Toward a Popular Front for the Liberation of the People of the United States from the Apparatus of the Global Warfare and Corporate Welfare State

At Politics Daily, Donna Trussel considers the overlap between the demands of left- and right-wing populists on a number of issues, and proposes a third party alternative to the Democratic-Republican two-party state in an article wondering if "Dennis Kucinich is joining the tea party movement":
Democrats and Republicans are now so divided and partisan that no legislation can move forward. And yet, with a few notable exceptions, it seems both Democrats and Republicans represent not the small investor or the average homeowner or the laid-off worker, but rather banks and big business. That's a conundrum if I ever saw one. The Poland analogy – a government that cannot govern – sounds apt to me. . . . In catastrophe is opportunity, as the saying goes. Ten years ago a third party could not work, but now, just maybe it can. A third party that stands for campaign finance reform, a balanced budget, full employment, the break up of companies "too big to fail," health care reform that looks after people instead of insurance and pharmaceuticals, an end to pork, and a one-way ticket out of town for every lobbyist in Washington.

Imagine a 2012 ticket of libertarian-leaning Ron Paul and socialist-leaning Dennis Kucinich, where they run on their common goals rather than their differences . . . A new third party will need a good name, one with no baggage. A name that suggests a democratic republic, but of course Democrat and Republican are already taken, not to mention ruined . . . Start from your common ground. The whole country is angry, and rightfully so. To everyone who ever dreamed of a real choice on Election Day: This is your chance. Seize it.

3 comments:

Samuel Wilson said...

The obvious challenge for a Paul-Kucinich ticket, even before we consider their disagreements, is that they'd get tagged as "isolationists" by both big parties because of their common anti-war stance. This would force the issue of where Tea Partiers really stand on the War on Terror and whether they're the simple jingoists that Sarah Palin apparently presumes them to be.

As for a name, Trussel may have stumbled over one without noticing. How about a Common Ground Party?

Ross Levin said...

That's a great name for a party!

d.eris said...

Just to be clear, Trussel doesn't seem to be so much suggesting Paul and Kucinich get together, as using them as examples to illustrate the kind of political/ideological synthesis she was getting at. Or at least that's how I read the piece.

 
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