NBC-Exclusive coverage of Green/Libertarian Party Convention

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Stargazer43
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17 Aug 2016, 4:30 pm

The Green Party and Libertarian Party are the two major "fringe" parties in the US that no one ever really talks about. They both had primaries, conventions, and nominees, but I don't think I've seen a single mention of that in the media. If I have, it was just a single sentence in passing.

If the media covered both of these parties with the same diligence as they cover the Democrats and Republicans, do you think it would influence the results of the election? Both of these parties have non-negligible support - I saw a poll that estimated 11% for Gary Johnson and 4% for Jill Stein among young voters. If the media actually focused on them and told people who they are, what they stand for, then those numbers would likely be higher, since no-one knows who they even are now.

It's no secret that one of the most effective ways to build support in elections is name recognition, and I think that one of the main drivers of Trump's rise has been the media's incessant focus on his every word. Given the fact that both the Democratic and Republican candidates are highly disliked, I think that this is the perfect opportunity for a third party to come to light. I can honestly say that I don't know a single person who actually wants to vote for Hilary or Trump...most are just trying to pick the one who will mess up the country the least.



yelekam
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18 Aug 2016, 11:54 am

yes, pretty much all the minor parties don't get as much coverage by the media as they probably should.
Though if you want places to help keep up with news on third parties you can check out Independent Political Report, American Third Party Report, and Ballot Access News, which are all online.



yelekam
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18 Aug 2016, 11:58 am

your poll number would seem low compared with the poll numbers I've seen. Some the higher performing polls I've seen them getting those numbers among the electorate in general, and their average of polls are not to far from that. Among younger voter's there was one poll which put them as high as 25 and 15 percent.



Stargazer43
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18 Aug 2016, 4:18 pm

yelekam wrote:
your poll number would seem low compared with the poll numbers I've seen. Some the higher performing polls I've seen them getting those numbers among the electorate in general, and their average of polls are not to far from that. Among younger voter's there was one poll which put them as high as 25 and 15 percent.


All the more reason to cover them. If I recall, Jeb Bush had like 3-4% approval before he dropped out of the race, and they used to cover him constantly since he was the "poster child" that the republicans seemed to want to put in office.