A Better Alternative for Elon

Why the America Party is Not Going to Work

This image was generated using AI and is not accurate.

Elon Musk believes he is on a rendezvous with destiny, that he and he alone is wealthy and independent enough to lead America into a future free from the overwhelming debt facing the country’s future. So, he’s starting this America Party, hoping to flip enough seats in the House and Senate to mandate Congress get serious about spending.

That’s a bit of a fool’s errand.

First, there comes a question of ballot access. Can candidates even make it on the ballot in November?

Getting on the ballot in many parts of the country is extremely difficult, despite being in existence for decades; neither the Green nor the Libertarian Party had ballot access in all 50 states last November. The Libertarian Party was in 47 states, and the Greens were in 37. A third-party candidate has not won a single state in a presidential election since 1968, although Ross Perot came close and would likely have won a few more had he not dropped out briefly in 1992.

Third-party candidates running for Congress have fared nearly just as badly. Currently, only two independents are in the Senate: Angus King from Maine and Bernie Sanders from Vermont. None are in the House.

Yet, King and Sanders are anomalies. Before them, the last time a Senator won a race by being endorsed by a third party was New York’s James Buckley in 1971, who won as a member of the Conservative Party, and before him was Arkansas’ John Miller in 1937.

The last time this happened in the House was in 1990, when it was then-Rep. Bernie Sanders. Before him, you’d have to go back to 1979 when William Carney won a seat in New York State as a member of the Conservative Party.

So, not only will supporting these types of candidates be difficult, but once they are in Congress, they’d have to caucus with one of the two major political parties. If they refused, they'd not be able to sit on any committees, let alone chair them. So they’d have limited power in challenging races, which would require him to pour millions of dollars into.

There’s also the question of what other policies the America Party would be championing. While Musk’s opinions on the debt have broad support among the American people, some polls suggest a supermajority of the country holds this opinion. That’s not true for everything Musk says; there are genuine disagreements with Musk on supporting higher levels of legal immigration and AI. Then there are stickier subjects on gun control, abortion, and China, where Musk’s party would have major disagreements with either him or the American public.

So, what is a better alternative than starting a third party if Musk is really concerned about the debt?

The answer is a lot simpler than people think.

Rather than starting his own party, Elon could look to the states to pass a constitutional amendment forcing the federal government to have a balanced budget.

While passing a constitutional amendment is a long and ardeous process, but states have been working on a balanced budget amendment for years and 27 states have active, unrescinded resolutions calling for a constitutional convention to propose a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. These resolutions are part of an effort to reach the 34-state threshold needed to trigger such a convention.

Most of those states have Republican trifectas with the exception of Colorado, which has a Democratic trifecta. We’re just seven states shy of introducing the constitutional amendment and four more states have Republican trifectas that have not even passed such a resolution. They are Idaho, Montana, West Virginia, and South Carolina. Another two have Democratic governors with Republican legislators, where Musk could help flip the governors mansion and then pass a constitutional amendment.

Those 27 states that have already passed the amendment along with the six that could pass it, either immediately because they have a Republican majority or eventually if they flip the governor’s mansion would get the constitutional amendment to 33 states - just one vote shy away from passing.

Then comes the hard part, Musk would have to invest in flipping states where the legislature is close like Minnesota, Maine, Virginia, or Vermont or invest in states where Trump have increased the support for Republicans like New Mexico or New Jersey. I also included Rhode Island to the list because the legislator has many conservative Democrats that often vote different from the national party.

Here is a map of where the amendment has passed or could pass.

With that investment, Musk could local Republican parties the finances they need to pass the constitutional amendment, head to a convention and force the federal government to finally balance the budget.

It may seem far fetched, but much more realistic and less costly than pushing through a third party that would at best, enjoy limited success.

Forget the America Party and focus on passing a constitutional amendment, we’re already almost three-quarters the way there.