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these television companies mark including charter communication charters proud to be recognized as one of the best internet providers we are just getting started building 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who needed most. >> her communications c-span as a publicervice along with these other television providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> discussion on independent and third-party candidates portable director, good morning. >> good morning, thanks for having me. >> can you explain to our audience what your group does when it comes to being third-party race? >> party is on a mission solve an important problem from a people do not matter more than interest in our political system

and built over decades by the two-party system our view is the only way to fix this and that the function our political system is to provide competitive alternatives that can fundamentally change the political landscape which is something overwhelmingly people are looking for breaking away from the two-party system whether there affiliation or behavior can get alternative openness to support candidates were not democrat or republican. our role is to provide structure building a community of people who are not necessarily little canvas but looking to get a involved in their support and palate. get involved and lend their support. two candidates running outside of the two-party system. and traditional political tactics to help those candidates already running and candidates looking to run outside of the

system without having to lean into the two-party system and play the game it is currently playing. host: when it comes to those candidates that you look for, is there a partisan perspective that you bring to that approach? guest: we are a nonpartisan organization. we have strict things that we adhere to and then other things were we are nonideological. we are looking for candidates who pledge to be and follow our terms of service. they should not have a dnr next to their name. they are not running as officially democrats or republican without having that label on the ballot. they can commit to taking no less than a majority of their sponsors from -- we are looking to support those real people who

can cast a ballot. candidates who can essentially take a bare minimum stability standard that pledges to be pro-democracy, looking for ways to support initiatives and open up the doors to the political system, committing to being transparent and anticorruption. what that means is we are able to work with candidates who are progressive, moderate, libertarian, green, forward. we are not that in people based on their ideas. we are trying to help candidate running outside the two-party system with the infrastructure and the needs that they have to help make them more competitive and provide competitive choices on the ballet across the country. host: where does your group get the money? where does it come from? guest: we are funded entirely by our founder who was a technology

entrepreneur building -- it is something he would describe that she wants to contribute to our political system. he believes that the only way to really leverage change in our democracy is by leveraging technology resources to provide candidates running outside the system with the tools that can change our democracy. host: he wrote a piece saying that they are poised to break the monopoly strangling politics. can you elaborate on that? guest: what we are seeing, since then is a mobilization of independent candidates, certainly at the top of the ticket, but more so, down ballot , increasingly disenfranchised and frustrated with the options

that the two-party's are presenting them this year. 60% or more, depending on some of these polls are responsive to voters who are saying, i'm not satisfied with the choices that i'm being forced to make this year. they are increasingly looking elsewhere. the momentum is being built. other candidates are stepping forward to run as independent candidates. more than anything, they are looking at the choices they are being forced to make and i believe it will trickle down. there has to be a better way for us to support candidates. they have to be more alternatives in our system. they are tired of making the same choices and not seeing a different result based on who is elected. host: you can call in at (202)

748-8000 for democrats. (202) 748-8001 for republicans. independents at (202) 748-8002. canadian precious sister did an interview, not only talking about her brother as a candidate but the idea of third parties in this space. i wonder what she had to say and i want to get your response to it. [video clip] >> we cannot have people voting for third-party, no matter who they are. in every party, americans have diversity. you have to love your -- adversities. i like bobby and i love bobby, but this campaign is not about bobby. this campaign is about trump

versus biden and what we need to do today is focus on biden wedding. bring your communities together and vote for joe biden. a vote for trump. host: an adamant viewpoint when it comes to a position that you take. how do you respond? guest: we hear this alignment from people invested in the election. the two major tactics in trying to approach third parties or independent voters has been either leaning towards the wasted or spoiled vote. or even just trying to be dismissive of the idea that independent or third-party candidates are filling a demand out there. our view on presidential

campaigns and as an organization, we are really focused on local and state election, where we think we can have a profound impact on a trickle up. as an organization, we support competition. the option for voters to make an informed decision on their ballot. the response i think i would have directly is that this should be left to the voters. i think choice is important. if voters are looking at their options, you find a candidate who is not democratic or republican -- they should have the opportunity to cast their ballot and live with the outcome . host: our first call for you

comes from florida. jesse, go ahead. caller: i have a comment. this area seems like it would be a good time for a third-party candidate. neither of the candidates we have to choose from, biden or trump, are somebody that i want to vote for. but i do not have any other option. there is no other party that can function to a level to win the presidential contest. it is almost taking my vote away. guest: i understand where you are coming from. the advice i would make available to you is to look for

those who resonate with your values. the presidential election has the most intense focus. starting with -- our focus is to help recruit candidates across the country who are aligned with maybe a vision that you have. we do need alternatives who are failing to deliver. not just in washington but across the country when it comes to our politics. host: this is jeremy. caller: thank you for letting me comment. i think the work you are doing is very important.

but we have got to realize that we are in a time when we cannot afford to make any critical changes. the political landscape is being manipulated by political scientists. joe biden, donald trump. you are voting for a way of life and governing. we cannot afford to experiment with third parties during this critical juncture. after this election, fine. i would love to see a third-party and more options but right now, at this critical juncture? we have to vote for joe biden, to restore democracy. thank you. have a great day. guest: i appreciate where you're

coming from. to answer your question and for those maybe thinking something similar, this is why i think it is so important to start from the ground up. they do not have these high-stakes considerations. they are weighing that against the consequence of a campaign. i would encourage them to look at where these hundreds of thousands that have a high impact on our lives often go entirely uncontested. the focus is to help candidates who are affiliated with the mission we are trying to solve. we are anticorruption and we run campaigns. even potentially running, looking at our system and saying

, maybe i can be part of the solution. worried about the success i will run into you or the challenges i will run into. that is the core problem we are trying to solve. how do we provide alternatives? especially local offices that have a huge impact on our lives. host: using him as an example, what about an outside party that the ability to win versus someone who represents one of the two parties. even on the level that you are at, what is your level? guest: i will tell you, the success that we have had and the

candidates that are using our tools are actually running as unaffiliated candidates. many of these people are against the i have being boxed into any party whatsoever. candidates preventing for offices like school board and local office. 13 of them won their elections. a few of them unseating incumbents. what that says to us is that these are race is back with a little bit of support and the form of understanding best practices, this is a mission and movement that can scale.

it could one day become a leader . that is our theory of change. host: in your mind, when it comes to the candidates that you support or ideology, how do you define that person? guest: we are not necessarily in a position. we tried diligently to support or oppose any specific ideology. we are trying to help candidates running outside of the system noncompetitive campaigns and spread their ideas. we do not advise candidates on what they should think. we will help them, if they have questions about what their community is looking for.

but in terms of ideologies, we are not advocating for a specific idea based on the candidates we are supporting. the same, let's hear the ways that you can have an effective campaign. the problem we've him into, the consumers are not given choices. forced to choose between the lesser of two evils. we are looking to have a functional political system. host: let's hear from richard in oregon. caller: the problem with the two-party system is that they and the -- they have to with the

pardon. there are various issues where it makes sense not to vote with them. here, you can vote with the party. i'm site. i'm having trouble saying what i want to say. anyways, he was a man who was very fiscal responsibility.

and also, there are issues. you cannot get anybody to stay on that one. host: we will let our guests respond to that. guest: what i would say is what we have looking at in our political system and what voters have consistently reaffirmed with our own behavior and action is that they do not look at the system that is dysfunctional and polarized becoming more corrupted. this is not a one party problem. they looked at the two-party system and both were roughly the same.

many were unsatisfied. voters are catching up to the idea that these actors in our system is -- are not incentivized to change the status quo. we keep making changes from one to the other, but we are not seeing big problems getting solved. we do not see them being more open with alternatives because the parties are not interested in changing the status quo. host: it was reported by the new york times that when it came to that candidates, raising $114 million. that is not all the money involved, but when it comes to overall, what would you advise

as far as making changes? guest: i think you hit the nail on the head. every cycle, seemingly is the most expensive cycle in recent memory. i'm quite confident that when the dust settles, we will have a multibillion-dollar -- a lot of it coming from big-money donors. our focus as an organization is to help candidates committed to raising. no less than a majority of our funding will come from real people. it is to help those candidates connect with the voters that they need. to get out, build a grassroots

movement. we are seeing that success occur . we are confident that by helping build the two-party system and providing resource for what they need that they will have alternative success at the state and local level. host: one thing that your group advocates for is the end of dark money influence peddling. guest: i think when you look at the standards that have been set , we have a big-money problem come in the form of super pac and other organizations without having to disclose their donors. that is a real problem in the system. you have actors with tremendous

amount of influence, in the terms of shaping public opinion. they are not held accountable to anyone. host: this is jared joining us with the organization known as good party. let's hear from susan caller: in alabama. good morning, gentlemen. i am in alabama. i'm so glad you're talking about funding because i wonder if he could let us know who funds cornell west? and who is funding robert kennedy? when he was asked where he gets his funding, his response was, i would rather not say.

of course, a couple weeks ago, i heard that robert kennedy is funded by the same pack that funds donald trump. i'm wondering if these gentlemen are funded by republicans. and for the host of the show, i want to say something. my favorite show last year on this network was when the gentleman asked you about kentucky fried chicken. i thought that was hilarious. i still laugh about it when i think about it. but let us know who is funding these gentlemen. thank you for your time. guest: i think i would direct you to the candidate themselves. those candidates should be disclosing their donor. we as an organization in terms

of financial contributions that are needed, but these are questions that should be answered by legitimate concerns. our focus this election cycle really is. especially when they are talking about independent candidates. the focus is to help to train and elect candidates running outside the system who are powered by real people. they can take a stand against anticorruption pencils. schoolboy, countywide offices. host: if you are interested in

interviews, we conducted those recently and over time. even some recent ones. if you want to look them up and see what the candidates themselves have to say about certain issues, you can do that at c-span.org. new jersey, go ahead. caller: i was calling to say that i appreciate the independent view of another candidate. at the same time, if we do not get biden and we end up with trump again, all options will be off the table. the whole system will be changed. thank you. host: when it comes to the system itself, could changes be made to help those candidates?

guest: absolutely. many of them are good friends. we are looking to be good partners in the space. to open the doors and maybe change the rule of our political system, whether that is preventing things like primaries , so they are able to dissipate. given how our districts tend to be, rules to implement voting. there is a ton of impactful ideas that are out there to help make our democracy more competitive. the focus is to have a more competitive system. if and when those rules are changed, it is critical to offer competitive alternatives, especially so because if you have a rule change, you only

have republicans and democrats running. you have change the rules but not the players. the result will be largely the same. we see ourselves as partners in the space. our focus is to provide candidates already running and bring them the tools and resources that they need to run competitive campaigns. if they are able to participate where landscape has been made more favorable, hopefully they will be able to take advantage of the changes. i think they are changes that are needed to reverse the dysfunction in our system. host: overall, how willing i states to make those fundamental changes that your organization advocates for? guest: i think it depends on the state. we are seeing initiatives run by

organizations of ours that are happening at the city level. i think there is an incremental approach as well. but i think the appetite is a little bit variable. when you are talking about reforms that are potentially going to take power away from the parties, i think it is fair to say that the response to the reforms has not been overly enthusiastic. it has to be because a lot of the reforms are really popular with people. the parties are saying, i'm not going to lament these alternatives despite majority of folks supporting but it is not being supported because it is not in the interest of the party to make that change. host: when it comes to this idea , when does the electoral bollard -- where does the electoral college fit in? guest: it is a fair question

that reasonable people can argue about the benefits of the cost of the electoral college introducing into the equation. for our organization, it is another optical. it is something that needs to be answered. it is why our organization is so focused, where we think there is a chance. i encourage anyone interested in learning more and feels like they are alone, our organization is here to support candidates. n important problem, which is that people do not matter currently overectorae

-- that is a big acknowledgment. host: we will talk to arthur. hello. caller: good morning. thank you very much for your segment this morning. unfortunately, i think we are missing the mark. we need a constitutional amendment regarding lengths of terms and how many terms are available to each individual american. this is the only way that things are going to change because there are billions of dollars -- they are going to tell you know, i belong to an organization in california called no more talk.

simply getting enough people together to have a constitutional amendment. you get a term limit and limited terms. when your term is finished, you go back to work as the founding fathers designed. as long as you have career politicians, nothing is going to change. host: ok. thank you. guest: i can resonate with that statement. i personally agree. i think many and my organization would agree with you that it is not something that is intended or is overly helping our political system. the way we are looking to resolve the problem is by bringing new people into the space who have access to the resources required and to help

run really viable initiatives. if you are not running outside to have success. we see voters but especially -- they have a majority of voters looking at them on favorably. more voters than that. they will report that they are exhausted. that is a direct consequence of a system not serving a product that is satisfying the consumers of the democracy. it is by providing new life into

this marketplace of ideas. host: our next caller from pennsylvania. you're up. caller: has a third party candidate ever won the president? guest: certainly not in modern times. you would have to go back to lincoln. but historically, the challenges is -- it can be overwhelming. it drives home the idm. they might be looking especially

at the top of the ticket. i care about this country and i care about my community. the solution is to look locally. these are positions that are escaping the spotlight despite having a tremendous impact on your everyday life it is incredibly important that we have choice. . we want to solve problems for the community and address can earn with our community. host: the people that you help

in this process. how much of an avenue is that giving? guest: that is a great question. we are helping work with partner organizations. i would tell you that of the broadest are independent, where they are in the federal system, only two elected. it is despite a huge volume of opportunity. we are always looking to expand our possibilities.

candidates speaking to provide tools to run competitive campaigns. we are trying to support. host: this is donald. hello. caller: hello. i have a little bit of a different take. we just had our primary a couple weeks ago. people would say, i have to choose between you do not have

to put yourself in the position of choosing between the worst of two evils. it is your choice. you are expressing your choice. people would say you've wasted your vote because you voted third party. they voted for hillary, they wasted their vote. guest: i appreciate where you're coming from. i think that is very resonant in this space. there are options for you that

are aligned with the issues you care about. we are trying to provide you choices. where turnout was incredibly high, the largest group of people that were eligible to vote but did not -- they set out the election. there is a lot of disparaging comments that have been made. they do not really think about the choices we are offering people it was a better choice for them. we use the term rationally.

it is a very logical thing. you are going to see voters disengaged. i would like to see whether their political candidates or people working in the political ecosystem. rather than saying they are disengaging, what is it about our political system answering the third we reject a good part of the idea that given given alternative, they would hopefully see the result resorted -- host: you have talked about it a couple of times. guest: we have been working on

technology based on ai. it is helping candidates understand through the training how to run a campaign effectively. even making the decision to run for office, how do we get informed candidates ready to step up to the plate. it is work. they will cultivate and having candidates before they decide to run is they decide to make a responsible and informed decision. the first step is how to prepare candidates and help them understand what their victory would look like if they were to run. what a campaign strategy looks