The United States of America currently has two major political parties, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. At the moment, England currently has 12 parties sitting in Parliament.
Twelve vs. two, it's a big difference, isn't it? When you think about it, can two political parties truly represent the views of the people as well as twelve? Probably not, but I'm not here to talk about the British political system, I'm here to talk about how America has worked so hard over the years to push down the efforts of 3rd party candidates.
Throughout history, the 3rd party just hasn't stood a chance in America against whichever two parties are at the top. Even John C. Breckinridge, a former vice-president who later ran under a 3rd party ticket, lost.
Of course back then it was very different, and Breckinridge even garnered seventy-two electoral votes and came in second. Now, we see a very different climate.
The American media has painted 3rd party candidates as the people who stay silent throughout presidential terms, and then when the election comes around, they make a lot of noise and "take away votes" from one side or the other.
The media generally makes them third or forth page articles, until they stumble. Gary Johnson recently had a big fumble when asked about Syria on a talk show and all of a sudden the media made him a top story. When it comes to Jill Stein, the media ignored much of her talk about a Green New Deal and focused on their claim that Stein was "anti-vaccine". Whenever the people in America here a top news story about a 3rd party candidate, it tends to be a negative one.
Look, I'm an undecided voter, but right now, in the past week, both Bernie Sanders and Mitt Romney have said that Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party nominee, should be able to debate.
So far, the American media has stayed relatively quiet on the 3rd party candidates and they seemingly only write articles about them when they trip. The media then grabs hold of this and rips them to shred and that's all the average American person will hear about this candidate.
It's a tough position for Gary Johnson and Jill Stein this year. They're both garnering a lot of support for 3rd party candidates, but the question is, will the American media start treating them like real candidates and less like a pesky bug on their shoulder?
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