Musk launches new political party

[Engorgeous George 2,331]

As I read Musk's comments he is not looking for a candidate for President, at least not yet.  He is hoping he can gain a handful of senate and congress seats believing that handful would need to be courted by the main parties to enact any agenda.  He is looking to leverage a few wins to have a seat at the table.

[MLCKAA 574]

33 minutes ago, WhiteWonder said:

I understand, I'm just saying I doubt it would have been possible. Meaning I don't think they have the resources and I don't think they would have had a candidate with enough national appeal to stand a chance. Unless you wanted them to get a celebrity like Dwayne Johnson (I don't think thats what you meant).... Which i'm not even saying is a terrible idea... the 2 main issues with something like that would be

1. Trump has the celebrity businessman stigma and it would have just been copying that with a universally liked celebrity businessman. Maybe the anti typical politician movement is here to stay... not sure.

2. Celebs like Dwayne Johnson are going to run as democrats. I can't imagine anyone like that is going to waste their time running for an afterthought party, even if the ideals match up. 

15 years ago I toyed with the idea of Kevin John, former Nba player and mayor of Sacramento as a candidate.

[WhiteWonder 2,738]

8 minutes ago, MLCKAA said:

15 years ago I toyed with the idea of Kevin John, former Nba player and mayor of Sacramento as a candidate.

Kevin Johnson. Not well enough known, imo.

[MLCKAA 574]

8 hours ago, WhiteWonder said:

Kevin Johnson. Not well enough known, imo.

Probably not.  He was rather popular at one time, but by 2016 I was off that idea.

[Hardcore troubadour 15,436]

Libertarians want to legalize hard drugs like heroin and crack. Automatic disqualification. 

[Mike Honcho 5,282]

22 hours ago, WhiteWonder said:

To be fair, there isn't much they or any other party can do. Our country is too deeply rooted in a 2 party system and donation dollars reign supreme. Many people show up and vote blindly based on what mommy and daddy taught them growing up. Other parties or candidates on the ballot are just there for optics. 

It would take something monumental to change course and have a seriously contending 3rd party. Perhaps the current state of politics combined with enough $$$ power from someone like Musk and his likely backers could see this happen, but I can only imagine the heads that will explode if we have a literal rich executives party (even though thats basically what top level politicians are anyway)

I've only read a little, but it seems Musk is proposing a third party for the 2026 midterms.  IMO, I think this is the better way to go-alternative candidates down ticket before attempting to run for President.  If a third party emerged and captures say 40 seats in the house and 6 in the Senate-that would be real power as both parties would need them to move anything. 

Of course, Musk says lots of things, so I'll check back in 6 months and see if he was serious.  

[Engorgeous George 2,331]

4 minutes ago, Mike Honcho said:

I've only read a little, but it seems Musk is proposing a third party for the 2026 midterms.  IMO, I think this is the better way to go-alternative candidates down ticket before attempting to run for President.  If a third party emerged and captures say 40 seats in the house and 6 in the Senate-that would be real power as both parties would need them to move anything. 

Of course, Musk says lots of things, so I'll check back in 6 months and see if he was serious.  

Heck, 10 seats in the house and 3 to 5 in the Senate would be significant given recent affiliation breakdowns.Imagine even 5 in the house, they could sway the speakership if they suddenly shifted to caucus exclusively with the Democrats and voted in block with them.  The narrow majority margins right now make Musks efforts interesting as a few could leverage substantial and disproportionate power.

[Mike Honcho 5,282]

8 minutes ago, Engorgeous George said:

Heck, 10 seats in the house and 3 to 5 in the Senate would be significant given recent affiliation breakdowns.Imagine even 5 in the house, they could sway the speakership if they suddenly shifted to caucus exclusively with the Democrats and voted in block with them.  The narrow majority margins right now make Musks efforts interesting as a few could leverage substantial and disproportionate power.

True, it wouldn't take much. My brain just went to a very optimistic result for Musk in 2026.  I'm a glass half-full guy.    

Honestly, we could propose a hundred different outcomes at this point, since it's all hypothetical at this point. I think we both would agree that with how polarized the two parties are right now, this might be the most opportune time for a third party to emerge and gain real traction with the people. 

 

[WhiteWonder 2,738]

1 hour ago, Mike Honcho said:

I've only read a little, but it seems Musk is proposing a third party for the 2026 midterms.  IMO, I think this is the better way to go-alternative candidates down ticket before attempting to run for President.  If a third party emerged and captures say 40 seats in the house and 6 in the Senate-that would be real power as both parties would need them to move anything. 

Of course, Musk says lots of things, so I'll check back in 6 months and see if he was serious.  

no other 3rd party has ever thought/tried to capture seats in order to strengthen their position for presidency? 

no matter what the game plan is, I can only see this being different because of how influential Musk is and the $$$ that would likely be backing him/ the party.

[MDC 7,429]

Libertarians want to legalize heroin - disqualified.

RFK Jr. actually does heroin, now heads HHS.  

[Hardcore troubadour 15,436]

1 hour ago, MDC said:

Libertarians want to legalize heroin - disqualified.

RFK Jr. actually does heroin, now heads HHS.  

Did heroin.  Just like you. 

[MDC 7,429]

I smoked it once. RFK was an addict who shot it. But we’re both not qualified to lead HHS.