A New Independent Party? Tucker Carlson caught fishing again; Krystal Ball has no crystal ball

Four years ago a YouTube guy caught Carlson fishing in Central Park, legally.

So, you may have caught the announcement by Tucker Carlson that he has left the Republican Party and is pledging his support for a new independent party. No, I don't think he's running for President, but someone might be. Who knows.

Some otherwise smart people in independent media are kicking sand on the idea of a new independent party and the so-called "spoiler effect" of third parties. This piece with Krystal Ball on Breaking Points who acts like she does have a crystal ball is blatant political bias. High off NYC Mayor Zoran Mamdani and DSA's wins in New York last week, Ball was not her usual bright self, scoffing about a third party getting 10-20% of the vote and calling it a "spoiler." That's one helluva a spoiler effect, ya think?!

No one in the world that we know of thinks starting a new party can win elections...yet, unless there is a tectonic shift in American politics the likes of which haven 't been seen since Abe Lincoln. It has happened, folks, and it was one of America's most tumultuous times. It doesn't take a genius to realize that we are now in a time of tumult and two-party systemic failure. Ironically, the rise of Mamdani and DSA is a tectonic shift in NYC politics. But, that's OK so long as you stay inside the Democratic Party. (That's why we used to call DSA the "democrat's socialists.") Anyway, I'm guessing that Krystal and other naysayers have not yet read Lee Drutman's book, published in 2019, for crying out loud, "Breaking the Two-Party Doom-Loop." And, for another crying out loud, Drutman is a self-identified Democrat who cherishes democracy first. He also is a leading academic voice for a full break with two-party politics.

If the libertarian Republicans are breaking out of the GOP, we applaud them and urge them to help bust down the door of the two-party monopoly. Let's just hope, whatever they do, it is in service of all us independents who may not find them exactly our cup of political tea.

Drutman argues there's room in American politics for five parties. Might that be because he noticed that 45% of American voters call ourselves independents!

See Ballot Access News' Rich Winger's review of the book on the LIV blog, get you a copy and become a member of LIV.