Are political parties really doing us any good?

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Unfortunately, that ain't gonna happen anytime soon. Everyone is so entrenched in the current political system. We can't even abolish the stupid Electoral College, which is a complete clusterfbomb!

The only reason that you think the Electoral College is stupid is because you want NY, CA and IL to elect the President every time.

Let’s just go with the popular vote, each vote counts as one. So that way, which ever state you’re from won’t impact anything, one New York vote = 1 Kansas vote

Nope. NYers, Illinoisey people, Californicators, and few other popular liberal states would elect the President every time. Kansas would never have a say in the matter.

 

[candycorn]

One thing that I’ve learned about politics, is that it is an extremely messy game. Republicans and Democrats seem like they Enjoying mudslinging and political battle more than serving their constituents. Lots of decisions are being made out of spite and pettiness and we the people are the ones suffering. If we abolished political parties, and judged every candidate on who they are instead of red or blue, would we be better as a country?

You really can't "abolish" parties. What the States need to do is really re-take control of their elections instead of letting the parties run them.

How, pray tell, would you propose that happens?

It’s a State by state thing but there is nothing that forces a state to hold party primaries and then another election to determine the people’s representatives. If Kansas wanted to have just one contest where everyone who wanted to run was on the ballot it could. The issue would then be that the person elected would either face a run off or the citizenry live with an official who got a very small % of the vote. Bug what the parties have done was all but guarantee themselves a place at the table to where you either have an unopposed incumbent or a D vs R scenario. A state like Utah shouldn’t be having any democrats on the ballot for federal offices in November since the GOP is so strong there. That they do is due to an avoidance of responsibility by the States. Really the top 2 vote getters should be Republicans in that state.

 

[Meister]

Unfortunately, that ain't gonna happen anytime soon. Everyone is so entrenched in the current political system. We can't even abolish the stupid Electoral College, which is a complete clusterfbomb!

The only reason that you think the Electoral College is stupid is because you want NY, CA and IL to elect the President every time.

Let’s just go with the popular vote, each vote counts as one. So that way, which ever state you’re from won’t impact anything, one New York vote = 1 Kansas vote

So, it's the old, "two wolves and a sheep voting on what's for dinner", got it.
I'm glad our FF's were much smarter than you.

 

[JLW]

For better or worse, political parties have been a part of every Republic since the Roman Republic had the Populares and the Optimates. The Populares represented the people or plebeians; the Optimates the upper classes. Sound familiar.

One of the causes of the downfall of the Roman Republic was the failure of the parties to compromise, looked at each other as the enemy and fell into dysfunction. Sound familiar?

Here is a rather basic article explaining it all: How Rome Destroyed Its Own Republic

Washington eschewed political parties but they rose nevertheless because political parties are the life blood of a Republic. Has there ever been a republic or democracy without factions or parties?

The secret to a Republic’s success is its willingness to work together. Take cooperation and compromise away and a Republic will eventually disintegrate or turn authoritarian.

Our political parties are in need of reform. We should have new parties. Democrats and Republicans have evolved or devolved depending on your point of view since the civil war. They have their own self interests they want to protect. The point is political parties are not going away anytime soon as much as we may disagree with the one we ostensibly belong.

 

[Dick Foster]

One thing that I’ve learned about politics, is that it is an extremely messy game. Republicans and Democrats seem like they Enjoying mudslinging and political battle more than serving their constituents. Lots of decisions are being made out of spite and pettiness and we the people are the ones suffering. If we abolished political parties, and judged every candidate on who they are instead of red or blue, would we be better as a country?

I've always thought and said no for a number of reasons. If anything they should be made illegal. We need to be electing people not parties.

 

[LeftofLeft]

As a Conservative, I think we need more parties that are on par with the Democrat and Republican parties. In terms of ideology -Conservative-Liberal spectrum- Republicans are more diverse. I see more liberal Republicans than I do Conservative Democrats. But, more parties for the most diverse nation on the planet would do us well.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

One thing that I’ve learned about politics, is that it is an extremely messy game. Republicans and Democrats seem like they Enjoying mudslinging and political battle more than serving their constituents. Lots of decisions are being made out of spite and pettiness and we the people are the ones suffering. If we abolished political parties, and judged every candidate on who they are instead of red or blue, would we be better as a country?

I've always thought and said no for a number of reasons. If anything they should be made illegal. We need to be electing people not parties.

Feel free to change the 1st Amendment. Go right ahead!

 

[Mello711]

As a Conservative, I think we need more parties that are on par with the Democrat and Republican parties. In terms of ideology -Conservative-Liberal spectrum- Republicans are more diverse. I see more liberal Republicans than I do Conservative Democrats. But, more parties for the most diverse nation on the planet would do us well.

I agree. I think at minimum we should have 4 major parties

 

[Dick Foster]

As a Conservative, I think we need more parties that are on par with the Democrat and Republican parties. In terms of ideology -Conservative-Liberal spectrum- Republicans are more diverse. I see more liberal Republicans than I do Conservative Democrats. But, more parties for the most diverse nation on the planet would do us well.

Why do we need any at all? What purpose do they serve the nation and its people?

 

[Dick Foster]

As a Conservative, I think we need more parties that are on par with the Democrat and Republican parties. In terms of ideology -Conservative-Liberal spectrum- Republicans are more diverse. I see more liberal Republicans than I do Conservative Democrats. But, more parties for the most diverse nation on the planet would do us well.

I agree. I think at minimum we should have 4 major parties

Why have any? Please explain what benefits the people derive from political parties. I can't think of a single logical reason for parties to exist other than to benefit professional politicians. To me political parties are in direct opposition to the concepts of rule of, by and for the people.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

As a Conservative, I think we need more parties that are on par with the Democrat and Republican parties. In terms of ideology -Conservative-Liberal spectrum- Republicans are more diverse. I see more liberal Republicans than I do Conservative Democrats. But, more parties for the most diverse nation on the planet would do us well.

I agree. I think at minimum we should have 4 major parties

Why would that be any better?

You are welcome to start a new party anytime you wish!

 

[Grace Is Stoked]

The idea of a political party isn't a terrible concept in my opinion. Like-minded people all getting together to vote for candidates that fit their collective values, beliefs, and politics. Unfortunately as the parties grow in size, get wealthier, and wield more power and influence it becomes less pure, less based on the original founding and more corrupt which is what today's parties resemble to me for the most part. It's a somewhat flawed goal to want to have national influence while also keeping pure to your original founding and goals. The more members that join and the more powerful opinions that then influence the political platform ultimately creates power vacuums and leads to corruption in my opinion. If there were no political parties i'd be curious how the makeup of congress would end up being. I'm sure you'd still have groupings form on certain issues but I would imagine there would have to be more cooperation in some respects but I could be completely wrong.

 

[whitehall]

Granted the democrat party went off the freaking grid lately but what's the alternative to political parties?

 

[$ecular#eckler]

One thing that I’ve learned about politics, is that it is an extremely messy game. Republicans and Democrats seem like they Enjoying mudslinging and political battle more than serving their constituents. Lots of decisions are being made out of spite and pettiness and we the people are the ones suffering. If we abolished political parties, and judged every candidate on who they are instead of red or blue, would we be better as a country?

How do you do that? Political parties are not much different than any other organization, and any organization has a right to seek representation.

The organization of the government induces the congress members to do the seemingly irrational, because how else do they represent their constituents???

Your proposal sounds sophisticated, it is something that I think I have heard since the Seventies, but how is a candidate to describe themselves? They are going to describe themselves in alignment with organizations' principles - right??? How would you describe yourself for representing people?