Jon Huntsman makes the case for campaign finance reform, alternatives to duopoly

by: eli_beckerman

Sat Feb 25, 2012 at 10:51:26 AM EST

JILL STEIN: Ms. Stein is one of the people running for the presidential nomination from the Green Party. A former doctor, she has run for office before - in fact, her campaign in Massachusetts was running for governor against Mr. Romney.

But this time, Ms. Stein is trying to tap into the passions of the Occupy Wall Street movement, which she says reflects the anger and frustration of millions of people at the corporate structure and the two parties that enable it.

Money would clearly be a problem for Ms. Stein or anyone who gets the Green Party backing. That's because they would start out with little name recognition, but also because Ms. Stein (and presumably her rivals) reject the kind of wooing of moneyed interests that donate to the other parties.

And Boston Globe blogger Garrett Quinn  pointed out that Shear left one of the most promising third party challengers out of the mix, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson:

For some reason Shear left out the likely Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson. The former New Mexico governor could give the LP its strongest ticket since Harry Browne ran in 1996. If Ron Paul is not involved in the Republican Party's general election efforts his supporters could bolt for Johnson and make him a serious third party challenger.

Shear also left out Rocky Anderson and his Justice Party effort and Roseanne Barr's Green Party bid.

All in all, I'd say it looks like it will be an "interesting" year for duopoly politics.