Is Kamala Harris a legitimate presidential candidate? One of the tools we use most often here at the Third Rail Party to evaluate a position is the concept of “turnabout.” Turnabout, as they say, is fair play and we believe that it is fair to question policies that exclude or disenfranchise certain groups of people if a perfectly valid turnabout would somehow not be acceptable.
Let’s use the current state of the legacy parties as an example. It is indisputable that Joe Biden’s last minute drop out is unprecedented. The primary process had all but run its course and Mr. Biden was the presumed nominee of his party, as you would expect an incumbent president to be. Now, we could go on at length about Mr. Biden’s fitness for office during his term, but let’s focus on the fact that almost all primaries had taken place by the time that he decided to bow out. Millions of people had voted for him and he did, truly, have many loyal and vocal supporters.
Every one of those primary voters has been disenfranchised and robbed of their right to help select their party’s nominee. It is preposterous to assume and even worse for that party to enforce the idea that Kamala Harris would have won a fair primary. It is also pretty indisputable that the legacy, corporate media immediately glossed over this fact and are so enthralled with hero creation and worship at this point that they seem hopelessly lost in the cult of personality they are fabricating around the annointed nominee.
So, now let’s consider our turnabout here - perhaps not 100% apples to apples, but hear me out. Let’s imagine that the other legacy party held a spurious primary, wherein all the voters thought they were voting for an expected candidate, but then the party bosses installed, and basically crowned Donald Trump. Can you imagine the howls coming from the other side if this were to happen? Does anyone believe that the lap dog media would not be speaking in lockstep that Mr. Trump is not legitimate? Where are those voices that are saying that the same should be true of Kamala Harris?
In this context, we have to say that Mrs. Harris is not legitimate. She has clearly been installed by the party bosses and it is, in fact, so blatant and obvious that you have to wonder how they could ever look any American in the eye with a straight face and claim that the whole thing wasn’t planned from the start. After all, why on earth would Joe Biden choose (or Dr. Jill Biden allow..) Kamala Harris to be on the ticket in 2020 after she wiped the floor with him in the debate and dismissed him as a racist old white guy?
Is this really the best we can do? There is no real choice when your only possible options are preselected for you. It is clear now that the legacy parties are hopelessly corrupt and broken. By all appearances, they seem hardly less pathetic and petty than your local home owner’s association. I know that might have made you laugh, but consider that this particular home owner’s association currently has the Chicago PD on highest alert and their “convention” is essentially taking place within a demilitarized zone that taxpayers can only hope is being paid for by the party and not by the State of Illinois.
Are you a Republican who is not happy with Donald Trump’s takeover of the party? Are you a Democrat who feels disenfranchised by this year’s primaries? Worse yet, are you someone who supported Senator Bernie Sanders in 2016 and now feel like you’ve been betrayed twice by your party? After all, it is at least worth entertaining the notion that Mr. Sanders would have defeated Mr. Trump if the party had not pulled out all the stops to thwart his movement and install Hillary Clinton.
It’s time for a major third party in the United States. The will is there. We lack only the organization. Creating an organization is achievable. Will you help us do it? I mean, you can continue to swallow what the legacy parties shove down your throats and you can just accept that the status quo is hopelessly entrenched and cannot be changed, or you could work with us towards building a meaningful centrist party that could really change things in America. Which of those two choices sounds like a more rewarding endeavor? For a long, long time there has been no real choice. We here at the Third Rail Party are offering you a choice now. The only thing the legacy parties have that we don’t have is the machine. Creating a machine is also achievable.
It is not unreasonable to predict that a successful third party in the United States would receive at least a modicum of corporate support. Indeed, given today’s landscape of powerful, influential people, there is no telling who might want to join our new party and throw their weight behind it. It seems like the only people in the US who believe that the current system works are the hardcore devotees of the legacy parties. We remain hopeful that there are still people of great integrity in our nation, some of whom will throw their financial resources behind the party and some of whom will rise up to become the new leaders we so desperately need. Again, I’m just the messenger. I’m not running for office.
If this message is resonating with you, I implore you to share this video or article with your peers - chances are, they are very smart people. This is one of the best things you can do to help the party - just to say “I believe in this idea.” When people become aware of what’s possible and what is already underway, our movement will grow and its success will be assured.
Next, use our convenient selector to go to your State’s official voter registration and, if possible in your state, change your party affiliation to Third Rail Party. We hope to see people doing this and sharing the experience on social media with a #thirdrailparty hashtag.
Finally, start linking up with other party members in your area and begin the process of officially forming the party in your state. That’s the best part about all of this: this isn’t a spectator sport. The National Party is going to be traveling to all 50 states to create the party presence and do everything we can to establish legitimacy through the proper channels. For example, in California it will require 100,000 signatures to be officially recognized by the state and be one of the official choices presented to citizens who are registering to vote. We’re going to do that. We need your help , no matter what state you are in. We are coming to you. The party will be established. By-laws will be adopted. Corporate structure will be formed. Officers will be elected. You can be one of them.
It is our intention to make this whole thing into the greatest reality show in history. We are going to document every step of the way and hopefully establish an audience that will help fund party operations simply from being interested and wanting to watch our progress.
The legacy parties have had more than 150 years to get it right. They have failed. It is a joke for them to call themselves progressive or claim to be agents of change. What do your eyes tell you? Our eyes tell us that the legacy parties are the polar opposite of agents of change. They are agents of the status quo. It is hard to imagine that reasonable people would not conclude that the real objective of the legacy parties is to make sure nothing changes that would threaten entrenched interests - because Congress essentially does nothing every term and it’s also hard to believe that those interests that pump all the billions into our political races aren’t actually getting what they are paying for.
