By DUSTIN CLARK, Ranger Reporter:
With so many people disappointed in this election season’s presidential candidates from the Republican and Democratic parties, some people have been showing interest in third party candidates.
“Third parties are usually in response to dissatisfaction of the two big ones,” Reginald Jones, a government instructor, said.
That dissatisfaction can be heard from students on campus.
“I’m just interested in one not getting the presidency,” said Jeremy Taylor, a general studies major.
Giving people more choices is one of the biggest selling points for third party candidates.
“A lot of people disagree with the candidates that we do have, and this might be the secondary option for everybody,” said Abel Perez, a general studies major.
“I think having more parties is beneficial to everyone because not everybody has the same ideas that fall in line with Democrats or Republicans,” Perez said.
The huge backlash against the Republican and Democratic nominees hasn’t been as effective in spreading the word about the third party candidates as some might think, though, and there are some fingers pointed at the media’s role in this election cycle to blame for that.
“There’s nothing alerting me to their ideology and what they’re about, or anything like that,” Taylor said. “The media’s only interested in two runners right now.”
Perez also believes that the lack of third party coverage in the news has been detrimental to their campaigning abilities.
“I think the majority of the time, they are not going to be able to make a big enough impact in the elections due to the way the media covers elections,” he said.
The chances for a third party victory do not look too promising to some. “On a national scale, I don’t think a third party candidate will win. In the future, though, there’s no way of telling,” Jones said.
The third party candidates have some hard campaigning ahead of them if they plan on taking an election anytime soon.
“Be more in the media, have more of a voice, you’ve got to be more out there in the public,” Taylor said.
Regardless of their lack of media attention, some students still seem to be rooting for third party candidates.
“If I’m going to vote, I may be looking at a third party candidate versus the Republican and Democrat candidates,” said Perez. “I do hope they make a dent in this election.”
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