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Dont get Marla Thompson-Kendall started about Americas two-party political system.

Theyre both ineffective, the Riverdale resident said of the Democratic and Republican parties. Although shes voted for Democrats over the years, she remained open to what Republicans had to say and even came to appreciate some Republicans such as former president George W. Bush.

He had Republican views but he wasnt spiteful and vindictive or condescending. He just went in there and did the right thing for the most part for the people, she said.

But now shes losing patience with both parties.

Its just internal fighting. They come into office and say Im going to do everything I can do to make sure [the other party] doesnt get their agenda across. Thompson-Kendall, an adjunct business professor at Life University, told Atlanta Civic Circle. There needs to be a bridge-building kind of system because right now theres a major disconnect.

Thompson-Kendall thinks a third party could be the solution. Im all for it because in the past 10 years we havent gotten anything done, she said.

Thompson-Kendall isnt alone in her frustration with todays polarized political landscape. Fewer Americans are aligning with either Democrats or Republicans. In fact, a December 2020 Gallup Poll found that only 31% identified as Democrats and 25% as Republicans, while 41% considered themselves independent. Whats more, a majority of Americans six in 10 want a third party option, a separate Gallup Poll showed.

The two-party system has dominated American politics for most of the nations existence, enduring through wars, civil, and societal upheaval. But lately, American politics have been paralyzed by legislative logjams, political extremism, racial strife, and a recalcitrant ex-president still refusing to acknowledge his 2020 election loss, sparking the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

The divide is only growing between Democrats and Republicans on the economy, racial justice, climate change, law enforcement, foreign affairs, and plenty of other issues, according to Pew Research Centers studies over the past few years.

While lawmakers nationally and locally continue to lock horns, many Americans are tuning out. One in four are politically disengaged, and nearly 70% are distrustful and disillusioned with politics, falling in the exhausted majority, according to a report looking at the polarized political landscape during the Trump administration from More in Common, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit which promotes finding common ground among voters.

With public support for a third party at an all-time high, is the two-party system still viable, despite over 150 years of dominance?

Even with all of its current flaws, Americas two-party system is not going away anytime soon, says University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock, whos written about American politics for over 50 years.

If you want stability, the two-party system is going to promote that, Bullock told Atlanta Civic Circle. Multi-party systems give voters a much wider range of choices, but they have their own problems, Bullock said, pointing to Israel and the Netherlands.Thereve been examples in Holland where its taken more than a year after the election to figure out whos [running] the government.

With as many as 14 competing parties, nobody comes anywhere close to getting a majority, Bullock explained. Once the election is over, you dont really know whos going to be governing the country, he said. Instead, the different factions must start negotiating to see if they can somehow stitch together an agreement among various parties to get to a 50% majority of the legislature.

But Dutch political scientist Cas Mudde isnt counting out a multi-party system for the United States, because of the strong voter dissatisfaction for the two-party one. Mudde is an expert on European politics, particularly populism and political extremism in Western democracies.

Very few of the more established [European] democracies have two-party systems, as very few countries have a first-past-the-post electoral system like the United States, where the winner is chosen by a simple majority, Mudde, a professor in the School of Public & International Affairs at University of Georgia, told Atlanta Civic Circle.

The U.K. is one of the few that do, but its two-party system also has attracted many opponents, Mudde said. Its biggest advantage is that its easy to understand since the candidate with the most votes wins the seat, he added. It also tends to produce clear winners and losers, which many people also like and understand.

While U.S. elections generally produce clear winners and losers, the two-party system still is leaving many voters unhappy.

A very large percentage of people are not represented at times even majorities which is less often the case in multiparty systems, Mudde said. International research has shown that, on average, people in two-party systems are less satisfied with their democracy than those in multiparty systems.

Despite the appetite among voters, creating a path for third-party candidates faces daunting odds, especially in Georgia which has the most restrictive ballot-access laws in the country, particularly for local Congressional races.

Last month, the Libertarian Party of Georgia asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to re-hear its challenge to a state law that has prevented a third-party candidate from getting on the ballot for a U.S. House seat for over 80 years.

Voters in Georgia and elsewhere ought to be free to vote for people who are not in the two major parties if they so choose, the Libertarians lawyer, Brian Sells, told Atlanta Civic Circle. But, Sells said, the rules are made by the Democratic and Republican partiesand most politicians Ive ever known preferred not to have competition.

Libertarian candidate Angela Pence is putting Georgias ballot-access law to the test, running for the 14th Congressional District seat against Marjorie Taylor-Greene, the polarizing Republican incumbent. But its a long shot. Pence must collect 23,000 voter signatures for her name even to appear on the Nov. 8 ballot.

We have a plan in place. Its daunting, Pence told Atlanta Civic Circle.

What will it take to break the current political impasse? Bullock thinks it could take a crisis to convince enough political leaders they need to join hands for the good of the country Leadership will say its better for each side to get half the loaf rather than nothing.

Meanwhile, Thompson-Kendall says shell continue to vote for the person who represents my interests. If thats a Democrat or Republican, it doesnt matter.

Lately, thats been Democrats, she added. Republicans used to have concrete goals that made sense, but now theyre all [for] Trump.

Thompson-Kendall also said shed like to see term limits instituted in Congress and more mentoring and coaching to prepare new candidates. People dont need to be running for office forever and staying in those offices until they die, she said. Id like to see some new blood come in with some fresh ideas because what we did in 1924 is not what we should be doing today.

People dont need to be running for office forever and staying in those offices until they die, she said. Id like to see some new fresh blood come in with some fresh ideas because what we did in 1924 is not what we should be doing today.

As for moving beyond the current political chasm?

Im an eternal optimist, she said. The only way were going to be able to do it is if we get out and vote. We have to vote those people out of office who are not doing what we need them to do.

What can be done to address Americas entrenched political divide?

Read what some of the nations psychologists have to say here and here.

Read what one Time magazine columnist suggests here.

Read what two top experts on democracy, conflict, and governance have to say here.

More:
What will it take to shake up Americas two-party political system? - Atlanta Civic Circle

Why are Conservatives increasingly interested in cryptocurrencies?

It might seem like an odd fit at first blush. Conservatism, after all, is something of a backward-looking persuasion. It starts from a premise that traditional ideas and institutions should, as a general rule, be protected and sustained. Theyve come through a process of trial and error over the course of history and therefore deserve our deference and respect.

This call for epistemological humility can sometimes manifest itself in an aversion to novelty and even progress. Michael Oakeshott famously described it as:

to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried to the untried, fact to mystery, the actual to the possible, the limited to the unbounded, the near to the distant, the sufficient to the superabundant, the convenient to the perfect, present laughter to utopian bliss.

The point here is that the conservative instinct tells us that most new ideas are false or wrong precisely because they havent been subjected to the rigours of practical wisdom. Conservatism, in this sense, is the political expression of the famous line from Will and Ariel Durant: Out of every hundred new ideas ninety-nine or more will probably be inferior to the traditional response which they propose to replace.

That might seem like an odd philosophical basis from which to embrace something as far-out as digital money. Yet there are limits to mere abstractions about conservative ideas and the conservative persuasion. Samuel Huntington tells us that conservatism must be understood in a specific situational context. Its a contingent perspective that reflects particularistic circumstances. A Saudi Arabian conservative is different from a European conservative whos different from a North American conservative. What they seek to conserve necessarily reflects their unique culture and intellectual inheritances.

North American conservatism has long distinguished itself by its unique combination of a deference to tradition and a commitment to change. In his famous essay, Why I am not a conservative, Friedrich Hayek attributed this mix of posterity and progress to the fact that what North American conservatives are essentially seeking to conserve is a classical liberal tradition. That is to say, the North American conservative is, at some fundamental level, a liberal. His or her conservatism is dedicated to the preservation of the continents liberal ideas, institutions, and values.

Its worth emphasizing this point: North American conservatism is somewhat oxymoronically committed to preserving a cultural and political liberalism which itself is fertile soil for growth, dynamism, and innovation. Its a conservative tradition committed to a set of ideas, institutions, and values that are inherently pro-progress.

David Brooks spoke to this unique amalgam of ideas and intuitions in a 2018 podcast episode with Tyler Cowen. When asked about his own conservative worldview, he answered the following:

Well, Im anAmericanconservative. My two heroes are Edmund BurkeandEdmund Burkes core conservative ethosis epistemological modesty, the belief that the world is really complicated, and therefore the change should be constant but incremental My other hero is Alexander Hamilton His conservatism was very different. Its about dynamism, energy, transformational change. And so a European self-conservatism doesnt work here. You have to have that dynamic, recreated, self-transformational element.

This applies to Canada too. As Ben Woodfinden and I outline in a forthcoming essay on Sir John A. Macdonalds own conservatism, the countrys first prime minister personified this unique mix of backward- and forward-looking ideas. He was at once a dispositional conservative as represented in his personal preferences and tastes and something of a futurist with an ambitious vision of the frontier that was manifested in his nation-building agenda. As we write:

For his part, Macdonald saw entrepreneurial freedom, limited but energetic federal power, and national greatness as inextricably linked. These instincts for national development were actually quite Hamiltonian. Like the father of the American commercial revolution, Macdonald came to represent a business liberalism which was suffused with a Toryism concerned with a virtuous and ordered liberty.

I share this abridged story of the North American conservative tradition because its important to understand the compatibility of conservative ideas and technological progress in general and conservatism and cryptocurrencies in particular. The conservative persuasion in North America should be generally viewed as sympatico with frontier-like ideas, inventions, and technologies.

These conceptual points bring us back to the more practical question at hand: why are conservatives increasingly pro-crypto?

The first point is to establish that they are indeed showing growing interest in digital currencies. There are various examples, including, for instance, MP Michelle Rempel-Garners recently-tabled legislation that would have the government consult on a framework to encourage the growth of crypto assets in Canada.

Some have dismissed these developments as merely related to the recent trucker protests in Ottawa. But this critique fails to reckon with the broader movement of conservative intellectuals and politicians that has come to support bitcoin and other forms of crypto-currencies in recent years.

The highest-profile proponents arent themselves politicians. The two biggest are probably Elon Musk and Peter Thiel who are investors and entrepreneurs with significant influence on society and culture in general and the world of libertarianism in particular.

Theyve both come to be associated with the growing cultural and political movement around crypto-currencies through a combination of their personal investments, public commentaries, and large online followings. The former has frequently talked about how he owns crypto-currencies, including Dogecoin, which he has been instrumental in popularizing. The latter has described bitcoin as the one asset that I most strongly believe in.

The appeal of crypto-currencies to Musk and Thiel isnt merely about the financial upside. Theres also an ideological dimension. Digital moneys decentralized nature conjures up possibilities of new, more libertarian economic and political arrangements. Thiel has even argued that if we want to think about contemporary technologies in ideological terms, artificial intelligence can be thought of as communist and crypto-currencies are libertarian.

Its no surprise that in the face of sustained pandemic restrictions, libertarian ideas seem to be resonating more and more these days. In this context, Musk and Thiel have emerged as major figures among a cohort of millennial or Generation Z followers who are drawn to their contrarian rebuke of the stuffy conformity of modern life. Ross Douthat has thus described the rise of folk libertarianismor what others have called Barstool conservatismas one of the key socio-political developments of the pandemic age.

This movement is less steeped in the tomes of libertarian thought and instead more reflective of contemporary cultural and political trends, including the rise of cancel culture, identity politics, and perceptions of government bossiness. Its followers are more Dave Portnoy than Ludwig von Mises.

As a cultural and political movement, its highly active online, a bit coarse and politically incorrect, and mostly engaged in politics from the periphery using GIFs and memes rather than direct action. It reflects a series of intuitions about individual responsibility, personal expression, a commitment to technology and progress, and an aversion to so-called wokeism. Recently, The Hub contributor Ben Woodfinden summed up this worldview and its followers as crypto bros. Hes not wrong.

The key point here though is that there are cultural and intellectual factors behind North American conservativess growing interest in new and novel monetary innovations. Its broadly consistent with continental conservatisms interest in frontier ideas and technologies as well as the growing appetite for non-mainstream, decentralized models of economic and political organization in the face of perceived top-down conformity. But it also possibly holds out the potential to bring new and different votersparticularly members of Canadas sizeable non-voter constituencyinto the Conservative fold. Crypto has therefore become an ideological and political rallying cry for North American conservatives.

Its not to say that there are serious issues with crypto-currencies. The recent volatility raises legitimate questions about whether this is a sustainable market development or merely a hyper-online fad. One gets the sense that the true story is somewhere in the middle.

But as Matt Spoke recently argued in an essay for The Hub, there may be a case for a country like Canada to make a huge bet that the future of crypto is more sustainable than it is faddish. Theres reason to believe that the presumptive, next Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, broadly agrees with this perspective.

To the extent that he does, it shouldnt be viewed as inherently incompatible with the conservative tradition. North American conservatism has since its origins reflected an intellectual and political persuasion with both a backward- and forward-looking impulse. A careful yet curious view on crypto-currencies is well-rooted in this long-standing tradition.

Link:
Sean Speer: Why conservatives are so keen on cryptocurrencies - The Hub

Here's what you need to know if you plan to vote in the Democratic or Republican runoff on May 24.

Texas governor election 2022 race: Abbott vs. Beto breakdown

It's Greg Abbott against Beto O'Rourke in the 2022 general election. Here's what you need to know about their key policy positions.

Niki Griswold and Nate Chute, Austin American-Statesman

AUSTIN The runoffs are May 24 to finally select the Democratic and Republican slates of statewide candidates for statewide and down-ballot races for November. Here's what you need to know.

Any registered voter may cast a ballot in the runoffs. However, voters who voted in either the Democratic or Republican primary may only vote in the same party's runoff.

But voters who sat out the March 1 primaries may vote in either one of the parties' runoffs.

Also, third parties, such as the Libertarian Party and the Green Party, do not choose their candidates in primaries, so therefore there are no runoffs.

Lieutenant Governor: Two Democrats, 2018 nominee Mike Collier and state Rep. Michelle Beckley of Denton County are competing. The Republican nominee, incumbent Dan Patrick, won his primary outright.

Attorney General: On the Republican side, two-term incumbent Ken Paxton faces Land Commissioner George P. Bush. The Democrats will choose between Brownsville lawyer Rochelle Mercedes Garza and former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworksi.

Comptroller: Democrats Janet Dudding, an accountant, facesbusiness strategist andcommunity organizer Angel Luis Vega. Republican incumbent Glenn Hegar easily won renomination.

Land Commissioner: State Sen. Dawn Buckingham of Lakeway and educator and minister Westley are competing for the Republican nomination. The Democratic race features Sandragrace Martinez, a professional counselor, andconservationist Jay Kleberg.

Railroad Commissioner: Incumbent Republican Wayne Christian faces oil and gas attorney Sarah Stogner. Democratic activist Luke Warford won his primary unopposed.

If you do not possess and cannot reasonably obtain one of these IDs you may fill out a:

Either a certified domestic birth certificate or a document confirming birth admissible in a court of law which establishes your identity. This may include a foreign birth document.

Under a sweeping elections overhaul bill passed last year, applicants for mail-in ballots must complete a form and list a state-approved ID number such as a driver's license orthe last four Social Security numbers, depending on how they originally registered to vote.

This has caused some confusion in many counties, which has led to rejected applications because some voters do not remember which number they originally used. The application forms can be found on the secretary of state's website.

The site also includes an application and mail-in ballottracking form, similar to one used by parcel-delivery services, so that voters can monitor the progress.

Here's how the Secretary of State's Office explains who's eligible to vote by mail:

John C. Moritz covers Texas government and politics for the USA Today Network in Austin. Contact him at jmoritz@gannett.comand follow him on Twitter@JohnnieMo.

Read more:
Here's your guide to casting a ballot in the Texas primary runoff elections - Caller Times

On March 17, former Governor Andrew Cuomo told Bloomberg that Im open to all options, when asked if he is considering a run for Governor this year. And when asked if he would consider creating his own party line to run on, he added, Ive done so before. My fathers done it before.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/andrew-cuomo-says-he-s-open-to-running-for-n-y-governor-again-1.1739184

It has only been 8 months since Cuomo resigned as Governor during a sexual-harassment scandal. A recent Emerson poll showed Cuomo trailing Governor Kathy Hochul by only four points, 37%-33%, in a democratic primary. But the same poll found 63% of New Yorkers saying that Cuomo should not run for office again.

By tossing out the idea of running on a third-patry line for Governor, Cuomo is realizing that a challenge to Hochul, his former Lt. Governor, in a democratic primary, is a difficult challenge. Most New York democrats asked for Cuomo to resign last year, including Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and Attorney General Letitia James, whose report on the sexual harassment allegation made against Cuomo most likely forced him to resign.

Cuomo would have to search for some New York Democrats to support him. And who would his Lt. Governor candidate be?

But running as a third party candidate in New York State, and winning by running only on a 3rd party line, is almost impossible. I think the last time it happened was in the 1970s when James Buckley was elected US Senator from NY on only the conservative line.

Heres the path for a Cuomo for Gov. third party. He would first have to collect about 45,000 signatures to form his own statewide party and get on that partys ballot for Governor in November.

The democrat and republican candidates for Governor would have to agree to debate Cuomo. Plus there is already a third party candidate who looks like he will be on the ballot. Libertarian Party candidate Larry Sharpe is trying to collect the 45,000 signatures to get on the ballot. Sharpe is also said to have the support from UniteNY, an independent group that also might try to get on the ballot this summer.

And when Andrew mentions that he ran on a third party line before and so did his father, both did so when they also had the democratic party line, which they received the lionshare of their votes from. Gov. Mario Cuomo ran on the Liberal party line, and Andrew ran on the Independence, Working Families, and Womens Equality Party lines at different times during his three elections. It is also interesting to note that while Cuomo is considering a third party run, he was the one who forced through changes to the election law to make it more difficult for third parties to exist in NY. Cuomo was made at the Working Families Party for nominating Cynthia Nixon to run for Governor, so he tried to cancel all the minor parties by requiring them to run a candiate for President and get 130,000 votes.

The other, political questions, is who does Cuomo help and hurt if he is also on the ballot in November. Polling will have to be done, but at first look Hochul would be hurt and republican Lee Zeldin would benefit, if both are the democratic and republican nominee.

A recent Comptrollers report about the underreporting of nursing home deaths in NY during COVID reminds voters of the other side of Governor Andrew Cuomo.

And his accusers are still out there, standing by their allegations of sexual harassment. And NYAG James is also standing by her report, and recently called Cuomo a liar.

Cuomo has about $15 Million left in his campaign account after spending $3 Million in TV ads recently. But once the ads against Cuomo start running against him in the fall if he ever gets on the ballot, what happens to any favorability that he has left?

Read more here:
Andrew Cuomo, Chomping at the Bit to Run for Governor Again, Would Consider a 3rd Party Run - Yonkers Times

DES MOINES, Iowa Rick Stewart of Cedar Rapids on Monday officially filed with the Iowa Secretary of States office to be a candidate for Governor of Iowa. Stewart was endorsed by the Libertarian Party of Iowa at their state convention in Des Moines on January 29, 2022, and filed over 5,000 petition signatures gathered by friends and volunteers. Since losing major political party status in 2018, Libertarians do not have a primary election, but have to file signatures for the general election in November.

Stewart, 70, was born in Postville, Iowa. He earned a bachelors degree from Coe College in 1991 and an MBA from the University of Chicago in 1993. He is the founder of Frontier Natural Products Co-op in Norway, Iowa, where he served as CEO until his retirement. Stewarts first career was as a law enforcement officer in Maquoketa, Iowa.

He recently ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senator in 2020 and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture in 2018.

Im running for Iowa Governor because it is time for a governor for all Iowans and not just for members of a particular political party. It is time for a governor to unabashedly stand for ending Iowas destructive and bigoted war on drugs. To stand with working Iowa families to ensure all Iowans have access to a quality education that best meets the needs of their children through universal school choice. To stand with Iowans who are threatened with having their property forcibly taken for private carbon pipelines and other projects benefiting the wealthy, or had their businesses shuttered by the executive order while Wal-Mart remained open. Marco and I are the ticket that, if elected, will be the Governor and Lt Governor who stand for all Iowans, Stewart said.

Marco Battaglia of Des Moines will be Stewarts running mate for the partys Governor/Lt. Governor ticket. Battagliais active in local politics, a regular at Des Moines city council meetings and was a candidate for Des Moines city council in 2019. He also earned over a quarter million votes in his unsuccessful 2018 race for Attorney General of Iowa, a record for a Libertarian candidate. Battaglia works in corrections and has a passion for helping inmates through addiction and with mental health rehabilitation that will allow them to become good neighbors upon release. Battaglia is also known as a musician and as a regular on Des Moines metro area radio.

As we campaign across the state, Marco and I look forward to hearing the concerns of our fellow Iowans and finding solutions for Iowans that empower them to make their own decisions through expanded personal and economic freedom. I believe that, if elected governor, I will be an honest broker between the two other parties in control of our legislature, and will work toward solutions that empower all Iowans, not just a privileged few.

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Stewart files to be the Libertarian Party of Iowa candidate for Iowa Governor - The Iowa Torch