In a classic episode of The Simpsons, Citizen Kang, the U.S. presidential election is hijacked by extraterrestrials hell-bent on enslaving America. When it’s uncovered that both the Republican and Democratic candidate is one of these “aliens,” a citizen exclaims that he will vote for a third-party to thwart the plan. The aliens simply laugh and reply: “go ahead, throw your vote away.” Enslavement follows.
With campaign season now in full-swing, third party candidates are once again fighting for a seat at a table experts say wasn’t built with them in mind.
“We’ve traditionally had two dominant parties, and since the civil war, it has been the Democrats and Republicans. It’s not a conspiracy, it’s the system. It’s the fact that we don’t have proportional representation,” said David Karol, a professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland.
But third party leaders say they feel a change in the wind.
“Polls show that people want a third party more than ever, they want a new voice. The old parties have lost favor with much of America. The Congress, Republicans, [President] Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Democrats: nobody’s happy with them,” said Carla Howell, executive director of the National Libertarian Party.
Eric Eckstrom takes a closer look at the roles and motivations of third party candidates today, as well as their often-contentious relationship with the two-party system.