MichiganMan,
So, if we agree with one parth 75% of the time, we're just supposed to close our eyes and bear it for the other 25% of the time? I'm not entirely happy with that prospect.
I would like, just once in my life, to be able to vote *for* a candidate. I'm getting tired of voting against the worst evil.
I'm a fiscal conservative, but a liberal in the more social areas--sex, religion, etc. Who do I vote for? I'd like to vote republican as they generally don't try to suck power into the federal government and tax more and more heavily to support it, but they have this huge religious thing going (for about the last 16 years) that's just repugnant. I'm certainly not willing to side with the democrats as they keep throwing up candidates like Al Gore--great administrator, but not leadership material.
So, I pick 'other' as in 'none of the above'.
Why do we still have political parties? These things have been around in one form or another for hundreds of years (not only in the US, obviously). Why do we have them? What purpose do they serve?
Here's a wild idea. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Referendum voting. Congress draws up laws. *people* vote on them. The executive branch enforces them. The judicial branch prosecutes those who break them.
Now, political parties and PACs are about the same thing. They exist to have opinions on *specific* topics and to provide 'educational' material on issues/bills relating to it. You can proxy your votes out to them or you can just view their recommendations. If you proxy out your vote to them, they can claim 'members' and use that to sway the formation of laws, etc.
The tools to view all of the information and perform a vote can be done over the web (yes there are a lot of technical hurtles to clear to make that work, but none of them are unsolveable). PCs in public libraries would serve for those who have none. Cafe's would once again, become meaningful centers of political discussion.
Oh, in the case of multiple proxys, you'd assign them a priority or some other combination scheme. That way, you could be a Republican member of the Sierra Club or some other ironic thing. A pro-nuke green peacer, etc... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
You could, also, click the democrat or republican proxy button and never login again. So, the politicians might like it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif