The End of Political Parties?

[babylonsister]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/8199

The End of Political Parties?
by Timothy Gatto | Jun 19 2007


Michael Bloomberg has forsaken the GOP. That’s good news for anyone that likes Michael Bloomberg and has a vested interest in good government. Bloomberg is one of those rare birds that come along all too infrequently that have no personal agenda except leaving the world a little better than when he found it. He a guy that has conquered the private sector, achieving all of his goals (or so it would seem) and now wants to “give back” to the world that has given him so much.

I’m not saying that I approve of everything he stands for; I don’t know that much about him. All I know about him is that he has managed to run New York City well and that many in New York, a Democratic stronghold, love him. I know he only takes a dollar a year for his salary, and works hard for the people of New York City. The fact that he brought a giant kiss-off to the party of Lincoln, the party that gave us George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, warms my heart. The fact that he did not run to the pretenders for political backing, tells me that he realizes what many of us already know, that the Democrats are no catch either. It would be the greatest thing that ever happened if political parties in the nation just suffered a quick and brutal death at the hands of those that realize that party politics leads to bad governance.

I would like to see Michael Bloomberg run for President and win. It would send a message that should have been heard when Ross Perot almost took out the Republican Party. When is the American public going to learn that power breeds corruption? Could you see elections without party politics based on the Clean Elections initiative that is slowly making its way into the political jargon of some states? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to vote for a person instead of a party? Could you imagine if political parties were a thing of the past? How very different our lives would be when the Congress could vote for a bill and not for the party that sponsored it. How very different if people could vote for a real person with their own values instead of a platform of ideas put up by a group of people with shared agendas.

This idea of having no political parties scares some people that have been attached to one political party or another. While it is true that I was once a Democrat, I am no more. Will I ever vote for a Democrat? Maybe, but I could vote for an Independent or a liberal Republican or a Green or even a Socialist. It all depends on where they stand on issues. I will say one thing through, and I wish that all Progressives and Liberals, in fact everyone one would do the same; I will NEVER send money to another political party for the rest of the time that I am here on Earth. Political parties achieve nothing in our world of today.

In the world we live in, through the internet and all of the mass communication venues we have, ANYONE could launch their own campaign and let people know where they stand on any subject. It doesn’t take a party affiliation to run a campaign. Back before they had the internet, newspaper and television campaigns took an extraordinary amount of money. Now you can go to Mike Gravel’s website for example and learn everything you want to know. No longer do we need to rely on vast financing from a group of corporate controlled people. I didn’t bring this development on them; the technology of today has brought it to this point. The bottom line is that we don’t NEED political parties. People are bright enough to decide for themselves on who supports what they believe in. The two party system will eventually die. I just hope that it does during my lifetime. They have done enough damage in the last decade. All of the money that has been spent on political parties investigating each other (courtesy of the federal budget) and the gridlocks on legislation; witness the Immigration Bills, National Health care and the minimum wage, not to mention the debacle in Iraq. Maybe Mike Bloomberg is just the first of many; maybe someday we won’t have this artificial divide splitting people into one group or another. Maybe we are witnessing the end of the political party as we know it, one can only hope.

[corkhead]

1. I think we could do worse than Bloomberg, but my concern is he will split the vote of sane people

and give pukes another 4 years in the WH. I am seriously not sure this country could survive another 4 years of puke rule.

I plan to do all I can between now and the election to make sure that doesn't happen. If it means supporting him to do that, I wouldn't rule it out.

[TransitJohn]

2. We don't need no political parties

...we need more viable political parties. If there were more, they'd be forced to build coalitions, and that's how the people's interests are served, and problems get solved.

[OneBlueSky]

3. an independent Bloomberg candidacy would be the monkey wrench of all monkey wrenches . . .

in the 2008 election . . . and provide the Repugs with probably their one and only chance of holding onto the presidency . . . other than BushCo outright canceling the election due to a "national emergency," that is . . .

[Tyrone Slothrop]

4. As a New Yorker, I don't know anyone who "loves him"

The best thing that most people say about him is that they don't hate him.

[Larkspur]

5. Instead of political parties you'd end up with cults of the personalities

if you got rid of political parties. You most likely would end up with an outright oligarchy.

The problem we have in the USA is not political parties but a crisis in leadership and it's primary cause is Big Money interests corrupting both parties and attacking anyone who challenges their power.