"Third parties" (USA-centric)

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I'm curious about how many Americans here have always identified with what we call here "Third Parties", meaning other than the Republican Party and Democratic party that have dominated American politics for a long time?

I'm guessing that there is a disproportionate representation among the ND population in the "Other" category, politically.

I self-identified early in my life as Libertarian, and still consider myself in that "camp", though I no longer vote unless sufficiently persuaded with very high-quality ice cream.

Last edited by GadgetGuru on 11 Oct 2021, 8:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

I am a Republican with libertarian leanings.

(•) None of the above.

I chose Democratic because, having tried on occasion to be Republican (was even registered as such at one point in my life) I eventually decided I wasn't cut out for that. However, I don't feel committed to any sort of party dogma and if you were to ask me what it means to be a Democrat I'd give you a rambling noncommittal answer. But what I don't appreciate is the supposition that Democrats, or at least their leaders, are essentially criminals and TBH my inability to think that way might be the main explanation of why I'm a Democrat.

I like some of the younger Democratic Socialist leaders as I think they make a very valuable contribution to the conversation, however I despise Bernie Bros (sorry if that seems contradictory). But I see their (the DS not the Bernie Bros) role as being a force to move the party in a new direction rather than as as champions of an ideology I want to commit to.

Option added...

EDIT: Looks like my option edit reset the counters- Oops...

Last edited by GadgetGuru on 11 Oct 2021, 8:57 am, edited 1 time in total.

I'm more of a "pragmatist" than anything else.

I am attuned more to European "Social Democracy" than I am to the American Democratic Party.

I am one who seeks to vote for the "person," rather than the "party."

Many people chose Trump not because he is Trump-----but because he's a Republican.

(*) None of the above.

I used to be a member of the Republican Party when I lived in Kansas. However I have quite soured on that political party overall due to the corrupt behavior of a former governor of that state. He made decisions that easily would have put me out of my job, so I left the state. I am not alone, as many educators did the same under his term. He became a part of Trump’s cabinet, so that told me just how corrupt he was. I am now an undecided/unaffiliated voter. I look at who is the best real candidate, not just on what party that they belong to.

Another vote for None of the Above
I look for the candidate that will do the least amount of damage if elected.

Sam Brownback?

My views are almost at the exact center of the political spectrum, so I prefer people from the moderate wings of the two main parties…

GOP: Liz Cheney, Susan Collins, Larry Hogan, etc.

Dems: Lizzie Fletcher (a congresswoman from Texas), John Hickenlooper, Laura Kelly, etc.

Internationally, I support leaders like Emmanuel Macron, Mark Rutte and Mario Draghi, and parties like the UK Liberal Democrats and the German Free Democrats.

I have *money alignment*.

I favor whoever is offering ME the most money (tax cuts).

Social democrat, leaning towards market socialism. I've voted for Democratic, Green, and Independent candidates. I live in a very red state and district where my vote doesn't matter and vote to spite both Republicans and neoliberal Democrats, although I will vote for almost any Democrat if they are the only non-Republican on the ballot.

I don't align with any party really. I would probably lean towards Green Party/Democratic Socialism.

I also believe the American political system is a complete disaster. It is rigged against anyone but the two main parties (which are polarizing more and more)....meaning nothing (good) really gets done.

I only vote straight ticket Republican.Been Doing so since 2008.I am a Republican because I am church of Christ.I am a Trump Republican.I will never vote for a democrat.

Yes, that is the one. He threatened to cut $600 million out of higher education funding during a stalemate over the state budget the year that I left. My teaching contract was half state supported, half university supported. If I had signed my teaching contract, I was facing the potential of only getting paid half my salary, yet be forced to do all the same work. It would not be enough to pay my monthly bills on that amount. Under the terms of my contract, I also could not go out and just get another job to make back the financial loss. While I do miss my family there in Kansas, I do not miss the politics.

I don’t want this to come across as picking on you; it’s more a general and personal statement.

As a life long Christian, I have the hardest time understanding how so many Christian churches aligned themselves with a party that, in my eyes, supports so little of what Christ taught. I’m won’t tell anyone else how to reconcile faith and politics, since no political party lines up perfectly will all Christians believe (not that all Christians are monolithic), but I truly do not understand how the modern Republican Party fits the lessons Christ spent the most time on.