Against a Third Party

Why calls for the formation of a third, progressive party are both ill-advised and based on fallacious reasoning.

I was recently scrolling through my Facebook feed, when I happened to notice that one of my friends had posted one of those political memes that likes to think it’s clever and smart and politically engaging. Among other things, it makes the claim that the two-party system isn’t working and that’s what’s needed is a true progressive party. Though the maker of this meme deserves some credit for at least acknowledging that such systemic overhaul must wait until after the election, I still found myself frustrated by its claim that there isn’t already a truly “progressive” party in this country.

There is, and it’s called the Democratic Party.

A meme that’s based on a series of fallacious arguments.

Almost as regular as the four-year election cycle is the proclamation that the Democratic Party is hopelessly mired in corruption and “neoliberalism” and must be replaced with a “real” progressive party. In keeping with this logic, purveyors of this criticism — with some notable exceptions, such as the maker of the meme above— also suggest that now is the time to have…