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while at the same time giving the third parties a higher profile than they would otherwise have going it alone.

These are appropriate things to do in our political process, but even these things come to pass in every state in the country, third parties will still be on the fringes. Of much greater importance to them is what they can do for themselves:

Embrace a "Big Tent" Philosophy. In my experience, the single most significant thing that holds back third parties in the United States is not ballot or debate access, or candidate experience, or even fund raising. It's a pervasive notion common in all third parties of uncompromising ideological purity. In other words, an almost fanatical belief that they're right and the commons are either uneducated or wrong. Consider these statements:

"What we Greens need to do is use our skills to serve average voters, and make sure they are aware of our efforts." -Gregg Jocoy, Green Party blogger, May 2006

"'Radical' is not a word we will apologise for. Neither is purist'." -Libertarian Party Radical Caucus basic principles

"Your vote should be based on principle, not expedience. For generations, Americans have held their noses and voted for the lesser of two evils, hoping that those they elect will vote in a principled manner, even though the electorate does not." -Constitution Party FAQ

"The liberal left in the 'first' world, paralyzed in a reformist mode, cannot provide a vision that gives the poor, of this and other countries, the tools for thier (sic) own liberation. These are the times when those that fight for true social and economic equality not only have to choose sides, but step up as THE option to the status quo." -Raul Cano, Co-Chair Socialist Party USA, Reflections on The State of the Union Address

While these parties are radically different in ideology, their statements share a common theme: We're right and everybody else is wrong. If you don't agree with us, you either need to be educated or you're the enemy.

What many Greens, Libertarians, Constitutionalists, Socialists and others fail to realize is that in the United States people make the party, not the other way around. Indeed, such a notion is anathema to many of these activists throughout the ideological spectrum. Perhaps the most telling recent example of this was the takeover of the Reform Party by the "Buchanan Brigades" in 2000, which within a matter of months transformed a relatively moderate and successful third party one which had a sitting governor

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