Crashing the Parties

Although America seems forever rooted in the two party political system, third or even fourth parties occasionally grab headlines (usually in reaction to some hot button issue or event), before eventually fading into the backwaters of American politics. Crashing the Parties looks at America's durable tradition of third party politics, asking whether third parties make a difference (the contentious presidential election of 2000 leaves little doubt that they do) and, more importantly, whether third parties are strengtheners of democracy or merely spoilers? Viewers learn that that Teddy Roosevelt made a futile bid for our highest office on the Bull Moose ticket after he left the White House, and that socialist Eugene Debs "ran" for president while sitting in a jail cell, serving a sentence for counseling draft evaders during World War I--but the program's major interest is in the election of 2000: the candidates and policies of Ralph Nader's Green Party, the Libertarians, and the Socialist, Constitution, and Natural Law parties. Mostly ignored by the media, the leaders of these often one-issue parties bemoan the difficulties of getting on the ballot, getting financed, or securing a slot on televised debates. Ultimately, while third parties may seem irrelevant, they introduce new, sometimes unpopular ideas, which often have a way of moving on to the nation's agenda (remember Ross Perot?). Pat Buchanan, Jesse Ventura, and libertarian Harry Browne are a few of the interviewees in this lively, informative documentary that suffers a bit from its near exclusive focus on the 2000 election (although even here there should have been more discussion on the unintended consequences of third party runs, such as the irony that Nader's Green Party helped elect George Bush, a man who opposes almost everything for which Nader stands). Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)