On July 5th, a single day after we celebrated the 249th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Elon Musk announced the formation of a new political party.
The American Party. It’s a bid to challenge the current two-party system in the United States.
Since Musk is involved, we know that it will be well funded, carefully organized and will have the potential to derail candidates on both sides of the aisle. We also know, unequivocally, that Musk will bring his own sense of drama
The question is: “Will it do any good?” And remember, there is the definition of “good” to consider.
There is a long history of third-party activity in the United States, and I was surprised at the number and variety of the parties. Suffice to say that no third-party candidate has won the Presidency since the Republicans became a major party in 1856. Teddy Roosevelt’s distant second-place finish as the Bull Moose Party candidate in 1912 is about the best any third-party candidate could hope to achieve.
Third parties have sporadically affected national elections, most recently in 2000 and in 2016. Through vote splitting, their totals exceeded those of the President’s margin of victory.
Libertarians, you are to either be thanked or blamed for the entire Trump phenomenon. I’m thankful, but those who follow my column already know that. On only one occasion has a third-party candidate received more than 5% of the popular vote nationally, and when it comes to winning the highest office in the land, that number just isn’t going to get it.
Since Musk is a capitalist, and we capitalists believe we are at our very best when we are operating in our self-interest, I think you could consider his motives are suspect. After all, the “Big Beautiful Bill” isn’t going to help electric vehicle sales at all, and the legislation is going to claw back all the funds that were allocated to charging stations (which STILL have not been built).
The America Party, like the Libertarian Party and the Green Party, will likely lecture us on how they are better. Their sole relevancy is that their positions may cause people to think. It’s likely that they won’t win many elections.
You can’t effect change if you don’t win elections.
Most mainstream Republicans know their party has been hijacked by the extreme right. Most Democrats know their party has been hijacked by the extreme left. I know that we have been successful in pulling the Republican party back toward the middle, where most Americans are ideologically.
I think my opposite number who’s a Democrat would admit that they have not been successful in dissuading the extreme left in any way, and now there’s going to be a third party with a combination of left (“Green New Scam”) and conservative ideas.
I don’t know how that’s going to play, but my rather prodigious gut says not well.
“Are you adding value?” and “Did you get anything done?” are two credos that I live by. Adding value in a political sense is subjective. “Did you get anything done?” is purely objective.
It’s going to be a couple of years before we know if Musk’s political foray is nearly as successful as his business endeavors. But we will see. If history holds true, you shouldn’t be holding your breath.
I’m a huge fan of Musk and what he has accomplished, but I’ve also been a Republican for longer than he’s been alive. I won’t be changing my party affiliation anytime soon.
