As the public continues to grow disenchanted with the "Big two" parties, one would think they would be increasingly drawn to third parties. Yet, despite the HISTORIC numbers posted by Libertarians in the great state of Texas in 2006, third parties aren't electing candidates in numbers that would reflect that disenchantment. This despite the fact that the cost to run a grassroots campaign is actually DROPPING rather than climbing. Responsible members of these third parties would be doing their parties a favor if they asked themselves WHY.

I believe that the answer is simply because third parties do not take themselves seriously enough. They don't try to win, but rather they attempt to garner a "protest vote" and in some way prove that enough people are fed up to actually do something.

I first discovered this in 1992, my first encounter with the Socialist Party. I suggested rallies outside the courthouse, pamphlets protesting the electoral college system, and it was all well and good until it was time to head to the courthouse. It was eerily like the scene in "Old School" where a drunken Will Ferrell finds himself streaking to the quad...by himself.

Not surprisingly, the Socialist Party rallied the same level of excitement as a Haircut 100 reunion tour.

Then, several members of the Libertarian Party jumped on to the Free State Project. I was among them. The idea was to move enough activists to a selected state to begin making effective change. We opted out of New Hampshire if it was chosen because of their draconian homeschool laws, and as a result, while we are still FRIENDS of the FSP, we're no longer active with them.

FSP members will note the impact they're making, of course. It makes for good publicity. However, they moved to a state with an independent enough mindset that they actually REFUSED to enact a mandatory seat belt law, and, in doing so, have not received federal funds to maintain their roads. In other words, the state was pretty independent to begin with. Any success they might have had was easily offset by the fact that in 2004, they were one of only two states who failed completely to get Michael Badnarik, the Libertarian Presidential candidate, on the ballot of their state (Oklahoma was the other), despite having relatively easy hurdles to overcome, especially for a state that claims to have a large number of activists who have already relocated.

Fast forward to 2006. The Libertarian Party mounted a fairly valiant effort...for a third party, in the state of Texas. But as a candidate I can tell you, while the media support was there, the money and supporters were, well, NOT.

Until third parties take THEMSELVES seriously, it remains unlikely that voters will. To be successful, party leaders need to stop reaching for the 5-10% "protest" vote and start reaching for 50% + 1 VICTORY votes. Until they do that, they're simply grinding their wheels.