By now, a lot of people have probably heard the recent news. That we have a new political party, here in America, appropriately named The America Party.
Not a terribly creative choice for a name.
But then, creativity is not particularly prized here in the USA. We’re talking about voters whose all-time favorite foods are:
1. Burrito Bowl
2. Cheeseburger
3. Hash browns
4. Cheese pizza (yes, plain cheese pizza. Not even pepperoni on top.)
I was mildly surprised to find that The America Party already has a Wikipedia page, even though it technically doesn’t exist yet. At this stage, it’s merely a promise to the American people from billionaire Elon Musk, based on a couple of ‘surveys’ he conducted on the social media platform ‘X’, which Mr. Musk owns, and which can post survey results whenever Mr. Musk thinks it’s appropriate.
He apparently thought it was appropriate on July 4th, to share the poll results, in a tweet. It seems about 1.2 million people voted.
Mr. Musk announced the new party the following day, July 5th, a day that will someday be celebrated as sort of our “Second Independence Day” following July 4th. Which would make for a nice long holiday weekend, eventually. I appreciate long holiday weekends.
The Party has no members yet, but it already has a website. Quote:
The America Party is a movement of everyday citizens committed to pragmatic solutions, fiscal responsibility, principled leadership, and a brighter future for all Americans — beyond red and blue.
We are the teal movement.
Last year, according to the Pew Research Center, about 33% of American voters described themselves as ‘Democrats’… and about 32% described themselves as ‘Republicans’.
That leaves about 35% that do not endorse either major political party. Neither ‘red’ nor ‘blue’.
The America Party intends to transcend ‘red and blue”. But do they really want to be ‘teal’?
‘Blue’ has obvious positive connotations. “True blue”, for example. “Blue sky”. “The Bluebird of Happiness.” “Blue ribbon”. And so does “red”. “A red-blooded American”. “A red-letter day”. “The Red Badge of Courage”. “Roll out the red carpet”.
Does the average American identify, in any way whatsoever, with “teal”? I hardly think so. Does anyone even like ‘teal’, as a color? I doubt that the average American man or woman owns a single piece of ‘teal’ clothing. I certainly don’t.
Because I love doing research, I spent some time looking for a photo of Elon Musk wearing ‘teal’. No such luck.
But obviously, certain other colors that Mr. Musk’s new party could have chosen would pose problematic conceptual issues. Like…
We are the white movement.
We are the black movement.
We are the gold movement.
We are the green movement.
We are the pink movement.
Maybe ‘the beige movement’ was a possible choice, but it sounds a bit depressing.
So I guess we’re stuck with ‘teal’.
America already has extra political parties, but none of them have been able to make significant headway in national elections. Wikipedia currently lists eight U.S. political parties that were able to place a Presidential candidate on the ballot in multiple states in 2024. Three of those alternate Presidential candidates received more than 500,000 votes: Robert F. Kennedy Jr (nominated by the Alliance Party and the Natural Law Party) received 754,980 votes, even though he had withdrawn and had endorsed Donald Trump; Chase Oliver (Libertarian Party) received 646,123 votes; and Jill Stein (Green Party) received 813,066 votes.
Maybe ‘teal’ can do better than ‘green’? I’m always willing to be surprised.
Some of the smaller political parties have had occasional success getting candidates elected to state legislatures and city councils. But it’s been a while since any minor party elected a U.S. Senator or Representative. Yet that seems to be Elon Musk’s plan at the moment: to elect two or three U.S. Senators, and maybe ten U.S. Representatives, and win the America Party a seat at the Congressional table.
Three additional non-Republican Senators, for example, could have prevented the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill last week.
Mr. Musk had been threatening to form an alternate political party, ever since he learned what was included in that Big Beautiful Bill.
“When it comes to bankrupting our country with waste & graft, we live in a one-party system, not a democracy,” Musk wrote on ‘X’ on July 5. “Today, the America Party is formed to give you back your freedom.”
But the damage was already done. Trump had already signed the bill.
Where was The America Party, Elon, when we really needed it?
Elon Musk was born in South Africa, so according to the U.S. Constitution, he cannot be elected President. The Founding Fathers didn’t want to allow foreigners to be elected President, even if they had become billionaires. Only American billionaires are allowed.
But it seems doubtful that The America Party would even try to field a Presidential candidate for 2028. Where do you even find a Presidential candidate these days? The Democrats have been looking for one for a while now, without much success.
On July 6, President Trump shared his opinion about the proposed new political party.
I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely ‘off the rails,’ essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks. He even wants to start a Third Political Party, despite the fact that they have never succeeded in the United States. The one thing Third Parties are good for is the creation of Complete and Total DISRUPTION & CHAOS, and we have enough of that.
Yes, Mr. President, we already have enough Complete and Total DISRUPTION & CHAOS, thank you kindly.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all. You can read more stories on his Substack account.