I want all of you to be honest and think about this question before sniping or biting off anybodies heads.

What is the #1 priority of ANY organization?

The short answer (if you are being honest) is: To not only survive, but to be successful.

What does this have to do with politics? Easy, the USA is run by two organizations that vie for seats of power (in other words, for success).

So, when you think about it in this context...why would you want to support a 'party'? By doing that you are saying that not only are the points you believe in more important than anything the other party has to offer, but that you buy into EVERYTHING which the party you support has to offer over the other party.

This basically puts blinders on you. You are Democrat or Republican and have to buy into EVERYTHING that party wants to push as its agenda...and it leads to narrow minded (or closed minded in many cases on BOTH sides) reactionary name calling and finger pointing.

WE are the only ones that can force change on these two power hungry organizations. WE are the only ones who can strip them of this power and take it back. But as long as WE buy into the stereotypes they protray, WE are nothing more than lemmings running for the cliff.

What's the matter? Did I offend the Democrat and Republican lemmings/parrots out there? Absolutely nobody has a response to being called a lemming/parrot of 'their party'?

Wow, I thought there were some thinkers on here!

I don't think anyone is dodging the issue--as someone said on the football side, it's not a dodge when you give people four hours in the middle of a weekday. Also, I understand questioning partisanship, but I don't really understand what you're proposing as an alternative: more parties that have a substantive role in government? No parties at all?

More parties, sure. No parties, I don't think it would work; I can't think of any government, anywhere, ever, that didn't have parties in one form or another.

Dennis

I looked at this earlier John and you are definately on to something when you consider the two controlling parties right now.
They have a lock on the system due to the massive amount of money and influence they have on government.

Someone like ross perot for example is the last and only third party candidate that made any impact on an election.
For all his billions he couldnt get the influence needed to sustain a legitamate run for office {of course he and stockdale werent the best ticket} it does show that money alone isnt the answer.
This year I really believed in ron paul more than any other candidate but he was cast aside because he doesnt believe in politics as usual and would be considered a threat not only to the parties but the structure in place.

Where we are right now isnt anything that makes me proud,we are often going into the voting booth choosing the lesser of two evils.
This year im voting for obama and for all his talk of change,while it sounds great, unless everyone gets on board he wont be able to change things all that much.

Honestly though as bad as kerry was in 04 I was floored that bush was actually elected.

My wife and I talk about this alot and we both have our fingers crossed that if elected obama does it right but I remain skeptical,and once again feel like we are electing the lesser of two evils....

I have voted republican as well as democrat and prefer to pick who I think will do the job we are electing him for and there are many things I dont like on both sides but lately the republicans have lost there way and the democrats are power hungry ,so neither party cares about the individual its all about the power,they have it and we dont.

quote:

as someone said on the football side, it's not a dodge when you give people four hours in the middle of a weekday

Actually that was ME, and it was only 22 minutes...in the 4 hours since I had posted there were quite a few posts and at least 8 reviews of this topic...so I do tend to think people are avoiding it...however it is controversial so I guess I should have expected it.

quote:

Also, I understand questioning partisanship, but I don't really understand what you're proposing as an alternative: more parties that have a substantive role in government? No parties at all?

More parties, sure. No parties, I don't think it would work; I can't think of any government, anywhere, ever, that didn't have parties in one form or another

Unfortunately you are right that NO PARTIES is pretty much not an option...as you do need a certain amount of structure to prevent a political quagmire...so probably we need to ADD a third party. However I think that, while adding a party would help, the biggest benefit would be to restructure and redesigne the parties to reflect the population instead of forcing the population to reflect the parties.

For example:

Transparency - this is something Obama actually mentioned on his website. ALL votes for each member of congress should be posted on a user-friendly website that would allow the public to have direct access to how they voted (or if they voted). If they abstain...they should have to give the reasons.

Voter Contribution - Voters should be able to 'log-in' to the website of their party and cast votes on bills/legislation/policies to make the party aware of how their constituancy wants things to go. (i.e.: instead of making everyone in favor or Roe v Wade lean towards the Dems...the people in the party could vote on it on the party website...maybe 40-50% of Reps also support it but vote Rep for other reasons)

Report Cards - if the representative votes against their constituancy on a regular basis they are 'reported' to them and are eligable for removal from the position. If they are truly our 'representative' they should be voting as we WANT them to vote...not how they decided to vote based on deals and kickbacks (I vote for yours if you vote for mine).

Do Away With Special Interest Pork - No more adding anything to a bill that doesn't directly relate TO that bill. In other words, I don't want to worry about having to pay to build a Hummingbird Museum in Wyoming just because I want to pass an education bill.

These are just a few of the things WE need to make the parties stand up and take accountability for.