Why we need seven political parties

I was thinking the other day about whether maybe in 2008 we need to see a third party presidential candidate. The article in The New York Times by David Kirkpatrick entitled "Christian Right Labors to Find ’08 Candidate" reminded me of the extent to which many voters feel very disenfranchised. We've had left-wing third-party candidates and right-wing candidates, but not always at the same time. It would be very interesting to have a four-way presidential election.

I envision some future election for president and Congress where we have seven major political parties:

1. Mainstream left wing (Democrats).
2. Mainstream right wing (Republicans).
3. Far left wing (e.g., anti-war, environmental, Nader, etc.).
4. Far right wing (e.g., fundamentalist Christians).
5. Centrist leaning left.
6. Centrist leaning right.
7. Broad centrist "umbrella" party appealling to hardcore centrists as well as both the moderate right wing and moderate left wing, with an emphasis on tolerance not found in today's mainstream left and right wings.

I envision that this 7th party could be the larger party due to its inclusive toleranc.

Individual congressional districts or states might go with one of the other "fringe" parties and then we would see more coalition politics, but I suspect that most people would be very willing to give up a significant amount of partisan polliticking if only they knew that the "winner" would be much more respectful of their individual rights and interests.

-- Jack Krupansky