Elon Musk Fool's Gold

Why Third Parties Fail

Back in the year 2,000, I was the chair of the Nebraska Libertarian Party. My commitment to civil liberties, limited government, and capitalism drove me, and still does. The Waco massacre and the Oklahoma City bombing highlighted the flaws of the Federal government. At the time, Harry Browne was the Libertarian Presidential candidate. He is also author of How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World (https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780380004232), a book I highly recommend.

But after working within the Party a few years, I realized the actual role and impact of the Party was to be a weigh station for people to park and sort out what issues mattered most. Libertarians have an intellectual, bookish core which attracted idealists with genuine concerns. However, most frustrating to me was to learn of how many registered Libertarians turned around and voted Republican. This is why the Libertarian Party retains some level of respect but is highly ineffective as a Party.

The real problem with a third party is it becomes everything from a magnet to a lightning rod for malcontents: people with some disposition or grudge or hidden motive. The pot addicts were a persistent problem. At the same time, the issue of drug legalization had been muted by decriminalization and rehabilitation efforts in Nebraska. In spite all of this, Nebraska has a Legalize Marijuana Now Party, and Omaha has the highest per capita use of illegal drugs (https://www.perplexity.ai/search/what-city-has-the-most-illegal-AbwRpXcASo2LeJZEPqAt_g). This means while many agreed with the ideas, the outcomes of what they saw caused them to leave.

In complex politics, you have to give the malcontents rabbit holes to dig, otherwise, they effectively sabotage effectiveness. In big political parties, using rabbit holes to your advantage is rather easy. Epstein's files to Ukraine/Russia or any supposed conspiracy theory effectively detracts from what is currently going on. The left has its own versions, from "fight white supremacy" to "climate change" to "eat the rich". Like grudges, they distract from meaningful change or accomplishments. The rabbit holes tend to distract from the bigger picture while at the same time, keep important voters engaged. It is an odd strategy but the major political parties have learned to use this to their advantage when a small third party does not have the means to do so.

Yes, at times, some of these issues may emerge as a serious consequential issue, but it is a playground for malcontents, as voters are fickle, including Elon Musk. In attempting to create a third party, only shortly after cheering Trump on and working on DOGE, Musk demonstrates his lack of sound judgment. Musk is going to be shocked how quickly the malcontents take over his party, but end up with no effective policy to advocate or means to a goal. I would not be surprised if Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger sign up. There will also be plenty of spies to dig up dirt on whoever signs up.

Let me put pure, unadulterated, flawless logic to the matter. If the political parties are the problem, as many can agree, the worst thing you can do is to create another political party to merely replicate the same problem. If you hate the Devil, why replicate the Devil? You end up with two Devils. Elon Musk does not understand this at all.

The real problem today is in the Bronx, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon. The ideas of free markets, entrepreneurship, and personal responsibility have long been left behind, and few conservatives have wanted to do the missionary work to put forth freedom. James O'Keefe, Brandon Straka, Charlie Kirk, Stephen Crowder, and Scott Presler are the few who are willing to take on the left and attack them at the base. Elon Musk has not done any of this work. Why would anyone follow him into a new third party?