Washington – Senator John McCain predicted on Tuesday a third political party will emerge in response to Americans’ economic frustrations and said it might as well be called “the Fed-Up Party.”
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The Republican Party’s presidential nominee in 2008 raised the possibility of a third party about a year ago, but his comments on Tuesday suggest he has hardened his views as polls show Americans increasingly disillusioned with Washington politics.
The 75-year-old McCain may now be the most prominent politician forecasting Americans will look to another party to compete with Democrats and Republicans.
“Unless both parties change, then I think that it’s an inevitability. We aren’t doing anything for the people,” McCain said in blunt remarks at the Reuters Washington Summit.
Americans, he said, are frustrated by sluggish economic growth that has depleted their incomes while corporate executives take in massive salary bonuses.
Asked if the new option would be a centrist party, or a wing of the left or right, McCain quipped; “I think a Fed-Up Party.”
McCain spoke from experience. In his home state of Arizona, he said a third of new registered voters are independents and, in many areas of the country, independents are increasingly the swing voters who decide elections.
‘PLIGHT OF THE PEOPLE’
As for his own party, McCain expressed frustration that Republicans have not concentrated enough on the concerns of Americans struggling to make ends meet.
“The party, I think, has got to be a lot more responsive to the plight of the people,” said McCain, who lost the presidential race to Barack Obama three years ago this month.
“I think we have to weigh in far more heavily on the side of things like reforming the tax code. If we reform the tax code, then many of these large corporations that paid no taxes last year … maybe they would.”
McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee who once developed a reputation as a maverick, is sticking with his own party, at least for now.
“No, I don’t think so,” he said when asked whether he would saddle up with a third-party movement. “I will continue to complain about things but … I still haven’t given up on the Republican Party.”
Third-party candidates in presidential elections have not had success. The most tangible result of a third-party candidacy arguably came in 1992 when Ross Perot collected enough votes from then-Republican President George H. W. Bush to help Democrat Bill Clinton win the White House.
There has been some talk in political circles that the conservative Tea Party movement could eventually field its own presidential candidate, but McCain was doubtful.
“The Tea Party was a movement, not an organization, as we know. And so they’ve kind of receded. There was never any permanency to them,” he said.
“But I think that you could see a national movement, that there’s a group of people saying ‘look we may disagree on some specific issues but we’re not one of them,'” he said.
Sorry Johnny Mac but the people we are fed up with are old RINOs like you. Get out of the way for a true Conservative.
Third parties have never succeeded because the funding system, media, and political system are skewed against them. The last third party that lasted longer than one or two elections was the Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln 150 years ago. Senator McCain should know that. Why didn’t a third party emerge during the depression of the 1890s? Why not during the Depression of the 1930s? Give me a BREAK……..
His relatives the Koch brothers will fund a few more lame horses like him and they have the money
The way that some Americans are acting today, the third political party might be called the “Work hard and waste all your money party”.
The problem is that Conservatism has been pushed aside for this new brand of entertainment-driven garbage. The Conservative movement, as defined by its founder William F. Buckley, was supposed to be about INTELLECTUALISM over liberal ELITISM. Intelligence and honesty were supposed to win the day as opposed to the “feel-good” movement of the day like the liberals.
The problem today is that the term “conservative” has been hijacked by uneducated entertainment clowns like Hannity, Levin, Limbaugh, Beck, etc. who combined don’t have a 3-digit IQ, but know how to sell their propaganda product like nobody’s business!
We have to return to ACTUAL CONSERVATISM. If you think Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, John McCain, Eric Cantor or any of the names that the media loves are “Conservative”, you are a deluded and don’t know the meaning of the word.
We do need a 3rd party in this county, but it has to start with the INTELLECTUALS, not the uneducated hillbillies like those who started the tea party.
We’ll get there, but first we need to finally de-legitimize this new “idiot-class” led by the TV and radio entertainment moguls!
He might be right that many are looking for a third party. The problem, however, is thatit’s like the “occupy” movement where everyone has a different agenda. There’s no way that all who want a third party could get together and have common ground on what this new party should be based on.
People are uhappy about taxes. But some are for more taxes and others are for less. Some want to tax the rich while others argue that the rich already pay more than their fare share.
He might be right that many are looking for a third party. The problem, however, is thatit’s like the “occupy” movement where everyone has a different agenda. There’s no way that all who want a third party could get together and have common ground on what this new party should be based on.
People are uhappy about taxes. But some are for more taxes and others are for less. Some want to tax the rich while others argue that the rich already pay more than their fare share.
We need a viable third party in this country. And a fourth and a fifth too. We need more choices.