The Parties Over ???

If the State of Alabama votes for Roy Moore for U.S. Senator, simply to avoid voting for a Democrat, then it’s time our country takes a serious look in the mirror.  An allegiance to a political party over the quality of a candidate has become a major issue.  For the sake of full disclosure, I am originally from Mobile, Alabama and proud of my heritage.  However, the U.S. Constitution did NOT mandate political party affiliations as components of our political process– this was a purely voluntary affiliation which was a loose method of organizing like-minded politicians and activists in the age of Hamilton and Jefferson.  The original constructs of Federalists (pro centralized government) and the Democratic-Republicans (pro states’ rights) resulted in coalitions, as the divisive vitriol increased during the initial implementation of the U.S. Constitution. Today, we give so much credence to the thoughts of the founding fathers in interpreting the Constitution, yet most of those founders believed that political parties had no legitimate place in a republic and would contaminate the legislative process.  Hamilton believed that national legislators would be more broad minded than state legislators, believing that parties were the “most fatal disease” of governments and hoped America would dispense with these monarchial vestiges before they ruined our government.  Jefferson also pointed out that politicians must avoid the prejudices of parties and work for the welfare of the country because, “party animosities raise a wall of separation between differing political sentiments and thwart the legislative political process.”  Bored yet with this brief history lesson?  Moving on….

  Today, the Republicans and Democrats no longer represent groups of like-minded politicians or voters.  Our founding fathers referred to political parties as “factions.”  The Republican Party and the Democratic Party are nothing but a group of extreme factions within their parties. In my opinion, most people I know from either party consider themselves “moderates” – or somewhere in the middle.  Frankly, I am insulted by the terms “liberal,’ ‘right-wing”, “progressive” and “tea party.”  Repeatedly, I hear people express their universal desire for fiscal conservatism and a balanced budget; common sense social justice and fairness; respect for cultural and racial differences while upholding a sense of national values as the thread uniting us; and an expectation of a fair share of work and contribution from 85% of our citizenry.  The national faces of the Democrat and Republican parties are not representative of this moderate (in the middle) mentality.   The abortion issue has been settled – we each have the right to choose according to our belief systems.  No one gets to legislate choices we make about our own bodies. We can respect LBGTQ ….. rights, but not to the detriment of focusing on the general welfare of the majority of citizens first and foremost. This country was built on the backs of immigrants and all were derided initially – Italians, Irish, Japanese, Chinese, Hispanics, Jews, and Freed Black Slaves.  The world today is multicultural and this is not a white man’s country – get over it, that’s the way it is. Yes, we need common sense immigration policies going forward, but we don’t need to be throwing out children and erecting walls between our neighbors. There is no such thing as ‘equality’ as long as money buys power.   Inequality is at the heart of a capitalist society, whether you like it or not.  But by the way, there is no equality in China, Russia, or North Korea either.  And, if we decide to add a little socialism in the form of health care to a lot of capitalism in the form of big business, then we have progressed and found a middle ground that might work, as it has in Canada.  The divide between the haves and the have nots should be moderate, not radical, or people will revolt.  I don’t have the answers, but I know that none of them come from extreme perspectives.

The important point is that there is no “one size fits all” political party any more.  They have become too extreme. Ted Cruz and John McCain couldn’t be farther apart ideologically, as were Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.  We must start voting for candidates and making sure that candidates have the opportunity to succeed without demanding adherence to a party’s platform and big donors’ decrees.  I do not want my representatives automatically pulling the party lever on every vote, due to pressure to retain his/her office.  Call it old fashioned, but I want to elect someone for their sound judgment, common sense, and adherence to decent personal values and principles as exhibited in their lives, no matter their meaningless party affiliation.  The political parties need to be disbanded or we need to be developing new ones that truly represent our perspectives. The founding fathers never intended for us to be voting for the “Party” but wanted the “People Voting For People.”