voting for McCain, and fear of the neocons shouldn't cause us to capitulate and vote for an interventionist Democrat. Third parties are the only option. We should not abstain and we should not capitulate, we should vote third party. The revolution is NOT over until we give up.