Do We Really Need a Third Party?

Today a friend asked me a question that caught me off guard. We had been talking about Elon Musk’s threat of launching an “America Party” and whether it could impact politics here in Georgia. Specifically, we discussed how much of an effect it would have on our statewide elections, especially in a runoff system like ours.

It’s a fair concern. Georgia’s runoff structure has already proven vulnerable to Republicans when voter turnout collapses between rounds. Throw in a third-party candidate who can pull 10 to 15 percent, and you could split the right-leaning vote just enough to hand a race to the Democrats. Ranked Choice Voting is our best defense in a scenario like that because it gives voters the option to rank candidates who align closely with their values, without playing spoiler. But the jury is still out on how serious Musk is or whether the idea gains traction. To me, it all feels like Ross Perot 2.0.

That’s when my friend asked, “Don’t you think we need a third party?”

That question got stuck in my head because my answer deserves a deeper examination of where the GOP is today in the new MAGA reality we find ourselves in.

Let me give you some context.

I have a progressive acquaintance who recently told me that no one in her professional circle, or even among her personal friends, disagrees with her politically. Not one. I found that fascinating. How does someone go through life without ever being close to someone who thinks differently?

Her social circle may be a political echo chamber, but that isn’t the case for most conservatives I know. Data backs that up. A 2020 YouGov poll found that 53 percent of Republicans said they had some Democratic friends, while only 32 percent of Democrats said the same about Republicans. Other studies have shown that Democrats are more likely to say all their friends share their political views while conservatives tend to have more politically diverse circles.

That level of ideological diversity is exactly why the Republican Party has always appealed to me. For most of my adult life, the GOP aspired to be a big tent. You didn’t have to pass a litmus test to be welcome and we disagreed plenty, yet found ways to work together.

Not every Republican is pro-life. Not every Republican supports school choice. Some believe in simplifying the tax code, others love to carve out credits and tilt the playing field for their favored industries. But we could disagree and still row in the same direction. That was the value of the big tent; it gave us room to be conservative without demanding we be identical.

Democrats, at least from my perspective, have long had a harder time tolerating ideological diversity in their own ranks. And now, with the rise of MAGA, the GOP is starting to mimic that same tribal instinct. We see it with people like Colton Moore, who isn’t even allowed in the Georgia Senate Republican Caucus. He proudly calls himself a RINO hunter and raises money attacking fellow Republicans who don’t toe his line. Reagan-style Republicans get attacked for holding views they’ve held for decades, simply because those views don’t align with whatever Trump said most recently.

For me, I see it whenever I post about my opposition to tariffs. I am told that I have Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) because I believe that tariffs are massive tax increases on Americans and will destroy many American businesses that rely on importing and exporting goods. That’s not a personal attack on Trump, it’s a longstanding conservative belief that free markets work better than government meddling. But try telling that to some of the new voices in the room. It is now a tenant of the GOP that the massive tax increases paid by Americans these tariffs bring is somehow a great thing. Tax increases! Ugh! But I digress…

There is no winning here, because the moment I express support for other Trump policies, like his handling of Iran’s nuclear capabilities, I am told by non-Republicans I only believe that because I “play for the red team.”

I haven’t moved. I’m anchored by my principles. What’s changing is the tide around me and I’m watching some of my friends drift with it.

Historically, there was room for people like me under the GOP banner. But now, when you express even mild disagreement, you get labeled a RINO, or worse, a traitor. The result is that people like me no longer feel welcome in the very party we’ve helped build.

And that’s exactly who Elon Musk is targeting.

If the America Party becomes real, it’s going to appeal to conservatives who still believe in things like fiscal restraint, limited government, and healthy debate. It won’t be the people trying to blow up the system. It will be people who still believe in it. I am Musk’s prime target audience.

So, do I think we need a third party?

No. I don’t.

What we need is for the Republican Party to remember who we are. People like me are not outsiders. We are not enemies. We are a core part of what made the GOP successful for decades. If the GOP wants to survive, it doesn’t need to build a wall around the party, it needs to pitch the tent again.

Because if it doesn’t, someone else will. And that dude has the ambition to die on Mars of old age and has the resources to actually make it happen. Playing spoiler in elections will be a piece of cake.

It’s time we remember that openness to disagreement is one of our greatest strengths before it is too late.