The two party system in this country really ticks me off.. Okay- so not actually the system itself, but rather the way it encourages people to vote along party lines, the way it makes people segregate themselves into two groups- republicans and democrats, the way it discourages staying informed on the issues.
There was someone who responded to a comment I made on another blog a while back saying something along the lines of "Democrats are smart and republicans are not." How ignorant can you be? That's like someone saying "Christians are smart and non-Christians are not." How can you make such a general statement about such a large group of people?
I wonder how many people actually watch presidential debates and read the newspaper with an open mind. How many people actually go into an election thinking "okay, I'm going to vote for the best candidate" instead of "okay who is on the democrat/republican ticket." Not very many that's for sure.
Me, I can't vote yet, but when I can, I'm going to be one of the few who knows what is going on and knows the different platforms/issues the candidates are running on. Now, I don't tie myself down with a party affiliation. I'm more conservative, I suppose, but I'm definitely moderate.. I think gay marriage should be made legal and that the government really shouldn't be able to restrict abortion, especially since it would be unsafe, but I think that the war in Iraq was necessary.
So please, if you have a vote now, be informed, and everyone can we please quit segregating ourselves? Know the issues, form your own opinion, and then take a stand.
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The poster you're referring to said that the Democrats were more intelligent than to sit there while our country was under attack and read My Pet Goat to a bunch of second graders instead of making a polite excuse and arranging to return to the school another day.
http://www.progressiveu.org/160000-president-reads-my-pet-goat-while-the-word-to-the-towers-is-sit-tight#comment-9695
And by the way...don't forget the comment about integrity: Abramoff, Noe, Ney, Duke, Delay, Rove, Cheney, Libby, Harris...those are the current Republicans under FORMAL investigation by prosecutors in this country.
I didn't know you could stack BS that high.
Now back to the point of the thread:
It is possible to identify with a political party and still keep up with the issues. If you're a responsible person, you can vote intelligently without worries.
Oh I definitely agree with you, but there are so many people who are just arbitrarily like "I'M A DEMOCRAT" and I think it's rediculous.
But I dont think its arbitrarily. How do you chose your political party in the first place? Im sure you do not guess a number between one and ten and whoever guesses the number closest to the one you picked is now your political party. People associate themselves with a certain group of people based on interests and beliefs. You are right that a lot of people are uninformed, but they chose that politcal party at one time for a specific reason. And switching sides based on corruption is a joke. IF this year's scandel is a R, then next years big story will be about a D. IT happens to both parties.