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Jayne: Chaotic campaign gives political outsiders a way in

By Greg Jayne, Columbian Opinion Page Editor

Published: April 17, 2016, 6:01am

We’ll admit it — we need a thesaurus.

In a political year too bizarre for old standards such as “unpredictable” or “erratic” or “chaotic,” the typical vocabulary of the newspaper columnist seems inadequate. No, what we need this year is “capricious.” Or “mercurial.” Or “tumultuous.” What we need are some 50-dollar words to describe this two-bit presidential race.

Yet while the current status of presidential politics might be lousy news for the country, it could be good news for the handful of minor political parties out there. You know, organizations such as the Libertarian Party.

“We’re building a refuge for people who don’t have a political home,” Steven Nielson said. “We have to rebuild that faith in ourselves and understand what it means to be good community stewards.”

Nielson just happens to be the state chairman for the Libertarians, the largest of the small political parties in this country. He also happens to be running for state Commissioner of Public Lands, understanding that the “L” next to his name won’t carry the same weight as a “D” or an “R.” Yet while Libertarians are the Sisyphus of American politics — constantly pushing that boulder up the hill only to have it roll back down — this just might be the year for an outside party to make some progress.

“It’s a good time for any third party to make some inroads — and especially the Libertarian Party,” said Chris Rockhold, who received 10 percent of the vote in the 2014 primary race for state representative from the 17th District. “With the major parties in such chaos, we certainly should seize the opportunity.”

Rockhold has since moved to Kansas. And yet he clings to the Libertarian mantra: “Maximum freedom, minimum government.” In practice, Nielson said, that means: “You’re free to do anything you want, say anything you want, believe anything you want as long as you don’t impose your will on somebody else. The overall message is we don’t want state control over us, that outside force.” Or, as former state party chairman C. Michael Pickens told me a couple of years ago: “People should be able to do what they want to do within reason, so long as it’s not infringing upon the person, property, or rights of others.”

In an era when both major parties are about as popular as the Zika virus, that is a message that could resonate — if only the Libertarians could get that message out. Gary Johnson, the front-runner for the party’s presidential nomination, received 11 percent in a national poll last week about a theoretical three-person race including Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. That is enough to make Libertarians hopeful — not about winning, but about being a factor. But it also is enough to make the rest of the country yawn.

Ripe for a third party

Yet we are getting ahead of ourselves. You see, the goal for the Libertarians or any other third party is not to win the presidency, it is to make noise at the city, county, and state levels. Thus far, Washington Libertarians have endorsed 15 candidates running for federal, statewide, or legislative office, and Nielson expects to have 40 or so candidates on ballots for the August primaries.

Whether any of them can advance to the top-two general election remains to be seen. Then again, this year’s political twists have been, er, um, incalculable. As Jim Moore, a political science professor at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore., has said: “As dissatisfaction with the two major parties grows, more and more people are longing for more and more alternatives when it comes time to vote.”

Meanwhile, the Green Party and the Constitution Party and others will be trying to be heard over the din of the presidential race at a time when the nation is ripe for a third party.

Why, maybe even Washington’s OWL party — “Out With Logic, On With Lunacy” — could be revived. That would be, let’s see, whimsical.

Ripe for a third party

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