Status quo blues
Americans suffering through a fourth year of economic hardship and worried about the future are closer than ever to casting aside both major political parties in favor of a postpartisan ticket in the 2012 presidential race, a panel of political experts told an audience at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS). “People always say a third party won’t happen,” said Mark McKinnon, a Reidy Fellow at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy at HKS. “Just because it hasn’t happened doesn’t mean it won’t happen now.” McKinnon spoke Monday at “Campaign 2012: How Americans Will Select Their Next President,” a forum moderated by Trey Grayson, director of the Institute of Politics. Grayson launched the panel by asking Washington Post national political reporter Karen Tumulty what she’s seen out on the campaign trail. Tumulty, MBA ’81, a veteran observer of presidential politics, said voters are angry and scared. Only in the election...