CONSERVATIVE THIRD PARTY

No as the right wings nuts have must more power by remaining in the GOP and they know it.

Given the harms they are doing to the GOP as a national party I am fairly sure that the main spring leadership of the GOP would love for them to leave however.

There's already a right-wing Christian party in the US -- it's called the Republican Constitution Party. The party's candidate in the 2012 presidential election, former congressman and serial party-switcher Virgil Goode, garnered less than 125,000 votes nationwide.

That's why Huckabee's threat is toothless. Conservative evangelicals won't bolt from the GOP if the party endorses gay marriage because they'd be completely irrelevant if they did -- just as the Constitution Party is completely irrelevant today.

Yep. I think they value their Republican prospects more than their positions against gay marriage.

I think Dream a Little Dream should be part of the soundtrack for this thread.

What everyone else has already said.

You really think so?

I think the economic royalists need the American Taliban as much as the American Taliban needs them.

America is pretty economically conservative, but even here I doubt Foofie's motto of "with rank comes privilege" will inspire enough people to carry an election.

I don't see how the party could continue to reconcile both its libertarian and its social conservative faction much longer. They were brought together by Ronald Regan, but is coming apart at the seams, as it were.

I'm not sure what "ambushing" means but you' ve certainly set a stage that doesn't allow for a response that is favorable to such a Third Party.

These threads have been filled with pleas for Third Parties and so one might expect at least one response in favor of this possibility, but then the reality is there isn't a desire for a third party that might break up the Two Party system as much as there is for one that will reflect personal opinions.

Nothing inherently wrong with such a perspective but also nothing different from the perspecitive of Huckabee and Evangelicals.

The Two Party System is so entrenched in this country that a goal to introduce a truly viable Third Party is folly. At some point a new party may shoulder out one of the existing one's, but what will be left is a Two Party system.

A Third Party that is essentially based on Christian "values" has no hope of becoming a force to reckon with unless spoiling is part of the definition of the phrase.

It has no hope for all sorts of reasons, and well down the list is the ine that should matter most: It doesn't deserve to. There is no place for religion based parties in our nation.

I have no doubt that many will agree with me here, but am equally certain they don't all apply this standard to other nations. If a Christian based party is an anathema to American democracy, it's hard for me to understand why an Islam based party is A-OK for "democracies" in Egypt, Turkey, et al.

PS: Any attempt to be inclusive in this thread is entirely vitiated by the use of the insulting term "tea-bagger."

Hey, if you want to launch another thread of liberal screeds, go for it, but don't try to cloak it with false objectivity.

You don't know much about Turkey, do you?

And you do?

I've set no stage, anyone can answer as they choose. If you want to pick a fight with someone, good luck--it won't be me.

I suppose, I live in a "democracy-" et. al. country - we don't have an Islam based party but the largest political party (currently with the most cabinet members) is the Christian Democratic Union (together with it's Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union ...

Finn just wants a quarrel. I made no claim to objectivity--i was asking for people's opinions, which is the opposite of objectivity. As for Islamic parties, the Egyptians seem to be less than enamored with their own Islamic party, which seems to be attempting to steal the government.

I'm glad you brought up the Christian Democrats, Walter. This thread is not about whether or not there should be religiously based or affiliated parties--it's just about Huckabee's claim, and what people think about it. I certainly was not suggesting that a religiously based party is anathema to my world view, i just don't think it would be a good idea for American evangelicals.

I don't see the evangelicals leaving the republican party, even for a second. But if they did, I think it would strengthen the Republican Party and relegate themselves to a new party called the Irrelevant Party.

The only people that like evangelical ideas are other evangelicals. If they formed their own party it would be like a gigantic "same-sex-marriage" orgy of self righteous religious delusion.

That's a fair enough observation. I think there is an assumption here that if the social wing of the Republican party split off, then we would have a situation where the existing Democrats win big, but I think there would also be a realignment in the Democratic party. Ecomonic conservatives with liberal social beliefs who are currently in the Democratic party would now have a home in a Republican party that looks more like the party of the 1970's. I think a pro-business, pro-rights party could be very attractive to immigrants as well. I think it would also attract all sorts of business money and be very competitive in a lot of moderate areas.

No, it's not a fair observation at all. I set no stage, i asked people for their opinion specifically on Huckabee's claim that the evangelicals would break away and form a third party. I then stated my opinion of that so that no one would feel like i had set them up. Anyone is free to come here and say they think Huckabee is right and that it's a great idea--or any combination of responses to the questions in the OP.

Is the Christian Democratic Union a party based primarily on values thought to be "Christian?" Huckabee's would be.

Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya!

I wouldn't have a problem with the "Christian element" of the GOP leaving the party. I have had an issue with the Social Conservative portion of the GOP for many years now. I have changed my voter registration since the last election due to the Social Conservatives.

My voter registration doesn't require a stated party affiliation, but I've certainly changed my voting patterns over the past five or six years because of them.