During the hype of the past election, which more closely resembled the Super Bowl, and the ensuing Obama Mania, there was a rumbling that picked up a lot of steam, and that’s the quiet roar being heard from Third Party candidates. As the policies of Democrats and Republicans converge, more and more voters are seeking out other options, and as they learn about their philosophies, they are realizing just how little choice they’ve had when deciding upon our leaders in our recent history.

Texas Congressman, Dr. Ron Paul, left the Libertarian party to run for the Republican Presidential nomination this past election. His argument in the debates as to why he chose to run as a Republican when his views were considered so radical when compared to his opponents stances on issues such as taxation and foreign policy was that he was more Republican than anyone he was running against and that the party had lost its way. Even if he disagreed with the parties stance, and became the target of a smear campaign after dominating the Republican debates, his message was heard louder than it has ever been heard, and more people are listening. The question now will be if he has created enough of a stir to be able to now leave the Republican Party and have enough of a following to give credible strength to a new set of ideals defined by a new group of leaders. Dr. Ron Paul is continuing to do a lot to get this message heard. With the $4 Million dollars left over from his campaign, he has launched a new initiative called the Campaign for Liberty, which is an organization that works to educate and inform people about policies and how their tax dollars are being spent. You can find out more about what they are doing and what they stand for by visiting their website at www.campaignforliberty.com

Since 2000, registration for Third Parties grew at a greater rate than Republican or Democrats in the period prior to the Presidential Elections (October of the year prior to the election until the election).

As more voters are becoming attracted to politicians that act on principle and are consistent in their actions, so too are voters going into a voting booth and acting on principle. You still hear people say that you’re throwing your vote away for voting for a Ross Perot, a Ralph Nader, a Bob Barr or a Ron Paul, but more and more people are becoming so disenfranchised with how their money is being spent once the government takes it from them, that they are becoming part of a movement to give another group of people a louder voice.

The economic crisis we face has also given strength to Third Parties. As Republicans and Democrats debate on trivial items such as whether the Wall Street Bailout should be $700 Billion or $850 Billion, other parties are saying how about at a $0 bailout. How about letting businesses that run their business poorly fail, how about the businesses that may have not been thriving the past 4 years because they weren’t engaged in circulating bad debt gain strength and become the new leaders in an industry so obviously overrun with corruption, and obvious political ties that are so strong that a secret agency, the Federal Reserve can inflate money at their own will and use our tax dollars to have secret meetings with other Central Banks in the World where the details of the meeting, by law, have to be kept private.

While people have been nurtured to believe that Obama aims to have a humble foreign policy, this is not entirely true. He wants to take troops out of Iraq and deploy them elsewhere. In fact, in April of 2007 Obama told the Chicago Council on Global Affairs that, “I strongly support the expansion of our ground forces by adding 65,000 soldiers to the Army and 27,000 Marines.” In fact, it’s always been the Republican Party that has stood for a humble foreign policy, and it’s only in recent history that they have embraced the policy of policing the world and nation building. As the two parties continue to converge on this foreign policy, the more momentum these third parties will gain.

A third party is poised to start climbing out of obscurity and cult status at this time. While Democrats and Republicans are fighting over details such as just how many billions of dollars our country should be spending on maintaining an extravagant and dysfunctional foreign policy, strong voices are speaking, and finally being heard that are asking if our foreign policy is even good at all. Voices are telling people that if the government cut spending to where it was in the year 2000 that you could eliminate the income tax completely. Wouldn’t that provide the confidence the market needs? If you want people to have confidence, have the government tell them that the government can survive for some time without taking any of the money that they earn. It’s obvious to so many observers that Washington is scrambling at this point, and operating without a great understanding of the problems that face them. What is important for this new party to emerge will be influential leaders with a clear message that can help people understand that asking the government to create a life that is free from fear and risk is impossible and that by asking for that, they are depleting our strength as a country, and aside from the financial cost, it is also allowing our individual freedoms to be taken away one at a time.