Why Only Two???

[Peter]

Why are we "forced" to vote in only one of two political primaries? Why does the media only cover two parties? Why do soooooo many Christians only talk about the Democrats and Republicans?

I will not vote Republican in '08. Neither will I vote Democrat. There is very little difference really betwen the two parties.

The Christian right seems to think that the Republican party will bring about the 1000 year millenial reign of Christ.

People, America is no longer even remotely interested in conservative Christian views, as evidenced by the runaway lead of John McCain and the two Democrat candidates still slugging it out.

Huckabee and Paul are no different than McCain because they are on the same team, seeking the same party nomination.

Where is the spirit that built America, the radical thinkers, the people willing to take risks...REAL risks...for their beliefs?

Now we like sheep have followed the crowd...like zombies in some horror film,"Must vote Republican. Uhhhhhhhhhhhh"

Give me a break. How about starting another party? Then all the Christians could unite...uh...to agree...um...
never mind. It would never work.

Peter

 

[Schletty]

I will not vote Republican in '08. Neither will I vote Democrat. There is very little difference really betwen the two parties.

sad, but sooooo true.

Huckabee and Paul are no different than McCain because they are on the same team, seeking the same party nomination.

Okay, this is where I have to admit that I am a "Paul-tard," but I do think that a large part of the reason why he polled so low for so long (other than being completely un-photogenic) is that he was unwilling to compromise conviction for popularity. Maybe I fault him for naively thinking that he could actually salvage one of the major parties, but - I don't know - I find all kinds of idealism attractive.

Now we like sheep have followed the crowd...like zombies in some horror film,"Must vote Republican. Uhhhhhhhhhhhh"

This reminds me of a great scene in the Woody Allen movie, Bananas, where this South American revolutionary knocks off the corrupt dictator, and of course becomes that which he transplanted. In his first speech as the new president he announces, "The new language of San Marcos will now be Swedish... All children under sixteen years old are now... sixteen years old. Underwear will be changed every half hour. Underwear will be worn on the outside, so we can check," at which point Allen (heretofore a supporter) turns to another and says, "What's the Spanish word for straight jacket?"

Even if we got that kind of power, we'd become what we hated. Better to put our energies and faith elsewhere (this coming from one of the biggest political junkies around.

 

[TexasSky]

Well, as far as I know, no other group actually holds a primary. They don't have multiple candidates to narrow the filed down to.

You may have a communist or a member of the American Freedom Party running, but if you do, they are the only one running, and hence, no need for a primary to "narrow down the choice."

There are several reasons the major parties do primaries.

One is simple because they don't want Americans to be voting until 3 a.m. five days after the official election day starts because they are standing in line trying to decide between 35 people claiming they want to be president.

Another reason is that each political party is allowed to choose their system of determining how their delegates to the national electoral college are selected. That can vary in a lot of ways. From, winner of the popular election takes all their delegates to county, state and eventuall to National; to you take the percentage that won in the primary to county and state to represent the voters on the first ballot, and then those delegates can switch around. To, "these guys can do whatever they want, they earned the right, and THESE guys are pledged to vote this way".

The main thing is money. People donate millions of dollars to the Democrats and the Republicans. That money can only, by law, be used for certain things. Those things are powerful though. Advertising campaigns, that hit nationwide, for the "party candidate". The reality is, most Americans never dream of electing a 3rd party, don't donate money there, and therefore don't get the time on television.

Now, if you have an independent of the fame and wealth of Ross Perot, you get the television time. Generally though, tv news is run by the same ad dollars and Neilsons that everything else on tv is run on. If it isn't going to make the viewers pay attention, you don't waste your time and money on it.

There was an independent in the 2008 election. A man named Carl Two Feathers Whitacker. He is a member of what he calls the Jefferson Republican Party. He is from Tennessee. He dropped out to endorse Ron Paul.

 

[ICor1311]

Change is always possible. Sometimes it's great, other times it's not so great. Either way, every 4 or 8 years (depending on the outcome of elections), change is inevitable. Republicans will never agree on everything. Democrats will never agree on everything. Back in the hayday when the Whig party was around, they didn't agree on everything. If it was that simple, why the need for so many different parties? You will always have a nominee of a particular party that is too conservative or is not conservative enough; or is too liberal or not liberal enough. My ideal presidential candidate may not have the same ideals and characteristics as yours. At the same time, this is the beauty of elections.

If you are tired of being "forced" to vote for one of two political primaries, run for presidential candidacy. Put your name on the ballot, let me know what your views are, and you might get my vote. The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.

 

[tapero]

edit

 

[BigNorsk]

Why are we "forced" to vote in only one of two political primaries? Why does the media only cover two parties? Why do soooooo many Christians only talk about the Democrats and Republicans?

I will not vote Republican in '08. Neither will I vote Democrat. There is very little difference really betwen the two parties.

The Christian right seems to think that the Republican party will bring about the 1000 year millenial reign of Christ.

People, America is no longer even remotely interested in conservative Christian views, as evidenced by the runaway lead of John McCain and the two Democrat candidates still slugging it out.

Huckabee and Paul are no different than McCain because they are on the same team, seeking the same party nomination.

Where is the spirit that built America, the radical thinkers, the people willing to take risks...REAL risks...for their beliefs?

Now we like sheep have followed the crowd...like zombies in some horror film,"Must vote Republican. Uhhhhhhhhhhhh"

Give me a break. How about starting another party? Then all the Christians could unite...uh...to agree...um...
never mind. It would never work.

Peter

No one forces you to participate in any party politics. The primaries are not a government election, they are a party process to select the party's candidate for office.

Anybody is free to form a political party and have primaries. If you want to tap into Federal matching dollars for candidates though, you have to get a high enough percentage of the vote in the Presidential election.

Also, since a third party candidate is unlikely to win. Very, very few individuals or organizations will give them one single dime.

But anyway, it's not that difficult, if you just manage to find people across the country willing to join you and work a bit. And technology would make it pretty cheap to have a decent primary.

Use webcasts and such on the parties site to broadcast debates and speaches and such. Have candidates appear live on web to take calls and have town meetings and so on.

Biggest problem by far is that people will generally not do a thing unless and until they think they can win.

Realize too that any third party has a major problem when they form. You get all the rebels. They can't get along with anyone or agree with anyone. They will show up with their agenda, fight you tooth and nail, and if they lose they are gone. They really aren't willing to belong to any party, they want to be dictator. There is little if any loyalty to start with.

So lots to overcome. I think at some point the greenies will get organized enough outside politics they will actually be able to use that as a party, but I think a lot are reluctant to do so because they think they can actually exert more influence within the other parties.

Anyway being a third party is interesting, you find a lot of people insist they are independant and will vote only for the person, at least as long as the person is either Democrat or Republican.

Marv

 

[billwald]

The law in the USofA is designed for a two party system. A 3rd party doesn't have a chance. The same people own both parties. It is a done deal. Live with it.