Corporations and the super wealthy can infect 3rd parties and their 'movements' too.

[Union Yes]

Look no further than the Tea Bag 'movement'.

Recycled Rethugs. Almost every one of them are Pro Warpig, deficit spend for the war machine "Fiscal Conservatives".

Perhaps 1% of that entire movement actually see's themselves as true budget hawks. Those few have called the Rethug party on their deficit spending, even from war. But they have been largely stifled in their movement and shoved to the outer fringe.

Challenge a Reich Winger's love affair with the war machine, and ye be a shunned teabagger.
Oh the lonely life on an anti-war Reicher.

Ask Ron Paul.
.................................................................
Their 'movement' is in it's infancy, it aint even potty trained yet and their already repackaging Rethug talking points and adopting Neocon stances. And, yet the origins of the Teabag 'movement' were intended to be anti-Neocon.

The Tea Party has adopted a 'strong national defense' platform.

Proving them to be deficit spending Neocons.

From 1981-2008 Military/"Defense" spending ranked the #1 sector of ALL government spending. The largest sector our government budget went to "defense" spending driving us into our 12+ TRILLION DOLLAR national debt. At least 80% of our debt is DIRECTLY due to defense/war spending.

That's the glaring corruption of so-called "fiscal conservativism". "FC" is fiscal mismanagement, fiscal irresponsibility, incapable of balancing a federal budget and has driven us into debt that we may never pay off.

Teabaggers claim to be small govt minded fiscal conservatives. Yet 'strong on national defense' is the most expensive and largest sector of government spending only to be recently surpassed by the theft known as bank bailouts.

Proving their hypocrisy.

They're NOT small govt minded. They're small minded. Blind fucking drones.

Their Teabag movement has been thoroughly corrupted by the Neocon corporate military/industrial complex. Along with Health Insurance giants, the war machine bussed teabag protesters to, funded, and organized Teagbag rallies.

The Teabag 'movement' has been thoroughly Neoconized.

Proving just how fast corporations and the super wealthy can infect the purity of a political movement or an up and coming third party.

More proof..

The recent special election in the NY-23rd congressional district was a referendum on the Teabag movement. A district that had voted Rethug for 100 years. Teabaggers forced the GOP candidate to drop out of the race in favor of Pro-Teabagger, Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman.

Hoffman- A 'strong on national defense' pro-military spending "fiscal conservative".

Hoffman proved himself to be just another fuckin neocon.

The Teabag 'movement' put it's heart, soul, and support behind a fiscally irresponsible Neocon.

That's how fast a 3rd party movement can be thoroughly corrupted by corporate America and the superwealthy elite.

Small gov't ye say oh blind Teabagger?
..................................................................

The point to this whole thread..

Progressives are fed up with the direction that Dems, Obama, and the DLC are taking America. It's no secret that many Progressives are considering voting 3rd party. I'm as fed up as any and at times have considered supporting a 3rd party. But reality is a cold hard slap in the face.

If the Teabag 'movement' has taught me anything it's that 3rd party movements can be just as swiftly corrupted as a major party.

Instead Progressives, let's get organized in the upcoming Democratic Party primaries and do some party purification of our own.

We can save the Democratic Party from it's corporate whore-ification and return the Dem party to it's progressive roots. Building a 3rd party from the ground up into a national winner would require 100 TIMES the effort.

Instead, let's save our party.

:patriot:

[mrcheerful]

1. I been saying that since the 1960's when the third party ideal started gaining support

The only reason third party elected folks have never been bribed is because they have never been in power with enough members to make laws, it has nothing to do with morals or integrity of third party members. Thats like taking your car to a repair shop where no one has ever worked on a car.

[mdmc]

2. I bet a majority of the Green party could be bought for a cool mill..

I would love to save the dem party, but I really see it more of a corporate party, a party for wall street investors.
Perhaps the dem party will once again have an interest in the working class. But I doubt it.

[NeoGreen]

4. Not this GP Member & GP Voter...

The "no corporate money" rule is one of the main reasons I'm green.

[mdmc]

5. Good on you my friend

I'm for sale for medical treatment!
Neo-cons! Buy my political support so I can pay for medical treatment!
(I know the dems will be of NO help)..

[Meldread]

3. You're making the assumption that the Democratic Party can be saved.

Although it isn't popular on Democratic Underground, there are many Democrats who feel that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the party. We're members of the 'Netroots,' and unfortunately we're a minority within the Democratic Party. A vocal minority, that is highly motivated with lots of cash... the equivalent of evangelicals for the Republican Party. And we're treated exactly the way Republican's treat evangelicals. They give lip service, smile, nod, take their money, get their vote, then promptly forget about them until the next election. It has only been in recent years when the evangelical movement has begun to have REAL sway in the Republican Party, and that has only happened AFTER they started running their own candidates.

Of course, as the power of the evangelicals rises in the Republican Party, the more crazy they look to the majority of American's and thus support for the Republican Party wanes. There is no reason to believe the same wouldn't happen to the Democratic Party should we manage to run our own candidates. (Remember how Ned Lamont failed against Lieberman? That was our Hoffman.)

I am not convinced that we can 'change' the Democratic Party. We perhaps make up roughly 20% of the American Population – the hardcore left.

In my opinion, what needs to be done for the Democratic Party is for us to reconcile with party moderates, a compromise between the two wings of the party. The goal is to grab the majority of American's, prove to be good at governance, fight corruption within our own party, and then punish those we elect from wandering off the reservation. The type of debate we've had over healthcare shouldn't have happened. The bill should have already been written by Democrats before it was even proposed, and the whole healthcare thing should have been handled in roughly a month's time.

[scentopine]

6. Agree with this - we need real opposition...

there is a convergence taking place with left moving right far fast than right mixing left. That is because of media effect - right wing media has had profound influence on America's political center (liberals are now positively hated). Democrats have taken advantage and follow in the slip stream created by the right wing shock troops out front.

For democrats its just a matter of efficiency. They don't have to adhere to a set of principals and persuade. They simply stay a small click to the left of the extreme right and they are in the center. THis is exactly where corporate america is centered. Fortune 500 sympathizes with the right, however they fear the extreme elements will hurt profits.

Having long ago abandoned core principals partly because of the right wing media control (the worst thing we did was throw out the fairness doctrine) democrats simply follow the money.

I personally have voted for my last democrat and have never voted for a republican. So its write-in for me and for first time in 30 years I am giving serious consideration to staying home. My investments in the democrats have failed and in Texas there are few alternatives, sometimes green party shows up and I'll vote for them when they do.