[OmahaGal]

Ok, maybe I'm thinking in too simplistic terms b/c I'm ignorant of polysci schemantics.

BUT, I would really like to see a strong 3rd party, but not more than THREE as I think that would detract from the whole political process and become too 'special interest' oriented and that would in effect create even more divisiveness. Right now, I don't see much difference in the 2 major parties except in the extereme outer fringes. Both parties are willing to sell out America and strive for government with a capital G.

Why couldn't we have a ballot limited to THREE parties with voters putting a weighting factor to bring it as close to a majority vote as possible. I would love to see a Libertarian candidate be given a really opportunity to educate the American public by giving it a platform. A new voting process would help to facilitate this.

For example [voting]: If I really want a libertarian candidate, that person would get my #1 vote, with a #2 choice noted as well. In this way, we would not have a 'Ross Perot' factor and we would probably get closer to what we want as a majority in a democratic society. Too often people feel like telling off their party and offer the 3rd unlikely party their vote. If they could temper that a little, it is possible to get a truer sense of what the public wants versus a situation where an opposition party feels they have received a 'public mandate'instead of receiving their results due to an anti vote.

3rd party politicing as it stands now seems to be an avenue for the 'other' candidate to gain leverage against a better opponent because the noise created becomes a welcome diversion from real issues.

Three choices on the ballot would force people to consider an alternative choice in the process giving them some peace of mind in how and why they voted. I may feel more compelled to vote for a libertarian if I felt it wouldn't hurt a candidate and bring me something worse knowing I could cast a '2nd' vote for my second choice and have it factored into the equation.