The Common Sense Party -- An Uncommonly Sensible Way to Get Government on the Side of The People

Conversation with Former US Congressman and CSP Founder Tom Campbell

“We have a deeply-divided body politic. Half the people believe our system is broken. The other half believe it is fixed.”
-- Swami Beyondananda

When asked if we need a new third party in the United States, our cosmic comic uncommontator Swami Beyondananda answered, “No. We need a new FIRST party in this country.”

And … what if there were a “third force” that could transform our system from a dysfunctional two-party duopoly to a thriving multi-party system?

Our conversation with former U.S. Congressman and Common Sense Party founder Tom Campbell offers up an uncommonly sensible common sense approach to get government on the side of the people. And Tom Campbell is no sidelines commentator. He served five terms in the US Congress, and two years in the California State Senate. He was finance director for the state of California, and Director of the Bureau of competition for the Federal Trade Commission. He earned a PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago, and a law degree magna cum laude from Harvard. He was a White House fellow, and a US Supreme Court law clerk, a tenured law professor at Stanford, Dean of the Haas School of Business at Berkeley, was founding Dean of the Fowler School of Law at Chapman University. Currently, he is professor of law and professor of economics at Chapman.

In this rich conversation, Tom brings his experiences – and frustrations – as a legislator dedicated to working across party lines to bring constructive policies that benefit We the People, not the special interests, and not just the party elites. You’ll learn why legislators in states like California where there is one-party monopoly, CANNOT deviate from their party line, and why this leaves the majority of voters unrepresented by either party. As an insider, he offers telling examples of this uncommonly senseless system where rigid party stances prevent so many good things from happening …and the way issues were resolved in the past that can be revived in the future.

He presents the Common Sense Party as a truly “radical” alternative, radical meaning “getting to the root of.” Instead of platform planks designed to cater to special interests, all platform items will have the approval of three quarters of the party members, giving ordinary citizens not just a vote every two years, but a VOICE in setting policy priorities. Above all, the Common Sense Party is dedicated to collaborating to solve the real problems we face as opposed to staying on the partisan battlefield where regardless of which party wins, the people will lose. Imagine … instead of having the default choice of voting for the “lesser evil” every two years, the voters of California will be able to work for the GREATER GOOD together.

As Tom explains, this experiment is beginning in California, both because it is currently a one-party monopoly, and because the “open primaries” mean that in overwhelmingly blue or overwhelmingly red districts, two members of the same party might find themselves opponents in the general election. By supporting the candidate that most represents the independent, common sense approach, the Common Sense Party can be a powerful influence, even in districts where they aren’t running their own candidate.

“Instead of being just another political party that runs candidates every two years,” Tom says, “the Common Sense Party offers an ongoing dynamic process for support of positions and supportive of candidates. It's a way that invites people who would otherwise be excluded … and a new way to govern that reflects the needs of the people.”

If you’re ready to entertain a constructive alternative to the destructive status quo – a “party for the rest of us” – please tune into this informative and heartening conversation, and find out how YOU can participate.

The Common Sense Party website:
www.cacommonsense.org