Like it or not, they exist and are a part of any political system.

I register Green Party in California to help them maintain the mandatory percentage registration threshold for statewide ballot access.

Good lord....you are one of those "no labels" morons, aren't you? The purpose of political parties is so that those with generally similar ideas -- say, lower taxes -- can identify and organize. Politics is a power game, and consoldiating power under the construct of "political parties" is efficient.

It's so tiring to hear, time and time again, the (no doubt...) young whelps that have been instructed by their government leaders what to think to tell us that parties are bad.

I will **guarantee** that whenver this assclown does vote, he votes Democrat....but is just so ashamed of the failed leadership of his party he is suddenly against the idea of parties.

If he truly is against parties (i.e. like-minded people getting together in a room) then he is a wish-washy fool with no principles, no standards, who one day believes "A" and the next believes "Not A"...

Bahhh...

Back a few decades ago, political parties at the local level would help out voters in return for your votes. Whether it was cutting through red tape with government agencies or getting you a job, the local party boss rewarded your support with something tangible. Now only the big contributors get any real reward with bill provisions slipped into major bills to help them. Some politicians will still help their constituents, but those are usually just messages to an agency to fix a request like the VA troubles.

Krellin, i am fine with a group of people with similar ideals, im sure if i went around the country i could find a group i agree with. but Democrats or Republicans? you are a moron TO side with one of them! they have both become radicalized and even if 50% of them are decent americans, the power generally lays with the ones who are self serving.

Krellin there are such things as 'no labels' morons but dont you think that i am one of them. Did you watch the videos? cause that is how i feel. NO GOOD OPTIONS. I dont believe 'A' on day and 'not A' the next and quite frankly, it is the older generations who have fucked stuff up. actions without considering the consequences. And what on earth do you think is happening in America you dipshit?
"It's so tiring to hear, time and time again, the (no doubt...) young whelps that have been instructed by their government leaders what to think to tell us that parties are bad."
That is NOT how that works, honestly man that is idiotic.

Lastly Krellin, political parties only work for good if 100% of the party is well informed and understands the stances of the party. If you TRULY believe that is the case in America today then you are helpless. Otherwise you must see their flaws

A few *decades* ago? lol How about since the advent of politics....

This idiocy that political parties are some new nemesis is *childish* thinking. The idea that political parties are somehow bad is *childish* thinking.

They can be bad....but they can also be good.

The problem isn't with political parties -- it is with asswipes that refuse to vote...especially in the primaries -- where the real change takes place when you replace the corrupt politicians from the ballot.

It's so tiring to listen to immature, illogical douchebags bitch and complain about a system that they OPENLY ADMIT THEY DO NOT FULLY PARTICIPATE IN!! You are the PROBLEM!!

YanIK - my above post was cross-posted, and not to you....but everything in it aplies to you.

What do you want? NO Parties? And suddenly you think you will be in some sort of government paradise? Are you that freaking niave?

And if you think the voters are ill-informed -- your response is to....what? Help them be informed? Or bury your fucking head in the sand and NOT vote?

YOU are the jackass in this conversation -- the moron that "hates" the parties, sees all the flaws, bitches and complains like every other DEMOCRAT that got skunked last voting cycle....and yet your response is to NOT participate fully?

Answer honestly -- what percentage of your vote is Democrat versus Republican? Becuase your No-Parties bullshit line is typical Democrat playbook nonsense when "non-party" organizations run away from the corrupt Democrat party in the4 name of moderatation, blah blah blah...and then *amazingly* you alwasy support the Democrat.

So you are either a liar, or a gullible fool. Either way, you are, by self-admission, part of the problem.

"NO GOOD OPTIONS."

OK. Then vote for the "lesser of two evils" or work to create a good option.

Yanik, did you vote last cycle? If not, this thread is over.

Im actually 16 years old and cant vote yet so IM ADDRESSING POLITICAL CONCERNS BEFORE THEY ACTUALLY APPLY!!! also IM NOT A FUCKING DEMOCRAT YOU DUMBASS.

now since that is out of the way. and what do i want?
-i want nuclear power to be integrated more and more into america. we produce 30% of the nuclear power in the world to day but i want that to go up. Look at France, they were doing pretty poorly but then they go 75% nuclear and their economy is on the upturn
-i want social security to be redistributed ti whatever loss the government takes and the program stopped. It seemed good but the early retirees and FDR messed it up too much and many people are only getting 0.75$ to the dollar back.
-Foreign Aid to be divided and at least 15% be put into the fight against poverty in america, not out.
-Lastly i want people to realize that voting Democratic or Republican can be bad. Vote for the best solution, not for the party.
the first 3 are my views on how to get back on track, the last 1 is how to stay there
was that not the answer you were looking for Krellin? were you looking for a childish misinformed answer? cause that's not the case. I said I don't think voting is always important. With the choices ive seen i dont have much confidence at all in our political system.

"This idiocy that political parties are some new nemesis is *childish* thinking. The idea that political parties are somehow bad is *childish* thinking."

Political parties have been around for years. Hamilton believed people could not be trusted and we need a strong central government to regulate us. Jefferson believed people were inherently responsible and that the government should be less intrusive into people's lives. Thus were founded the federalist and democrat-republic parties.

from what ive seen, everyday people are NOT competent but NEITHER is our government good in representing the people. Then we split into Democrat vs Republicans and here is a pdf which does an okay job of summing up the stances:
http://www.svgop.com/files/Differences%20Between%20Republicans%20and%20Democrats.pdf
from what ive read, i would label myself a republican if anything, yet i have seen many good ideas from democrats be dismissed simply because they're democrats. This happens too much and we have to face that fact AND deal with it

Iirc, JY is too young to have voted last time around.

I will no longer vote unless the candidate or proposal in question has won my vote. None of the "lesser of two evils" horseshit - the two evils, averaged together, are so evil that I think endorsing any of it by voting, and inflating turnout numbers, creates a false impression of a mandate, a false impression of democracy. I will vote if someone or something is proposed that I feel represents me. Otherwise I will not.

I no longer harbor any negativity toward people who didn't vote along the lines of "you didn't vote, you don't get to complain." The decision not to vote is in defense of democracy, and people who do not vote are symptoms of a democratic deficit at least as often, and probably more often, than they are a cause.

As it stands there is only one party. And as long as money influences politics the way it has begun to do in the United States over the course of my life, I will not vote for a one-party state.

Would you blame a Russian for not bothering to go to the polls?

The parties used to help the individual voter, but now all they want is money for ads to brainwash the voter. Parties exist to get money to give to candidates. Candidates get money to help themselves and give to other candidates going for other offices for their support. All of them think of voters as sheep that will follow along.

Ah, South Park, possibly the best social commentary of our time.

As for not being a democrat, there is an easy way to find out: http://www.people-press.org/quiz/political-typology/ and fortunately that actually puts you on a political spectrum.

When it comes to the broken two party system, it is a natural outgrowth of our First Past the Post voting system. An alternative one that helps minor parties (allow more voices) would be Mixed Member Proportional voting, and there are some other more effecient ones such as Instant Runoff and the Single Transferable Vote.

and lesser of two evils? here is a scenario:
Person A Person B Person C all run for office. Person A is republican, Person B is democrat, Person C is independent. You dislike foreign policy of A but you dont like economic ideals of person B. Person C you like so you vote for him to 'progress' but he loses and you have a choice. You go ahead and vote for Person A.

Here is my problem: if you are unsure about everyone else in the election, is it fine to vote for someone? I am an avid sports fan. If youre team makes it to the semifinals along with 3 other teams who you despise. Youre team loses horribly but you still have tickets to the finals (i dont know how, you just do) who do you root for? you hate the other two teams, they go against your team!

In politics I find it hard to trust anyone because I can't remember the last honest, competent, President. It always feels like selling your soul

and those videos were how i feel

@James: First off, you wouldn't buy finals tickets for the other teams, and since often finals tickets are linked to the team you buy them for....you don't have to worry.

Regardless, voting is always better than not voting, and if you dislike the system, advocate for a change instead of complaining about the lack of choices.

JY, first off, *do not trust anything one party says about the other.*

Silicon Valley GOP isn't going to say anything nice about the Democrats, and vice versa. That PDF does a horrible job illustrating the differences between the parties. Keep looking.

Voting *is* always important, at least in the United States. I can see the case for protest votes in emerging democracies. But by and large, our elections are free and fair so just do it.

Cynical politicians, usually those much older than our youth, *know* that the young folks will tend to vote for candidates or propositions that shake up the established order. That's why there is always a subtle undercurrent of negativity in campaigns which will turn off those with novel approaches and perspectives. Conservatives, by their nature, especially fear charting a course into unknown territory.

Our government is pretty good at representing people, but it could always be better. You've come of political age during of the greatest gridlock we've seen in recent memory, so it *seems* that government isn't doing anything.

The biggest legislative achievement of the Obama administration is the Affordable Care Act. After that was signed into law in March 2010, there has been virtually nothing due to gridlock. Normally this is not the case, but it is the norm you have experienced, so keep that in perspective.

I'll end by reiterating my first point: "Do not trust anything one party says about the other." I more frequently hear Republicans say, "Democrats want to...[destroy society / make us socialists / steal from you / etc] and it's all political posturing. If someone is selling you on how bad the other guy is, that doesn't mean he's got any better ideas, if any at all.

"I will no longer vote unless the candidate or proposal in question has won my vote."

grumpycatgood.jpg

Great, my vote matters more.

NO vashta... the fact that i have tickets to the final isnt even god enough: i have to go to the finals AND i have to root for a team-THAT is how i feel with a lot of the recent choices for the President!!!

And Thucy I agree with you: voting for someone you dont believe in creates a false sense of democracy. And Vashta
"Regardless, voting is always better than not voting, and if you dislike the system, advocate for a change instead of complaining about the lack of choices."
By voting for Person C that was my only way to advocate for change but when that failed... what else is there?

@ Vashta

I'm not sure how good that site of yours is. Apparently I'm in the conservative fringe of Next Generation Left, which seems wrong somehow...

@ James

"Voting for someone you dont believe in creates a false sense of democracy..."

*VOTING IS DEMOCRACY.*

If your candidate didn't advance, well, then they were weighed, measured, and found wanting by the electorate. That doesn't mean you should give up. Sometimes rooting for the next best candidate can be rewarding too.

If your professional sports team of choice didn't advance, then cheer for the team with the most players from your college alma mater. Or sell the tickets to a scalper. Lots of options. Be creative and find them.

When I was 5 or 6 and talking to my friends i remember a specific conversation we had. One of my friends James (different James) wanted to be a fireman or a train engineer. Ben wanted to be an astronaut. I wanted to be a banker- I was young... so young :'( - but spencer said he wanted to be the President. We all thought that it was impossible, how could he be President? to our seven year old brains we thought that meant being the smartest, bravest, strongest man in the country, maybe the world! Even Ben thought being an astronaut would be easier! I dont know why i remember this so well... i have few memories past age 8, but this one stuck, simply because of how satirical it could be inferred!

Jeff Kuta... LISTEN TO ME!!! Voting for me is like HAVING TO GO TO THAT FINALS GAME AND HAVING TO CHEER FOR AND SUPPORT ONE OF MY RIVALS!!!

selling the tickets and not going: IS LIKE NOT VOTING!!!

I love it when analogies break down.

JY, I HEAR YOU.

It certainly *feels* that way. And in fact it *is* that way. But that's how our primary / general election system works. If you want to change the election system, then find the parties that want that and support them. Go full meta.

"In politics I find it hard to trust anyone because I can't remember the last honest, competent, President.'

Do you think it is more likely that every president ever was a huge asshole and if only *your guy* was elected things would be different, or do you think that there is something inherent to the system that leads to these results you don't like?

As Vashta alluded to, your complaint is basically (or at least, if you actually want to get to the source of your complaint) a complaint about our voting structure, not about republicans and democrats. If you are interested in that kind of stuff, and it seems like you are, you should look into some voting theory like Vashta suggested and heck, maybe even push for voting reform.

Well said uclabb +1

The other thing to look for is endorsements. A candidate who is defeated will frequently endorse one of their rivals for the position. Typically, that's the strongest candidate of the same party, but that's not always the case. A handful of mainstream GOP candidates who were "primaried" by the Tea Party endorsed Democrats for the general election this past cycle.