Early this year, Rocky Anderson founded the Justice Party and was nominated as its presidential candidate. His attempts to get on various state ballots were helped when four one-state parties which were already ballot-qualified nominated him as their presidential candidate. These four parties were the Connecticut Independent Party, the Michigan Natural Law Party, the New Mexico Independent Party, and the Oregon Progressive Party. All four parties had nominated Ralph Nader for President in 2008.
Of those four parties, two have now lost their qualified status, because Anderson didn’t poll enough votes. The New Mexico Independent Party went off the ballot because Anderson polled less than one-half of 1%. And the Connecticut Independent Party lost its presidential ballot access because Anderson polled less than 1%.
However, the Oregon Progressive Party remains ballot qualified because of its vote for the other statewide offices. The Natural Law Party remains ballot-qualified in Michigan because of its vote for Regent of the University of Michigan.
One-state qualified parties that nominated Nader in 2008, but which ran no presidential nominee in 2012, are the Delaware Independent Party and the Florida Ecology Party. The Peace & Freedom Party of California in 2008 nominated Nader, and in 2012 nominated Roseanne Barr. The three parties mentioned in this paragraph continue to be ballot-qualified (also, Peace & Freedom is no longer just a one-state party).
I’m not sure which deserves the Failure of the Election Year Award; the people and parties that bet on Rocky Anderson, or the Peace and Freedom Party members that bet on Roseanne Barr.
As someone who voted for him it pains me to write it–but Anderson is a bigger flop than Roseanne Barr. His calls to form a new party which is very similar to the Greens made little sense and he had little success in gaining ballot access. I’m proud to have voted for him but he was nowhere near the electoral factor that he could have and should have been.
I would say Barr got more votes than any P&F pres candidate barring Nader. And Barr got many many more votes than the SPUSA candidate Stewart. I would say the SPUSA would serve the Left in the US best by dissolving and join the P&F
I agree with Deran. The left of center parties would be better served if they coalesced around one party like the Peace & Freedom Party. The party name should not be a turn off to many voters like the word “socialist” seems to be and the Greens seem so fractured that a new beginning for them might be just what they need.
#3, the percentage of the vote for PFP for president in California this year was just about average for the PFP California presidential campaigns in the party’s history. The party’s percentage in 1968 was higher, even though the ballot showed no one for president and Peggy Terry for v-p.
I’d say the majority of Roseanne’s votes came from her celebrity status, and the fact that she was on the ballot in California.
I’m really not sure what good would come from the SPUSA dissolving into P&F, especially considering P&F probably will not retain ballot access, and therefore will fade into the background.