I wasn’t always into politics, there was a thing called life that trumped that. 

Early Years

 
I was a teenager around the age of sixteen when I first got into politics. At the time, Bill Clinton was running for president. I don’t know if I knew any of his policies, but here’s why I wanted to vote for him – he looked like he was having fun.
 
Now, if that isn’t a dumb excuse to vote for someone, then I don’t know what is.
 
But here’s the thing, he, and many others got me to be engaged in the process, even if it was not directly centered on the reasons why I should’ve been focused. He just captured an energy that brought me and other voters out.

Early Adulthood

 
Fast forward to a few years later, I voted to George W. Bush for a set of different reasons, the economy being a big part at that time in my life. His policies at the time sounded like something I could get behind. Plus, he seemed to have a record of bring both sides to the table and making things worked. So I voted for him.
 
Then 9/11 happened.
 
Since then, it feels like America has been bouncing parties back and forth looking for the right candidate to bring about “change.”
 
Now, that’s a funny little word – change – isn’t it?

What We’re Willing To Tolerate

 
We change jobs when we don’t like our bosses, find better pay, a better position, etc. But we change politicians looking for some sort of change. What is that change?
 
Well, whatever it is for you, nothing seems to be working. At least, the needle doesn’t seem to have moved in my life significantly. We are always at war. We always have economic crisis every few years. The one thing that seemed to be constant was the “change” that politicians promised never seemed to come. And when something goes wrong, it’s always the other party to blame.
 
Well, what if the two-party system is the problem? I mean, since 2000, virtually every presidential election has been decided in a matter of a few percent, and the electoral college is always to blame.
 
What if, and it’s a big if, there was a third or even a fourth party? Ladies and gentlemen, there is.

Looking Back

 
Since the 90s (that I can recall,) there has been a third-party candidate in each of the presidential elections. Even 2016 had at least four presidential candidates. So why do we only hear about the two major ones?
 
Maybe that’s it, because the Republican and Democrat parties are considered to be the major parties. And depends on who you’re asking, they’re the only parties.

And Now…

 
The truth is, third parties have been trying to make themselves known to the public, but the two major parties and the media seems to put a muzzle on them – and ever so effectively. So much as to require in political debates that a candidate of third-party poll with at least 15 percent prior to each debate. This according to debates.org

As for me, I see this as a call to arms (if you will) for the need to reach out beyond what we’ve been spoonfed and to dare ourselves and do something completely radical – shake up the duopoly and demand more options in elections. This is my personal mission to help folks step out of their typical voting blocks and challenge the status quo.

Call me a noob or an informed voter, I don’t care. But if I can help someone either see that they are truly either a Republican or Democrat, or help them to see that they are neither and find another sect to which they can belong and fight for, I’ll consider that a job well done. Because in a nation of 300 + million people, out choices should not only come down to two candidates… ever.

Conclusion

I encourage anyone that reads this to join me and the fight to eradicate some tired practices in politics, and adopt some new methods of how we choose our future leaders. Not all the ideas I express are etched in stone, for this is still an evolving process for me, as well. But together through civil dialogue, I believe we not only will find that we have more in common, we can work for better resolutions.

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