With the campaigns of the major parties garnering the majority of media attention, it would be a surprise that anyone reasing this article would have been aware of the little guys off in the background.

There is so much more to our government than just Republicans and Democrats, and the sooner we as a nation acknowledge this, the closer we are to a better tomorrow. It is time to shine the spotlight down stage to the little guys.

Sure, everyone has heard of the Green Party, maybe even the Constitution and Libertarian parties. But have you ever heard of the Prohibition Party, who have their candidates Jack Fellure and Toby Davis running for the 2012 election? Or how about the America’s Independent Party, the American Independent Party, and the Independent American Party?

Wait, what? Okay, that just can not be serious. This has to be a joke.

Someone thought it would be funny to make up a few fake political parties just for the sake of an obscure “Monty Python” reference. Oh sure, it may seem like it is all in good fun.

But will you be laughing when election time comes around, and these fake parties take votes away from the real third parties and this nation is left with another Nader-less White House? Will you?

It is incredibly silly behavior like this that makes a mockery of our great na– what? Oh, it seems apologies are in order.

The three parties in question are in fact real, valid third party groups. The American Independent Party has been an active party for nearly fifty years now. And the other two, while smaller and younger, still hold ballot spots within multiple states regularly.

Well, you fooled me. All joking aside, folks, the mass of third parties building out there in the country is seeing to it that everyone has a political platform they agree with.

And do not take this the wrong way, but it is good for the country to have so many independent viewpoints speaking out.

However, there is a problem with this political spread. With every little party that forms, more people divert themselves away from supporting front running candidates to vote for a small write-in.

It may not seem like much when a few districts here and there vote for the small party candidate, but history has shown what can happen when a third party candidate has the clout to back himself up.

When Teddy Roosevelt formed the Progressive (Bull Moose) party in order to take back the White House from Taft, he split the Republican party in half, leaving the way open for Woodrow Wilson.

While this particular case turned out for the better, there may come a time when a similar situation creates the real-life equivalent of Emperor Palpatine. And, although I highly doubt that Dick Cheney is ever going to actually run for president, the thought of it happening is still rather frightening.