SocraticGadfly: What MSM and poll aggregators won’t tell you — the ‘surge” of third parties

October 04, 2008

What MSM and poll aggregators won’t tell you — the ‘surge” of third parties

Why is Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr polling such high numbers as 11 percent in New Hampshire, 10 percent in Nevada and 8 percent in Ohio, even?

Well pollster Douglas Schoen, the author of "Declaring Independence: The Beginning of the End of the Two-Party System,” believes the mainstream media are missing something big:
There is widespread — and growing — dissatisfaction with the major parties in America. Even the initial rise of Obama was in large part attributable to frustration with the political system and response to his call for a nonpartisan outsider to change Washington. ….

However, Obama has had to go negative, McCain has flip-flopped time and again from the maverick of old to the GOP's status quo, and the Palin effect is wearing off as the governor’s politics appear to be no different from those inside the Beltway. Disenchanted voters are not fooled for long by rhetoric. As the major-party candidates show their true colors, many of these voters will start turning toward third-party alternatives.

Indeed, polling aggregate pundits such as FiveThirtyEight, Electoral-Vote, and Real Clear Politics, are not just missing the boat, but refusing to talk about it as well.

And Schoen knows his stuff. He was an advisor to President Clinton from 1994 to 2000.

For a good overview of ALL third parties, visit Third Party Watch.

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