From Three to Five

By the summer of 2011, Senator George Vincent, a Democratic senior senator from Ohio and staunch supporter of the president in 2008, realized that he could support neither the president nor the likely nominee of the Republican Party in the upcoming 2012 election. The senator had come to the conclusion that the leadership of both political parties was far too close to the extremes of each party. No one running for the presidency represented his views of and for the United States of America. Senator Vincent formed the American Exceptionalism Party and spent every waking hour, collected every political marker he had earned during his political career, and invested most of his personal wealth to legally qualify his fledgling little political party in every state. The Senator found an unknown vice presidential candidate and easily prevailed in every primary race of his own political party in the winter and spring of 2012. Few knew of or followed the primary campaign of this new American Exceptionalism Party and of those who did, most viewed the campaign as nothing more than hubris. With the first nominating convention of the American Exceptionalism Party days away, a few politically savvy voters and academicians began to ponder the possibility that Senator George Vincent and his nascent political party could strike a chord with the voters. From Three to Five is the story of the country's journey into the world of three serious political parties with its resulting political and Constitutional mayhem.

Hank Adler is an assistant professor in the George Argyros School of Business & Economics at Chapman University in Orange, California. He is the former president of the Irvine Unified School District Board of Education and has been a member of the boards of directors of many of Orange County, California's largest and most prestigious charitable organizations. The bulk of his professional career was spent as a partner at Deloitte & Touche. Mr. Adler has written extensively about current political issues since joining the faculty of Chapman University.