MADISON, Wis. – Four independent presidential candidates have filed signatures and paperwork to appear on the November ballot, the Wisconsin Elections Commission announced Tuesday.
MADISON, Wis. – Four independent presidential candidates have filed signatures and paperwork to appear on the November ballot, the Wisconsin Elections Commission announced Tuesday.
She did address it again at the next rally, to be fair to her. Though I agree the first reaction was… let’s call it sub-optimal.
Still, she is in an incredibly tough position here. Not only does she carry the regular US baggage of Israel relation and wanting the strategic position in the middle east - she’s also an active member of the current administration. There is a pretty hard limit on how much she can speak out given Biden is still in office, and ceasefire talks are ongoing.
I hear you. But proclaiming that third party candidates are intentionally trying to dilute the vote, as the commmentor I replied to implied, is no different than Harris’s response at the rally.
It’s meant to shame third parties for not getting in line behind the Democratic candidate. Instead of listening to people’s grievances, they both weaponize shame.
You do realize there have been many cases of third party candidates being explicitly on the ticket to confuse matters and pull votes from opposition, do you not?
Though admittedly that’s usually with a similar or identical on the ballot name: https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2024/06/florida-dem-latest-victim-of-same-name-ballot-confusion-scheme/
It’s hard to feel otherwise when operating under a FPTP system, which is basically intentionally built to shut out third parties. In fact, one of the prominent benefits of FPTP is that it’s incredibly difficult for an extremist party to find foothold - as opposed to what is seen all over Europe currently in places with party-list proportional representation.
Whether the third party candidates are naive about their chances, putting themselves out there as an act of protest or intentionally diluting the vote is impossible to say (and I suspect there are some out there in each category).
In the end however intentions don’t really matter - the practical impact of third parties in an FPTP system is diluting the vote.