originally posted in:Secular Sevens
Personally, since the two party system is so established that it requires any attempt at a 3rd party to immediately align and integrate itself with one of the two in order to have a voice or be somewhat relevant, I am hoping to see a non-party movement.
Simply put, I would be thrilled to see a non-party related "anti-incumbent" movement. Regardless of party, if the person up for re-election has not delivered, then vote for their opponent. As an electorate, we're too inclined to keep incompetents, insiders and professional politicians in office simply due to recognizing their name or going with the idea that "a known evil is better than an unknown one". Term in office should be a test of the individual and if they don't deliver when they had the chance? Fire their ass and get someone else in who would then understand that if they don't do anything, they too will be out on their ass come the next election.
The fear of "the party other than my own" is what puts people into office for decades and leads to corruption, inaction and more attention being focused on getting re-elected than actually doing the work you were hired to do in the first place.
Of course, this would require people to ignore party when voting, and with folks so polarized and blinded by what they believe are binary and polar opposites, we get entrenched and do-nothing representation.
English
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Honestly, I have half a mind to vote Libertarian. I figure if we can at least throw a wrench in the two party system (regardless if one believes in the Libertarian agenda or not), there'd be a much more fertile environment for new parties. I figure it's the political equivalent of shouting something random and odd in the midst of a heated debate to catch people off guard. Or maybe that'd be more literally what would happen.
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Jesse Ventura!
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I'd just be happy with a "None of the Above" option on the ballot. - Der
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You already have that. You can write in a candidate.
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Like Yoda He wants what's best for the Republic
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Not the same. - Der
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Edited by Seggi: 3/20/2014 7:38:27 AMIf you're concerned that congress isn't 'doing anything' what exactly would you like them to be doing? Just 'anything'? Because, you know, there are plenty of policies that either side would love to accomplish if they could actually get other members of congress on board - the problem isn't that individual members of congress don't have good ideas about policy initiatives, it's that they don't all have the same ideas, and just saying 'vote for the other guy' accomplishes absolutely [i]zero[/i] to the end of a more productive legislature when it's already in deadlock. If you want smarter and more visionary candidates, join a political party and support the better candidates in their primaries and general elections, don't just assume that they're incompetent based on factors out of their control. The answer to political issues is never going to be some simple folksy principle, it's [i]actually doing something[/i]. Support good candidates and good policy, because [i]that's[/i] the power that has been vested in the voting public to exercise.