Yesterday, my AP Government class held a mock town-hall style debate, after which the rest of the senior class cast their ballots. Four different parties ran, the Republicans, Democrats, Greens, and Centrists.
I come from a small, conservative ranching community where you see nothing but McCain and yes on Prop 8 signs (for those of you who don't know, proposition 8 is on the California ballot. It aims to change the California state Constitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman, effectively banning gay marriage in this state).
That said, I ran for the Green Party and am very excited to announce the Greens got 4 of 136 votes!
The Centrists, a new party founded in 2006 that aims to pull politics toward a more moderate playing field, end the gridlock, and de-polarize the nation took first.
The Democrats took 2nd, and the Republicans got 3rd. Even though my party came in last, I am pleased with our results and think more people will start moving toward Green ideals.
I'm not making this post to encourage people to join the Green Party (though I'd love it if you did). I'm only here to comment on the change that is occurring in our youth and also mention how positive this exercise was for my entire class.
(If you're curious about the Green Party, let me know. I'd love to talk about it, I'm just assuming most people already know a bit about it).
Playing Politics
By lennon12 - Posted on October 31st, 2008
I'm a little miffed (well, not really) that both the Green Party and "Centrists" (whatever they are) were on this ballot, while the third largest political party in the United States was left out: the Libertarians (and they have a far more unique platform than most other third parties). Not that this is terribly important- after all, it was just a classroom exercise. However, it does reflect that Libertarians are often unfairly overlooked.
It's good to hear your Gov class actually did something that sounds fun and useful. Mine was terrible- my teacher was so concerned with being politically correct that all controversy and potential for disagreement was prohibited. Well, I guess that's public high school for you...
I don't endorse the Libertarian Party, but I recently had to spend a good ten minutes explaining to my Geography class what a "libertarian" was.
"when you hold a pen, you are at war" Attributed to Voltaire
I don't endorse the Libertarian Party, but I recently had to spend a good ten minutes explaining to my Geography class what a "libertarian" was.
"when you hold a pen, you are at war" Attributed to Voltaire
Each student picked the party they most closely aligned themselves with, which is why the Libertarians were left out. None of my classmates felt the Libertarians adequately represented their views. The Libertarians were included on the ballot, just not the debate.
Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.
I am registered Libertarian, but I usually vote green. The green party was pretty small when i registered. I think that what has happened is that the green party has basically taken the same basic stances of the libertarian party, but expanded it to include issues related to the environment.
"Consistency is not a human trait" - Maude, from Harold and Maude