In the French presidential election's first round, Macron received 27% and Le Pen 24%, before proceeding to a two-candidate runoff — illustrating how different electoral systems shape outcomes.
Where this was said
At 1:41:54 · chapter starts 1:38:20
Having established why third parties consistently fail to break through, David Grech turns to what a rational third-party strategy would actually look like. His core argument is that a party with limited resources should concentrate in two or three districts where it has genuine community ties or name recognition, rather than running 20 candidates across 13 districts and getting diluted everywhere. He explains that in STV, achieving even 50% of the district quota in one or two districts creates the conditions for transfers to push a candidate over the line — especially if voters from both major parties give sympathetic second preferences. He uses the example of a candidate with strong local credibility who starts accumulating transfer votes from across the spectrum after the first count. Jon raises the financial constraint: a serious campaign in even one district requires resources that most third parties lack, and without media coverage it's almost impossible to build the first-count vote base needed. David's response is practical: focus on issues, not parties — establish a specific policy position on which the candidate is the undisputed local expert, and let that expertise generate organic transfers.
France's two-round presidential system sent Macron (27%) and Le Pen (24%) to a runoff, where Macron won — not because he was widely loved but because he was the least objectionable choice. David Grech uses this to argue that Malta's STV actually captures preferences more accurately than either first-past-the-post or the French two-round model.
A third party that runs 20 candidates across all districts spreads its resources thin and fails to build momentum anywhere. David Grech argues the smarter strategy is to concentrate candidates in two or three districts, build a local presence, and use transfers to push one or two candidates over the threshold — otherwise the only result is a protest vote that evaporates.
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The first Boland Amendment banning CIA and Defense Department funds for the Contras passed the House unanimously — yet the Reagan administration ignored it.
Over just two years, Saudi Arabia alone donated $32 million to the Contra rebels, giving loosely affiliated factions millions they had no way to spend on arms.
The National Endowment for the Preservation of Liberty raised $6.3 million for the Contras but only $3.3 million reached them — a shockingly low 52% program expense rate.
Richard Secord and Albert Hakim marked up their arms shipments to the Contras by as much as 300%, making enormous personal profits from the covert operation.
Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, tapped to run the entire covert Contra support operation, had no prior experience in covert operations whatsoever — he was learning as he went.
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