Not a Democrat? Not a Republican? Not a candidate. By Juan Tristan

Don’t judge a politician by his religion, his city of birth or the color of his skin. These are some of the lessons we have learned over the years of American political highs and lows. We have elected a black president, we have elected a catholic president and we’ve entertained the thought of electing a podunk Alaskan vice president. With all of the openness of mind Americans have displayed over the years of unlikely political players, it astounds me that the handicapped, the Catholic (in a world of Protestants), the disadvantaged, the minorities and even women have all had their chance at political stardom but third party candidates have not. Why do we all accept that it is OK to judge a candidate by the name of his or her party without any research into the candidate’s ideas, credentials or background? Why is it that we can move past all other labels, skin colors, sexes and even sexual orientations in politics but we can’t move past the imaginary two-party line? “Not a Democrat? Not a Republican? Not a candidate,” seems to be the motto of the American people who have long been brainwashed by the idea of a two-party system while miraculously being scrubbed clean of all other prejudices. The third party prejudice remains (and sometimes seems stronger than ever) as more viable third party candidates present themselves. The money thrown at parties oppressing the opposition is the juggernaut that keeps this special brand of bigotry alive. The ignorant claim that a third party vote is a “throw away” vote is propagated and kept alive by Democrats, Republicans and people with third party prejudices, despite the fact that they claim to be fully fed up with both Democrats and Republicans. Political prejudice must be overcome. Learning that black was not less capable than white, catholic was not less capable than protestant and that a man in a wheelchair could run this country was a great and important stride. Learning that someone who is neither Democrat nor Republican is as capable of holding political office as a big party politician has got to be next.