It's hard to watch anything in mass media or read most posts on this board without getting a good feeling who people are voting for. But frankly, some of the justifications for and against a party's candidate seem to smell of a kind of homerism that adheres to a party line, and most of the arguments (we aren't talking about Weslinder or Another Brother) in my opinion are weak. I also have listened to the political speeches of Republicans and Democrats gearing up for NOvember and they all seem more canned than ever, and packaged for mass consumption, as if I'm asked the question, "Are you hungry?" and my only choices are Burger King or McDonald's. So here's my question: Do you like the way things are, with a government controlled by two strong political parties, or would you prefer to see something different? Edit: I tried to add a poll but I screwed it up...sorry. Here were my original choices, but feel free to add your own: 1. Two parties are a party too many. We need one party (the one I vote for). 2. Things are fine the way they are -- we'd be even MORE divided. 3. Another party in the mix would be good (Libertarian / Green / Reform) 4. Washington was right. We shouldn't have political parties at all! 5. We should have multiple parties like the rest of the world's democracies. A diverse population deserves diverse parties to represent different opinions.
5 is the best choice for now to me. 4 would have been, but it is not realistic because of the structure of what it takes to campaign nationwide.
I'd personally go with 4 ...but I think it's ironic that the rest of the board is still busy playing red vs blue to answer. I think if instead of having an R or a D after a politician's name CSPAN or whatever TV channel should just list the candidate's top 3 campaign donors. It would say so much more to the voter, and it would encourage people with strong opinions to favor the politicians that stand for something other than bland rah-rah rhetoric, which is what I think the current system encourages.
