Bangor Daily News advocates for stronger third party

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February 18, 2010

Feb.18, 2010
In its lead editorial today, the Bangor Daily News called for a third party to become more involved in solving the political gridlock now apparent in our political system.

Here in Maine, we already have a third party, the Maine Green Independent Party. The Bangor Daily News has said what our party has been saying all along — that the two-party-system has become a one-party system, where those in office care more about re-election than about the public.

We see this in the conspiracy of both parties to continue to fund illegal wars, to refuse to take real action on single-payer health care that would help businesses and individuals alike, and in their refusal to come up with any sort of energy policy that doesn’t cede public resources and financial gain to large corporate projects instead of advocating true conservation and individual solutions.

As the oldest Green Party in the nation, the Maine Green Independent Party can help solve these problems.

The editorial said, in part:

To some degree, partisanship is exaggerated by the fun-house mirrors of talk radio and preaching-to-the-choir networks like Fox News and MSNBC. Votes in committees often do not follow party lines, but rather break by geography, rural vs. urban, and other parochial concerns.

It’s a long shot, but the two-party standoff would end if another party asserted itself. The Tea Party may provide that impetus, although its recent convention was more of an Obama-bashing festival. Or maybe the Libertarian Party, which saw new life in the presidential candidacy of Ron Paul. The Green Party also could provide a third way.

When the views of Ralph Nader, said to be on the far left, and Pat Buchanan, said to be on the far right, begin to sound harmonious on some issues, it suggests Democrats and Republicans have imposed a two-dimensional view of politics that is not accurate. A viable centrist or other third party could force a sort of parliamentary approach in Congress, creating coalitions and compromise.

Read the entire editorial at http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/137082.html