America's Best Kept Secret: The Vermont Progressive Party

The Vermont Progressive Party is one of the most successful third party groups in the county.  It currently has two elected officials the State Senate, five in the State House and three in local office across the state.   What is the secret of their success?  In a new piece for Third Party Independent, Liberal Arts Dude interviews the party's director, Morgan Daybell, to find out.  Excerpt:

I recently corresponded with VPP Party Director Morgan Daybell and he was gracious enough to answer a few of my questions for Third Party Independent. Chief in my mind was finding out if there is a formula for the VPP’s success in Vermont and if it is possible for other political parties and organizations which seek to challenge the Republican-Democrat duopoly to duplicate that success elsewhere.

Q: What would you say are the key factors to the VPP's approach to electoral politics that has established it as a force in Vermont state politics and which sets it apart from other efforts by third parties who have not been as successful?

The major difference between our approach and those of many other third parties is that we have stayed focused on local/state races. In those elections corporate money has a smaller influence, and over many one-on-one conversations with voters, you can begin to overcome the brand-awareness the Democrats and Republicans enjoy. You can't do that at the Federal level without huge amounts of money . . .

Read the whole thing. LAD also inquires about how the VPP counters the spoiler argument, how it recruits and develops candidates, how it decides which races to run a candidate in, what electoral reforms it backs, and whether it's been involved with any local Occupy protests. 

Learn More about the Vermont Progressive Party

• Vermont Progressive Party Website
• Vermont Progressive Party Platform
• Vermont Progressive Party Blog
• Vermont Progressive Party on Wikipedia