My analysis of third parties in 2012, mainly because I'm NOT voting for Mitt Romney and I'm not voting for Obama.
So as I have stated before, I'm not voting for Obama in 2012 given among other strikes:
Signing the NDAA allowing indefinite detention of US citizens. - I don't care if he was 'forced' to sign it or avoid losing political capital.
Capitulation to the Republicans on the Debt crisis. - You do not negotiate with political terrorists and encouraging this kind of behavior actually did more damage to our credit rating than the deficit itself did.
Treatment of Occupy - You might not be a fan of occupy but a coordinated response by the DHS against mostly peaceful protesters to get mayors and police to crush them in a short period of time is absolutely unacceptable.
Failure to Prosecute Bush - This isn't going away. Ever.
Now Added: Absolutely terrible governance on the health care debate. Failure to fix the senate allowed a handful of democrats to have their way including Olympia Snow when it should have been HIM leading the debate, not the other way around.
Caveat: If the Supreme Court is as blatant about throwing down AHA as they were with Citizen's United and ignore existing precedent for the last 60-70 years, I will be forced to vote for Obama. It is not that they might throw it down that bothers me, as there are several ways they can do this but if they effectively make the commerce clause interpretation go back to what it was pre 1937 it means that the conservative justices all lied about their honoring of Stare Decisis, and that the Supreme Court is a wholly political and illegitimate branch of government.
As such, fixing the court will take priority over Obama and I might even move early to have a vote that matters.
Again, it isn't IF they reject the law but HOW.
At any rate...so 3rd parties.
Not a fan of Libertarians really, especially the randian streak but they are a strong party and any 3rd party doing well sends a message to the Cowardly Democrats. This is a rather interesting article about the chances of the Libertarian candidate this year. He could play spoiler. We have a whole generation that has forgotten Ross Perot and they don't remember much about Nader either. 12 years is an eternity in the small political minds of most Americans, but he has the advantage of a significant majority position in a lot of areas that are important people; specifically low deficits and a complete uncaring about social conservatism. Ron Paul SAYS he is socially liberal but he's not. Which means he has voted to repeal many protections on a federal level for women's rights...or not voted in favor of them. Gary Johnson is different. He's also opposed to the absolutely STUPID war on Drugs which Obama has actually ramped up through Holder the Idiot.
I admit, I just don't like the Greens. I should. I am a firm AGW believer. The greens are more liberal than most democrats and I should be voting for them all the way. I. Don't. Care. Unlike my parents, I am not a big fan of Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader after he ran in 2004 despite a need for the left to rally against Bush. They seem way too caught up in their own view point, and they also believe in the carbon tax which I think is useless. Better to have, literally, a conservative tax because their beliefs are doing more damage to the planet. Seriously. Reality denial should cost people money, especially in a political system where cash is speech. I might vote green, but they've got a lot to do to impress me, and I haven't investigated them this year. If they're like they have been the last several election cycles, forget it.
One group that is definitely attracting my attention is the Pirate Party. I can see Occupy aligning with them more than the Greens even though they support both groups. Indeed if the Occupy movement could form an alliance with the Pirate Party they might be able to make some significant headway. I doubt they could win, simply because the Pirate PArty is so new, but they could do what third parties do best which is affect the narrative, and SOPA, PIPA, CISPA and Copyright and Patent Law have gotten ridiculous in this country. More importantly, the PP could theoretically do a better job of creating a third party alliance with the special snowflake greens and libertarians to reform the electoral process since they are not left/right but instead pro freedom which both greens and libertarians can embrace.
