Gurtler 1

Paul Gurtler
Professor Coco
English 1001
6 December 2016
Audience: My audience is everyone who votes because the electoral college affects everyone and
not just third parties
Preface: Did I include too many long quotes? Were my quotes relevant enough? Does my focus
wander too much? I would split my paragraphs up more and make each one a bit more focused
on one or two points. I learned how to efficiently sort through databases for relevant sources for
research papers.
Americas Third Parties
Children today generally grow up thinking that the Republican party and the Democratic
party are the only political parties, that is until their first history class. This is largely because the
Republican and Democrat parties are the two biggest parties in the United States and together
control most of the government. However, the major parties of today were not always these giant
imposing parties. For instance, the Republican Party of today only became a major party when
Abraham Lincoln took the presidential election of 1860 from the pre-existing Whig Party. There
are other political parties, called third parties. In the mainstream media, these third-parties are
mostly portrayed as crazy outsiders who dont have a chance at the presidency. These
mainstream media outlets are generally biased to a singular political party. As if not having an
unbiased source of news was not bad enough, when Americans vote, their vote doesnt affect
whos going to be president. The founding fathers created something called the Electoral
College. It was created to give smaller states a voice in the election and to ensure the common
people dont make a mistake. The Electoral College helps along the mentality that another third-

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party candidate doesnt have a chance at the presidency. It does so indirectly through the process
of choosing electors and the laws governing it. Although, that does not mean third-party
candidates have not been elected. There have also been a few cases of third parties getting close
to being elected, but they are few and far between. So, is the current method of electing
presidents unfair to third parties? If it is, how so?
The Electoral College is something that should be on everyones mind as they vote.
Everyone should remember that Americas democracy is not a direct democracy, but a
representative democracy. As with all representative democracies, not everyone is happy with
their representative. Dissatisfaction for the Electoral College has been increasing over the last
few years. The biggest controversies are Bush beating Al Gore, and Trump beating Clinton. The
Electoral College does not necessarily represent what each states populace desires, instead it
represents what the perceived majority of the state wants. Most states electoral votes are
awarded to a candidate on a winner take all fashion. Only two states differ from this norm as
explained by this excerpt from U.S. Weekly, Their allocation on a winner take all basis is not
exactly a new idea but it did develop over time; indeed two states, Maine and Nebraska, do it
differently. (Roff) However, the electors of a state are not forced to vote along with the winner
of the popular vote in their state, they may break the law. They do receive a punishment but it
does not change their vote. These electors are called faithless electors. There have been several
attempts to change the laws to eliminate the chances of faithless electors. One idea that gained
support is to change the laws governing the awarding of electors to insure those selected are the
ones declared the winner of the popular vote. (Roff) This new law alone would solve many of
the problems people have with the electoral college. It is unfortunate that changing how the
media represents news is much more difficult than changing a few laws. The media labels states

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as either red, for the Republican party or blue, for the Democratic. There is no third color for any
other possible parties. The fact that todays news networks represent the party each state votes
for by labeling it red or blue can affect everyones thoughts. Even if you dont initially realize it.
Seeing the states as either red or blue hurts third-party candidates the most. People think
most southern states are hardline Republican, but in reality southern states have a lot of liberals.
This red or blue depiction does not represent the states true political leanings and only serves to
encourage people of one party while discouraging other parties. There was a study done to see
just how the red and blue labeling affected peoples judgement of those states. One of the
findings was that [a]ll states are also depicted as less moderate than they are, polarizing them
toward one or the other extreme. Thus, RedBlue depictions could cause the citizens of moderate
red states to be perceived as more conservative and those of moderate blue states to be perceived
as more liberal. (Konrath Rutchick Smyth) Before the media came up with this bipartisan
depiction of the political powers, the U.S. had elected one third party president, and several
almost presidents from third-parties. Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president. This
new party pushed the old Whig party to the side. One famous president even created a third party
because a major party rejected him and he wanted to run for a third term.
Theodore Roosevelt was our 26th president. He had two successful terms in office and he
wanted a third term. The Republican party however, did not share this desire. Instead they
nominated William Taft on their ticket. Roosevelt had a large and devoted voter base though, and
together they founded the Bull Moose Party. Many have written about Theodore; however, I find
this description to be the most fitting.
Roosevelt stormed out of the convention, his enraged followers in tow. He quickly
accepted the nomination of a newly formed third party, the National Progressives. "The

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old parties are husks, with no real soul within either," he told his supporters that August
in Chicago. Roosevelt laid out a grand platform, preaching economic reform and
corporate regulation, stressing protection for the urban poor. Asked by a reporter about
his health, Roosevelt quipped, "I'm fit as a bull moose." With a snort, the Bull Moose
Party was born. (Garber)
Not every third-presidential candidate has the fortune of getting so close to the
presidency. In todays world running for president is nigh impossible without the support of one
of the major parties, or millions of dollars for a campaign.
The massive mainstream news networks today are either entirely leftist in the portrayal of
events, or entirely right. There is no unbiased mainstream media for the majority of people to
access. As a result, news networks report in favor of either the republican party or the democratic
party. They refuse to give third-party any mainstream headlines unless its bad press because
third parties are a threat to both major parties. It appears almost undemocratic the way that voters
are almost forced to vote in favor of one of two parties. Those who dont conform are labeled as
outsiders and are ostracized. In the most recent election we had a viable candidate for president
running on the Libertarian ticket. His name was Gary Johnson. Johnson and his running mate
both had two terms as Republican governors in Democratic states, and both were still popular in
their states when they vacated their seats. They also managed to get their names officially on
every ballot in all 50 states. A feat which is normally only achieved by the Democratic and
Republican parties. Despite these qualifications, they could not overcome the bipartisan control
over the debate committee, media bias, or the fact that both bipartisan campaign budgets were
much larger than the Libertarian budget.

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Gary Johnson had to overcome some steep odds to even have chance at presidency. He
faced the same problems as Ralph Nader. There are no uniform standards to get on a ballot in
each state; instead each state has their own standards.
Those are just the raw number barriers. But there are also excessive filing fees, early
deadlines, and administrative hurdles. For example, in Pennsylvania, the state requires
signature forms on special colored paper; it only provided four hundred forms though our
volunteers needed more than two thousand. The state would not accept forms
downloaded from the Internet. In West Virginia and Georgia, the filing fee is $4,000! In
Michigan, petition forms had to be on odd-sized paper (8-1/2 by 13 inches). (Nader)
Not only are those requirements in place, but politicians in power will do anything to help
prevent those requirements from being met. Such as In Mississippi, the mayor of Tupelo
stopped our petitioners from working in the town square at a festival on the Fourth of July In
Ohio, our petitioners were stopped from collecting signatures at a public market in West
Cleveland. (Nader) However, these were not the only obstacles that Johnson faced. He was also
running against one of the richest business men of this century, and a career politician whose
husband had been president. In order to get close to the presidency Johnson had to acquire the
same name recognition as his two major opponents have.
The Morning Consult poll, released Tuesday, found that 61% of registered voters couldn't
identify who Mr. Johnson was, while just 31% correctly identified him as a politician.
After being told he was a politician, only 17% of respondents correctly identified Mr.
Johnson as a former governor and just 18% said he was a candidate for president. (Tau)

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Johnsons biggest chance was to make it to the presidential debate stage. However, the
committee that controls who gets to debate is supported entirely by Republicans and Democrats.
Johnson was a threat to both parties, so naturally he didnt get to debate despite the campaigning
he did to swing public opinion. The following is an excerpt from an article written by Johnsons
campaign manager. It highlights the fact that the commission is a fairly new construct and that
the major parties are what controls it. The ritual of presidential debates overseen by the CPD
may seem like a long-enshrined tradition, but it isn't. Established less than 30 years ago, the
commission is a private charity supported by the Democratic and Republican parties. (Nielson)
I suggest taking note that it is a called charity, and not a commission made by the U.S.
government.
Overall, I think our method of electing presidents needs to change. Maybe it changes by
aiming to help third parties get national attention, or by limiting the main parties. How it changes
is up to the people to decide. The Founding Fathers wanted democracy, and I am not sure that
todays system is what they hoped for. Abraham Lincoln started us down the right path, Teddy
Roosevelt was a big chance to break the bipartisan control, lets hope that Gary Johnson was not
our last chance to break free of the red and blue.

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Works Cited
Garber, Kent. "Three-Way Race Of 1912 Had It All. (Cover Story)." U.S. News & World
Report 144.3 (2008): 43-44. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10 Nov. 2016.
Nader, Ralph, and Theresa Amato. "So You Want To Run For President? Ha! Barriers To ThirdParty Entry." National Civic Review 90.2 (2001): 163. Academic Search Complete. Web.
10 Nov. 2016.
Nielson, R. (2016, Sep 16). Bring out a third lectern for Gary Johnson. Wall Street
Journal Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1819621130?
accountid=12154
Roff, Peter. "Rethinking The Electoral College." U.S. News Digital Weekly 7.2 (2015):
17. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.
Rutchick, Abraham M., Joshua M. Smyth, and Sara Konrath. "Seeing Red (And Blue): Effects
Of Electoral College Depictions On Political Group Perception." Analyses Of Social
Issues & Public Policy 9.1 (2009): 269-282. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10 Nov.
2016.
Tau, B. (2016, Jun 07). Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson has low recognition numbers, polls
find; majority of Americans have never heard of party's presidential nominee, two
surveys show. Wall Street Journal (Online)Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1794187318?accountid=12154