After receiving thousands of emails from protesting swine, the World Health Organization announced they were changing the name of Swine Flu to Influenza A-H1N1. The politically correct organization swiftly changed the name of the flu to a less offensive, more scientifically correct moniker. However, whether or not one is afflicted with Swine Flue, or Influenza A-H1N1, the symptoms are exactly the same. A flu, by any other name, would feel the same.
So it is with political parties. The news of Arlen Specter's defection from the Republican Party spread through the media faster than the above mentioned flu. Most of the reports are speculating that the only reason for his sudden switch is to insure he'll win his sixth term next year, as a Democrat. Does that mean Specter's political views have changed, or is he an elephant in a donkey suit?
What exactly did Arlen Specter do to change his status from Republican to Democrat? Did he move his office across the hall? Throw away all those little elephants and replace them with jack-asses , I mean donkeys?
It is a well known fact that a third party designated candidate has little orno no chance of being elected to Congress, let alone the Presidency.
Candidates jump party ships once they recognize their ship is sinking and eagerly climb aboard the one with the strongest sails, leaving their political principles and ideals, along with their former constituents, to sink slowly into the west.
It's hard to stand up for what you believe in, when the deck you're standing up on is sinking. Those who feel it is more important to win an election, even if it means compromising their principles, are nothing more than self-serving cowards who would rather abandon ship.
Ron Paul was a Republican, then he defected to the Libertarian Party when they asked him to be their candidate for President in 1988. After he lost the election, (no great surprise) he returned to the Republican Party so he could be elected to Congress. Whatever his political philosophy, he knew that he could never accomplish any change in government unless he were in a position of power, and the only way to gain entrance into that exclusive club called Congress, was to return to a major political party. Then, instead of coming out in favor of either the Libertarian Party or Republican Party candidate, he backed the nominee of the Constitution Party.
So, does that make Ron Paul a Constiliberican? One can only imagine what their logo would look like!
Yet with all Paul's Internet coverage, the money bombs, the revolutionary ideas of smaller government, lower taxes and individual liberty, the Republican Party electorate chose someone else. And they lost.
Political party lines are continually blurred. It someone is pro-choice, but is also totally against gun control, two opposing issues on any one political party platform, what box do they check on their registration? There is a growing trend for people to check "American Independent", not knowing that it's also is a political party.
So, what would happen if there were no parties? No us against them, no cute logos or animals to wear on a t-shirt. There would be no sides to choose, no labels such as liberal or conservative, democrat or republican. No giant political machine steering the direction of the country, one way or the other.
What if we only elected individuals with ideas similar to our own? What if we could elect those who have the intelligence, experience and ability to balance all the many ideologies under one umbrella, and not have to jump ship every time their Party starts sailing into rougher waters?
Then we would know our candidates as people, not platforms. We would know how they stand on important issues and what they think, independent of what their Party tells them. They would win or lose their election based solely on these issues, not the box they checked on the voter registration form, or what floor their office was located. Then perhaps, politicians such as Arlen Specter and Ron Paul wouldn't have to keep changing the color of their ties in order to remain in office.
What if they threw a Party and no one came?
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Christine McKellar
Bob Eckstein
King Kaufman
Kerry Lauerman
Joan Walsh
Salon.com
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