Third parties seek publicity
Published Oct. 3, 2006
Bill Hastings, retired Monmouth College psychology professor and Progressive Party candidate for Missouri's 9th district in the U.S. House of Representatives, said he is understaffed, under-funded and underexposed.
"When you have no staff at all and this is your first time running, everything's a new experience," he said.
November's ballot will offer four choices in the race: Democrat, Republican, Libertarian and Progressive. But because of insufficient funding, third-party campaigns cannot compete with the kind of advertising major parties can afford. As a result, third-party candidates must find other ways to reach the populace.
"We're a small party with a small budget, so a lot of our campaigning needs to be face-to-face," Progressive Party Treasurer Mark Robertson said.
The Progressive Party held a "meet and greet" at Stephens Lake Park on Sept. 24, where it recruited volunteers and received donations, Robertson said. The Progressive and Libertarian parties also ran informational booths during Columbia's Twilight Festival and handed out pamphlets and brochures with party platforms and local candidates' contact information.
The Progressive and Libertarian parties have also been invited to a debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the Rotary Club on Oct. 17.
"We try to get involved in as many debates and discussions as we can," Robertson said.
Boone County Libertarian Party Chairman John Schultz said Libertarian candidates are rarely invited to debates, which puts them at a disadvantage. Most debates exclude third parties and only invite major party candidates, he said.
"If you have people who have done the work to be on the ballot, they deserve to be in the debates as well," Schultz said. "It's definitely worthwhile for the public to see all the candidates because third parties can make points that the other parties don't usually make."
Both parties have said they are very dependent on the media for free public exposure. Libertarian Senate candidate Frank Gilmour and Progressive Senate candidate Lydia Lewis participated in the Sept. 15 Missouri Press Association debate, along with the major party candidates Democrat Claire McCaskill and Republican Jim Talent. The debate was later aired on C-SPAN.
Both parties have taken advantage of the Internet to spread their views by creating Web sites for their candidates. The Internet has been great for third parties because "it's a lot cheaper than cranking out 10,000 fliers," Schultz said.
Aside from winning the election, each party's main goal is to win at least 2 percent of the statewide vote so they are assured ballot spots for the next election.
"My goal is to win, but I wouldn't be disappointed if I didn't," Hastings said. "If it takes 25 years to create a third party, which I'm told it does, this election could be mostly educational to voters."
The main role of third parties is to represent ideas that the major parties do not disagree on, Hastings said. The Progressive Party plans to publish tabloids containing its platform and candidate bios, which it will insert into various Missouri newspapers, including the Columbia Missourian, Progressive Party Chairwoman Dee Berry said.
In the end, Schultz said issue awareness drives many third-party candidates.
"A lot of Libertarian candidates are running to spread awareness on issues they feel passionate about," Schultz said. "But some go out there and really bust their butts to try and win."
If nothing else, each party hopes to have some of its issues adopted by a major party.
"What history shows is that when the Democratic Party gets worried, they pick up an issue from a third party, run with it and take the credit," Hastings said. "I wouldn't mind if they did that with a Progressive Party issue at all. If we can help the Democrats adopt a progressive platform in 2008, it would help both them and the country."