Third Party Blues
What is Left? What is Right?
With the 2006 elections coming up, I've been wondering how I'm going to vote. However, as a registered Libertarian, I don't have much of a choice. In Florida, I cannot vote for Senator, Governor or Chief Financial Officer. Only Democrats can vote for Democrats, Republicans can only vote Republican, any other third party (including the wrongly named Independent) is left with judges, state reps, and school board members.
Being a member of the LP is a bit like being in the New York Mets. The Red Sox and the Yankees seem to get all the press, and the fans are rabid, frothing and constantly at war with one another. While the Dems and the Repubs continue to devote their time to a majority voting populace that many times can't tell the difference between the two parties ("conservatives want to be your father and liberals want to be your mother"), Libertarians are left to wander the wilderness. Yet the 2 big teams are constantly stealing from the LP idea playbook.
What is a Libertarian, anyway? Could it be that it's the only party left that holds any hope for this country? Why is it that some of our most popular politicians....John McCain, Barack Obama....have some libertarian ideals? Why do I get the feeling that conservatives aren't really conservative, and isn't advocating "social conservativism" a contradiction of the noble conservative premise of "smaller government" in the first place? Why has the anti-gay, anti-woman "family values" agenda taken the place of real values, like accountability, honesty, integrity, personal responsibility, and a restrained and rational foreign policy?
How do conservatives, who claim they want a smaller govt., justify its increasing intrusion into our bedrooms, our bodies, our churches, our culture and media? And it seems that liberals, for all their talk of inclusion and tolerance, seem to want bigger govt. AND bigger controls over our behavior. Go figure. Are the only people out there with any influence at all the exact ones who actually want a nanny or patriarch state, the so-called "Values Voters?"
So, I was thinking of leaving the NY Mets to join either the Red Sox or the Yankees. Just so I could be with a heavy hitting team for once. Just so maybe my vote would count for once. Maybe I could find a candidate that would represent the best compromise....not too Conservo-Facist, not too Demo-Socialist. But after reading the above article, I'm sticking to my Libertarian guns. I'm sick of trying to peak behind their disguises.
So, with all the open-ended questions I've been asking, can anyone tell me what is Right, and what is Left? Better yet, what is Left for anyone sick of the phony 2 party system we have today? And what is Right about any of it? Not much. In being forced into deciding between the lesser of two evils, I will opt out of that game and I will give a vote to the only party I think gives this country any hope at all. The LP may not be perfect. The fans may not be as rabid, frothing and war mongering. But until I see a candidate that is as close to Libertarian as one can get, I won't settle for Republicans or Democrats who quick-change their masks in order to gather votes.
With the 2006 elections coming up, I've been wondering how I'm going to vote. However, as a registered Libertarian, I don't have much of a choice. In Florida, I cannot vote for Senator, Governor or Chief Financial Officer. Only Democrats can vote for Democrats, Republicans can only vote Republican, any other third party (including the wrongly named Independent) is left with judges, state reps, and school board members.
Being a member of the LP is a bit like being in the New York Mets. The Red Sox and the Yankees seem to get all the press, and the fans are rabid, frothing and constantly at war with one another. While the Dems and the Repubs continue to devote their time to a majority voting populace that many times can't tell the difference between the two parties ("conservatives want to be your father and liberals want to be your mother"), Libertarians are left to wander the wilderness. Yet the 2 big teams are constantly stealing from the LP idea playbook.
What is a Libertarian, anyway? Could it be that it's the only party left that holds any hope for this country? Why is it that some of our most popular politicians....John McCain, Barack Obama....have some libertarian ideals? Why do I get the feeling that conservatives aren't really conservative, and isn't advocating "social conservativism" a contradiction of the noble conservative premise of "smaller government" in the first place? Why has the anti-gay, anti-woman "family values" agenda taken the place of real values, like accountability, honesty, integrity, personal responsibility, and a restrained and rational foreign policy?
How do conservatives, who claim they want a smaller govt., justify its increasing intrusion into our bedrooms, our bodies, our churches, our culture and media? And it seems that liberals, for all their talk of inclusion and tolerance, seem to want bigger govt. AND bigger controls over our behavior. Go figure. Are the only people out there with any influence at all the exact ones who actually want a nanny or patriarch state, the so-called "Values Voters?"
So, I was thinking of leaving the NY Mets to join either the Red Sox or the Yankees. Just so I could be with a heavy hitting team for once. Just so maybe my vote would count for once. Maybe I could find a candidate that would represent the best compromise....not too Conservo-Facist, not too Demo-Socialist. But after reading the above article, I'm sticking to my Libertarian guns. I'm sick of trying to peak behind their disguises.
So, with all the open-ended questions I've been asking, can anyone tell me what is Right, and what is Left? Better yet, what is Left for anyone sick of the phony 2 party system we have today? And what is Right about any of it? Not much. In being forced into deciding between the lesser of two evils, I will opt out of that game and I will give a vote to the only party I think gives this country any hope at all. The LP may not be perfect. The fans may not be as rabid, frothing and war mongering. But until I see a candidate that is as close to Libertarian as one can get, I won't settle for Republicans or Democrats who quick-change their masks in order to gather votes.
posted by Bostonbootgirl at 8:37 AM
2 Comments:
That's absolute crap that you can't vote for the major players and are left being only able to vote for the leftovers. There is something seriously wrong with Florida's voting system.
In Massachusetts, I was a registered "independent" not because of any great love of independents but because I vote for the candidate and the issues, not the party. I was excluded from the primaries, but nothing else.
Instead of joining one of the major parties, the third party members need to band together and get Florida law changed so you all have a say and not just the so-called majority.
BTW, on an interesting side note voting is mandatory in Australia - the only Western country (I believe) to do so.
There's something seriously wrong with the voting across the US as a whole. Florida just seems to be a little more screwed than others. Though I don't know about the voting around the country, so there could be someone seriously screwed up.
The "Two-Party System" idea has run its course. The ideas and beliefs of this country are not just black and white (or red and blue, if you want). While there needs to be some level of "control" on who can run on an official ballot (so you don't get the fiasco in the California governors race), every person should have the right to vote for whomever they want. If you're a registered Republican and want to vote for John Kerry, that should be your choice and RIGHT. Both "leading" parties claim their all for peoples rights and the second something doesn't go their way, they will jump up and say, "No, no, no, that's not a right you need to have."
Anyone should be able to vote in a primary. If I see a Democrat running early on that I think will be the best person in the end, shouldn't I be able to vote for them over the other 5 people they're running against?
And don't get me started on the "Electoral College." It's an archaic system designed during the days when the government leaders thought that the common man would make mistakes in their votes, so they'd take care of things for everyone.
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