Well, once again we have battled on behalf of the Lesser Evil, and once again the lesser lost. Once again we fought for a mealy-mouthed liberal who choked on the very idea of real social progress and would not even come straight out against the war in Iraq. On the other hand, we have have seen the hopeful formation of some new, extra-Democratic-party political forces, such as MoveOn.org.

Should we keep working within the Democratic party and hope for the best, or abandon the Democrats in favor of an independent, progressive formation that merely (in certain cases) allies with them?

What is to be the basis for constituting a progressive political party, whether "Democratic" or other? That is, what are its causes and who are its constituents?

Hello, I'm new to posting on this site, and though I normally just observe conversations for a while, I couldn't resist jumping in right away when I saw this question posted.
My humble take on such a question is that it can be boiled down to a very basic question of personal belief. I consider myself a Democratic Socialist, and it seems to me that third parties need to ask themselves if they want to stand by their ideals, or give in, as you said, to the lesser of two evils. Although some would say "giving in" gives us greater influence, many friends of mine insist the path of influence really lies on the side of duty. I may have agreed with them several months ago, but now that we are repeatedly getting the greater of two evils in close elections across the country, I might say that it is time to start pushing the Democrats over the top by giving in. I admittedly can be a bit of a stubborn idealist, as many of my peers are, but I am starting to believe that this may just be the right time to prevent disasters like the 2004 election season.

At this rate, Bush will be known as a commie after he's done with Iran. Do any of his ideas sound familiar? Wanting to bomb Iran, and have the lower class rise up and overthrow the government? That straight out of the Communitst Manifesto. We won't have to wait long.

although my party is not posted, it is because i do not know exactly where i stand in politics. i see myself as a revolutionary, and although i beleive in capitalism, it along with corrupt money hungry companies must be better regulated, and if needed controlled, by the government. americas rich continue to get richer, while the poor become even poorer. america's 3rd parties are jokes. we must begin to work hard and establish not so revolutionary views to win over the public. i believe the balance of power should be allowed to continue to shift to the republicans. eventually it will fall from them, but only after hard work. this country is ripe for a new idea, but this can only be done if we stay seperate and work from the ground, or local governments, and move up. like in european countries, new parties are started and built around one section of the country, and it is stablized there before it begins to spread. with the democratic party growing weaker, more disgruntled voters will turn to 3rd parties. great 3rd parties must rise up in the local govt arenas around america, and must hold on in the specific counties and cities. only that way will is grow and spread. also, what is missing from american politics, is the lack of political alliances between 3rd parties. how can a growing party even think to fight against one of the 2 major parties. all 3rd party members and independents should ban together.

if you would like, i have idea on how we can succeed.

Well Chuck. You have the right idea. Baby steps and all. What is your idea for bringing a third party to power?

baby steps. well...those first few steps are probably the hardest of all.

it all starts with a vision, but it cant be too far off from majority politics. my political beliefs lean me more towards socialism, but i still value capitalism. i just believe a non corrupt govt should run more programs, or if needed, businesses such as gas to keep prices down. we also need cheaper education, etc etc, and have some key viewpoints

then, we must do work purely grass-roots. im talking about posters, meetings, phone calls (election time of course), but you need to be seen, members of a third party must be seen to succeed. we must also put forth almost all of our effort towards the non-voters and poorer class (well, for my certain beliefs, i think either salary caps or higher taxes for the rich are needed).

the problem we must overcome with this, of couse, is money. not many rich people would donate funds to a party devoted to the poor, so luck and personal links and connections would have to come involved to raise money.

i believe that city council should be the first step towards a third party coming to national power. being elected to city council in small towns and cities would be much easier than in a big one, as in smaller communities, its more about who you are and not your party.

we must get our influence on teh smallest scale, then through vigorous campaigning we must win over more voters who are disgruntled with their party.

i must urge the use of rallies or town hall type meetings to spread the word. we also need strong speakers (im completed prepared to do this once out of college...yes, im merely a junior in highschool, but i feel such a passion for politics and america, that i feel i must devote my life to this).

we must also gain the backing of unions. hopefully worker unions in america, or local unions in your community, will back us with funds as we continue to try to help them and their families. we must make sure they know we are for them, through our speeches, and if elected, our actions.

we should also check the positions of some major unions in the united states. we should try to find, for example, the general stance of the teachers union, then attempt to cater to them. i think this would be easy, as many public schools are not funded equally, actually, the schools that need the most help from funding get the least amount of money, while the rich schools get more. i think we could win alot of votes if we adopted some education policies which teachers support.

also, i think...we must cater to both parties political ideology to sway disgruntled voters.
like, we should concentrate on democrats to switch parties for demostic issues. like, pound in their heads that their current party is going out of control, and that we are adding a new breath into the political spectrum, or some stuff like that.

also, for republicans, we should support the armed forces, and let it be known, and support a strong foriegn policy.

Edited to remove personal information in accordance with forum Rules