“The America Party is needed to fight the Republican/Democrat Uniparty.”
— Elon Musk
Some say Elon Musk creating a third party is a bad idea.
They say it will upset the delicate balance between the two major parties in vying for political power. They say it will unnecessarily complicate the electoral map and math. They say it might even disrupt trust in the plan.
I fail to see why this is a bad thing, especially if Elon Musk succeeds in pressuring Washington, D.C., to get serious about quitting its dangerous addiction to spending money it doesn’t have.
It’s a good sign of a good thing that Musk’s “America Party” is already making the political class (including Trump’s big-spending MAGA GOP) nervous. They know the threat is real and deserve to be a little ill at ease after unceremoniously muzzling and putting DOGE on a leash. The $5 trillion debt-ceiling hike (which will only last 25 months at current spending levels) stuffed into Trump’s latest omnibus spending bill is a darned dirty double-cross of those of us who loved the spirit of DOGE. No wonder Musk feels personally betrayed.
GOP operatives and MAGA influencers know this and are rightfully nervous that Musk could crack the coalition that swept Trump back into power in 2024. Predictably, they’re already alluding to how Ross Perot’s third-party run handed Bill Clinton the White House in the early ’90s (as though a second term of H. W. Bush would have been some wonderful thing). This is just more lazy Boomercon thinking. On the contrary, all signs suggest Musk’s political project is not going to be that kind of third party, at least not initially.
Playing the spoiler, the America Party plan appears to be to hammer the GOP with the single issue of the national debt in the upcoming congressional elections. Make MAGA stay true to their word on cutting spending by threatening the sting of well-funded competition from Musk’s political gadflies.
As Scott Adams recently laid out on X and Musk reposted to his massive online audience:
If you are an ‘analogy thinker,’ you compare Musk's new America Party to Ross Perot's third-party run and conclude it is bad for Republicans.
But that would only be the case if Musk someday backs an American Party candidate for president, and I don't see that in his plan.
If Musk only backs individual Senators and Representatives for his new party, as he has hinted, all he does is give Republicans a new way to get past politics to solutions the country wants and needs, such as deficit reduction.
The Beta version might be buggy, so expect bumps.
“Backing a candidate for president is not out of the question,” Musk posted in response to Adams’ analysis, “but the focus for the next 12 months is on the House and the Senate.”
No doubt, the 2028 presidential cycle is an eternity away in politics. Who knows what Musk or anyone else will do in presidential politics three years from now? The focus should and will be on the next 12 months leading up to the midterms.
Perhaps Trump and team can rack up enough wins in the next year that there’s no amount of money Musk can spend to make a difference. Perhaps not. Yet, for all their “promises made, promises kept” and “largest tax cut in history” talking points, Trump and MAGA particularly need a booming economy by America’s 250th birthday next year – or they’re in big trouble.
James Carville was correct in that 1992 presidential campaign against Bush and Perot. It really is the economy, stupid.
If Trump and team hope to claim that they are “growing” their way out of America’s debt crisis, there needs to be an actual growing economy.
If not, then the odds of Musk’s America Party playing the spoiler increase significantly.
And though it is an eternity away, those odds get even higher should America’s debt problems worsen come the 2028 presidential cycle (which is a highly likely outcome given current fiscal policy).
A post-Trump GOP should be very wary of being on the wrong side of this issue and Musk – else the big spending MAGA GOP may learn the hard way that populism can be a wild and fickle beast – and they’ll deserve their defeat.
Joey Clark is a native Alabamian and is currently the host of the radio program News and Views on News Talk 93.1 FM WACV out of Montgomery, AL, M-F 12 p.m. - 3 p.m. His column appears every Tuesday in 1819 News. To contact Joey for media or speaking appearances, as well as any feedback, please email [email protected]. Follow him on X @TheJoeyClark or watch the radio show livestream.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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