My take on this

I don't vote Republican because they tend to side with the rich on most economic and social issues, and that doesn't benefit me as a working class stiff. Add the Christian Right to that mix, and they are my enemy as a practitioner of a minority religion, as a defender of gay rights, and my believer in the principle of seperation of church and state.

On the other hand, I think it's atrocious that the spineless Democrats and liberals are so afraid of being called names by the conservatives, or be accused of being "soft on the protection of children," that they have become AT LEAST as anti-MAA as any card-carrying anti out there. They don't have the courage to apply their standards for civil rights on anyone who isn't PC-approved. I expect such behavior from conservatives, but we shouldn't HAVE to expect it from liberals, who are supposed to be open-minded and freedom-loving. This proves not only that we can't rely on Democrats and liberals to stand for the civil rights of MAA's, but we also can't count on them to oppose attempts to turn this country into a police state if it's perceived as being politically incorrect to vote against whatever draconian measures are turning the U.S. in the direction of totalitarianism.

I agree with Joey that MAA's would be best served by putting their hopes in a third party. I'm not sure about the Libertarians because they seem to swing right on too many economic issues, but they do seem to have the highest degree of support for youth rights of any other political party (that doesn't stop them from having some serious antis among their ranks, of coarse). At least this was the case a few years ago, when ASFAR ranked how each major political party in the U.S. stacked up on youth rights. Any party that swings right on economic and/or social issues is against my interests as a worker. I would like to know how the Greens stand on the issue of MAA rights and on youth rights, but they never seem to discuss either issue in public (I think it's safe to assume that there are many antis among the Greens, however).

So what's an MAA voter to do? What I hope we can do in the future is to reform the Democrats into defending us. If that cannot be done, then we need to put our hopes in a third party. Let's keep in mind that MAA's are often as divided on various economic issues as any other two American citizens, but we tend to be more left-wing in our social thinking as a group. I think we should continue supporting the rights of gays, racial minorities, and women in addition to MAA and youth rights (when Joey said he was against feminists on the Left I take it that he meant the men-haters who operate under the guise of "feminist" as opposed to those who support simple female equality). We need to keep in mind that as long as youths remain third-class citizens, we can count on never being free ourselves, and always being the target of LEA's looking for brownie points with the general public. In other words, as long as youths lack the right to be sexual beings we will continue to be subject to draconian laws that seek to stamp out ALL sexual thoughts regarding people under 18 by adults. As such, we have to be friendly to political parties that are friendly to youth rights (currently, that means neither the Dems nor the Repubs).

We can do like Norbert and company did in their native country by starting a new political party that strictly supports MAA and youth rights concerns, but there would be limits to how far such a thing in the U.S. For one thing, it will NEVER attract large numbers, it will NEVER get on the ballot in all fifty states, liberals and non-MAA youth liberationists will part like the Red Sea to avoid it, and it will constantly be under scrutiny by the government for allegedly harboring criminal activity. I think we would be much better off to be part of a well-respected political party that supports broader issues.

I will be doing some research on both the Libertarians and the Greens and get back to you guys on this. As a Marxist, I do support Marxist political parties, but currently all of them are relatively small and ineffectial in the grand scheme of things (if that ever changes, I know *exactly* where I will stand).