Running as a third party or independent candidate comes with challenges that Republican and Democratic candidates often don’t have to face. Logistics, ideology and a path to victory can pose real problems for third party hopefuls.
“57 percent of Americans say they want a third party. 60 say that both parties are out of touch right now,” former presidential candidate Andrew Yang said when announcing his new party, the Forward Party. Yang ran as a Democrat before forming the Forward Party.
“Effectively what you’re trying to do is disrupt the process. What you’re trying to do is force the major parties into shifting,” author and Valdosta State University political science professor Bernard Tamas explained.
“Democrats and the Republicans be they state legislators, governors, election officials, regulators, members of Congress, presidents in the United States,” said J. David Gillespie, the author of several books on third party politics. “They are Democrats and Republicans. And there is kind of an implication that we pull up the ladder when we can, and don’t welcome other challengers.”
However, even with these challenges, candidates like Andrew Yang have said the time has come to change up the current duopoly system.
