The America Party and an Observation of Basic Politics

Published on 8 July 2025 at 09:47

Elon Musk's fall from Right-Wing stardom

Alden Sykora

Elon Musk/X

Unlike the Democrats, I’m not one to question election results in the absence of any concrete evidence of corruption. However, when Elon Musk proudly declared his intention to begin what he is calling the “America Party” upon an earlier poll on the platform yielded results that are only too good to be true, I became suspicious. As one is led to believe, the approximately 80% of respondents that favored the creation of a party that would “actually [represent] the 80% in the middle” are all faithful Americans who feel politically homeless. Even if the owner of the platform (on which his own poll was conducted) didn’t explicitly hack into the responses and augmented them to yield these numbers, X is an international platform. Polls cannot be limited by geography, and locations cannot be confirmed. In other words, it’s hard to believe that ALL participants are voting aged American citizens.

Often, the American ideological distribution manifests itself in a spectrum, or number line. In this case, a number line ranging from -50% (farthest left) to +50% (farthest right), is, to an extent, a valid way of simplifying the way Musk views this issue. The “middle 80%” Musk speaks so highly of lies between -40% and +40%, with the fringe 10% lying outside the range on either side.

I find it impossible to believe there are only a mere 10% of people on each side of the aisle that are in lockstep with their respective party and emphatic to cast their solid red or solid blue ballot. Yet there lies a deeper issue in this potential political hiccup that many have yet to observe. 

Coupled with Elon Musk’s political holy grail—which is something to the extent of “Ew, not that. I hate that”—is the issue of redundancy. There has already been (and still is) an “America Party,” a party that represents those who find themselves somewhere in the middle. The only difference is Musk’s taste for a name more evocative than “Independent.” 

What have Independents, as a political party, ever achieved in American history? If these people do in fact consist of the “middle 80%” (despite only consisting of half that number), why has there been so little success? Why has the United States never seen an Independent President?

Because the Independents don’t have any common principles other than something to the extent of “Ew, not that. I hate that.”

Imagine, if you will, what a top 11% left winger would look like. Keep in mind, to be in the top 11% of the Left is an unlikely circumstance. Does colored hair come to mind? Or perhaps rainbow-patterned apparel. It is likely they live in a more urban environment, as I conceptualize them.

Now imagine what a top 11% right winger would look like. Would an inconspicuous red hat ring a bell? What about a guy living in the midwest riding a tractor with Carhartt and Timberlands? 

Stereotypes are accurate. They stick for a reason.

By Musk’s poll and the raw numbers, both of these people, as he envisions it, could find a home in the same political party. 

Both people would be considered as part of the 80%, so by Musk’s poll and the raw numbers, both of these people, as he envisions it, could find a home in the same political party. And how exactly would this work? 

80% is a bold number, and numbers are negotiable. If Elon commits to targeting 2-3 Senate seats and up to 10 House seats as he has floated, he may only draw from the middle 70%, 60% or 50%, which is why the number isn’t the major problem. 

The general consensus among those who see this initiative as a genuine threat is that it will split the Republican vote. X posts fly around in all caps, stating the grave danger the American Party poses to Republican’s midterm prospects. 

I do not believe this is the way to fight this. Posts may be liked, but impressions are not made. 

At the same time, other right wingers are downplaying the effectiveness of the Party. It is true that Musk’s rendezvous with Trump has caused him to permanently fall out of the favor of disillusioned Democrats. It is also true that the share of the economic conservative yet socially liberal electorate (which he will likely lead the Party to run on) is disproportionately low. However, this laid-back approach will only help the America Party’s prospects by causing Republicans to underestimate Musk’s ability to rally a crowd, at least enough to usurp the Republicans’ congressional stronghold. Neither of these approaches are the correct way to address Musk’ proposition. The both extremes will lead to party-wide paralysis, whether it be from fear or from carelessness. 

I’m not in the business of speculation. The America Party has as much potential to succeed as it does to fail.

Either Musk’s schism from Trump could very well win over enough Republicans (who probably didn’t deserve a place in the party to begin with) to split the vote enough and destroy any hopes of keeping Congressional control, or it could not. It is possible, and too early to tell, if Right-wing newcomers will remain loyal to Trump and the Republicans that just passed the landmark piece of legislation known as the Big Beautiful Bill.

What both sides seem to be forgetting is that loyal Republicans have a say in the America Party’s future as well. Republicans must remain vigilant, Republicans must call up the best candidates, and Republicans must stick to the principles that took more than 77 million people by storm just less than a year ago. The only way to beat a party so void of principles and direction is to find and follow their own. 

And that is basic politics.

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