Last updated on July 4, 2023
“What should we do” is the new op-ed column of ThirdPartyWatch. “What Should We Do” is open to writers of all third parties and independent political groups. Individual articles should identify challenges or advocate for particular solutions. A reasonable column might be five hundred or a thousand words long, but we are open to columns that are significantly longer or shorter.
Why are we doing this? As we survey the political world, it is clear that all third parties are currently facing significant challenges. Those challenges may be different for different alternative parties, but for each alternative party there are significant obstacles on the path to political significance. In some parties, the internal organization is grappling with the the challenges but has not completely solve them. In other cases, the internal organization is currently part of the problem, not part of the solution.
The columns that we accept, which we hope will be almost all of them, will be civil in their speech, coherent in their discussion, and advocate appropriate steps given the issue that they identify. In general, we will not publish as one of these columns an attack on one of the two major parties.
As a general thought, borrowing from the words of Richard Viguerie, and providing direction you should have a vision, you should have a goal that aligns with the vision, you should have strategies that will take you towards that goal, and you should have tactics that advance you towards that goal. A single column will not have all of these. As a general statement, tactics not connected to strategies and goals are less likely to be effective. If you have been politically active for decades, and see how political organization works, it may very well be appropriate for you to discuss a single tactic in some detail, because you can see how the tactic will later fit into a coherent strategy pointing at a particular goal.
We will edit very lightly for spelling and grammar. It is always easy to forget that the spiel Chequers will not catch every error, that data is a plural noun, and that English has a subjunctive tense. Our edits are intended purely to assist the writer in making his or her point. We may occasionally ask a writer questions when a point is unclear. These questions will also serve to identify a certain number of columns that were generated with the assistance of Artificial Stupidity.
If you aren’t sure where to start, procure a copy of Richard Viguerie’s book “Go Big”. Viguerie is a conservative, and uses conservative politics for examples, but his book is about doing politics, not about doing conservative politics.
Submit columns to George Phillies, phillies@4liberty.net
Great idea George! My two cents: follow the rules. When the Chair of an affiliate or chairs of multiple affiliates rig elections by denying oponents access to voters, voter towncenters like fb affiliate pages and lie to members, no organization can grow. UNTIL fair elections are held and meetings are in person where members can’t be removed with a button on zoom by a nefarious chair, PROGRESS will come. If graft is everywhere, exposure is needed first to grow any movement to stop it.