(Libertarian Party, Green Party, Constitution Party, Party for Socialism and Liberation)
Whoa - When did Pumpkin Spice Lattes get their own political party?
Not sure but good question. But regardless, I’m waiting for the Sriracha And Avocado Toast Party.
Where’s the funny?
Thinking there are 4 useful third-party parties?
Ohhhhh - heh heh, I get it!
r/politics told me to go here for image posts
Doesn’t explain the funny.
Only logo I can identify is the Libertarian Party because they’re all a bunch of pricks.
Lemon, Kiwi, Screamy White Dudes, aaaaaand Pennsylvania Service Legion.
What do I win?
For a quick TL:DR on each.
The Libertarians were founded in 1971, initially stuck to a pretty core Randian Libertarian message albeit gradually weaning off the hard AnCap stance. Then they tilted right for a bit in the 90s to take advantage of the disgruntled Republican bloc, then tilted left during Y2K as the Reform Party turned right, but tilted hard right during the Tea Party era and later Trump Era, ultimately culminating in a Party Civil War in 2022 which saw a hard right Trump faction take over the party, followed by a counter takeover by a Moderate and Leftist faction, leading to the hard rights abandoning the party on mass for the GOP and the Moderates trying to go for RFK, but they’ve been kept in line by Chase Oliver’s left leaning faction who are currently nominated. They have been the strongest third party since around 2006, though they’ve collapsed in the polls following internal conflict this year.
The USA Green Party was founded in 1991(though the current version broke away in 2001 and the remnant faction died off in 2019) as a mostly environmentalist and progressive party. After some initial issues with the Natural Law Party they surged in 2000 taking advantage of a right wing takeover of the Reform Party, under the leadership of Ralph Nader. Following Ralph leaving briefly in 2004 for the Reforms combined with Obama rising the Green Party nearly collapsed in the late 2000s, but since then the modern Green Party has mostly consolidated under the tight control of Jill Stein, who has been the dominant figure in the party since 2011. It’s very much her party as seen by the bad under performance in 2020 when she didn’t run. They were briefly the Number 1 third party in the early-mid 2000s and have been solidly Top 2 for their entire existence. They’re set to outpreform the Libertarians for the first time in 20 years this year, though their future is iffy with Jill’s coming retirement and the soaring PSL cutting into their base.
The Constitution Party was founded in 1990(As the Taxpayer Party), as part of a broader wave of Right Wing dissatisfaction with the GOP following Bush breaking his ‘Read My Lips’ promise. While initially working together, the Reform Party faction and Constitution Party factions broke up in 1992. They believe in Christian Nationalism, Hardline Constitutionism, and were the dominant party of the Tea Party bloc. While traditionally considered part of the Big 3, both because they almost always come Third Place and because they can consistently run their own primaries and get their own candidates(Most of the dozen or so active other third parties can’t, usually working together as a coalition to nominate a single candidate. Rocky De Le Fuente is a recent example of this), but they’re far behind the other two, only getting 1/5th of a percent nationally at best(Though on the state level they’ve gotten as high as 4%). After rising in the Obama era as a major Tea Party contributor, they’ve weakened massively following the rightward shift of the GOP and infighting with other small right parties like the AIP(Of George Wallace ‘Foreva’ fame) or ADP. They’ve been outperformed by hotshot independents and coalition candidates several times, but most notably in 2020 did worse than the newcomer and potential new ‘3rd Third’.
The PSL (Party for Socialism and Liberation, or Socialist Liberation Party) is a Communist-Socialist-Marxist party founded in 2004. They are the fastest growing Third Party in the USA. They went from not even being the Top Communist Party in 2008(getting slightly fewer votes than the Socialist Workers Party, who are the second oldest third party active RN dating back to the 1930s and are the second largest communist party here even today), to top of the Communists in 2012, to 5th best overall in 2016(Behind the Big 3 and Evan McMullin) to Top 3 in 2020. They’re widely predicted to eclipse the Constitution Party(arguably already have) and get comparable numbers to the Greens in the states they run in. They’re also 4th overall in Ballot Access(Behind the Libertarians, Greens, and RFK Jr) this year. Their final totals could be quite close to the Libertarians given how badly they’ve fallen apart as of late, and between that and Jill Stein’s retirement after this election they’re set to be the biggest 3rd Party nationally by 2028. They’ve also gained a reputation for avoiding the purity checks and hardline member stances of the other parties, instead focusing on co-opting and controlling grassroots leftist movements, using on the ground operatives for more media exposure, and absorbing smaller communist parties.