Voting and the two party system

[ayoub]

This is merely my opinion... Feel free to discuss :)

Voting; the right to choose your leaders, is something people fought and died for. Men toppled monarchies to have a democracy. Women protested until they had a vote. All the ethnic groups fought hard to be given this right. To not vote, and to ignore your right to choose a leader, is an insult to their efforts and memory. The weight of every lost soldier, suffragette, murdered slave, and revolutionary, is behind the power to vote.

A three or more party system is a good thing, but its main weakness as I see it, is when it comes to having clear leadership. A country needs a clear and shared vision among those who are chosen to lead it.

Between Labour (Democrat) and Conservative (Republican), here in the UK, stand the Liberals. The Liberals barely had enough candidates at the last election to form a majority, and it takes a majority to make those difficult choices.The majority here in England, in my view have made some very bad choices, but can I trust a hung parliament to lead? Can I trust a parliament with no clear direction to manage the country in a crisis?

The benefit of a two party system is in the ability for one or the other to have a majority, but the weakness is in having to pick the lesser of two evils. The Conservatives here would have gone to war quicker than the Labour party. Once Tony Blair is replaced, I would have no hesitation in voting Labour, because until the Liberals can prove they have the numbers to rule, I feel any vote for them is wasted, in that, it would take a vote away from Labour, and increase the chance of a Conservative government.

Two party politics sucks, but I'll stick with it until a third party can prove it has the power to lead... And that hasn't happened here yet.

---

Special note to my siblings: I know you guys are for multi-party politics, and I'm not trying to offend you, but you know how it is when I start thinking about stuff like this, I just have to get it out!

Comments

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

To not vote, and to ignore your right to choose a leader, is an insult to their efforts and memory.

I would have to respectfully disagree. Some folks just don't have the resources to make an informed decision as to who/what they should vote for. Voting under those circumstances, blindly and with no idea what you're supporting/condemning, is a far greater insult to the people living now, to say nothing of those who died for democracy. I wish everyone would cast an informed vote. But I'd rather they just stayed at home if they're planning on playing eeny-meeny-miny-mo with their ballot or voting for whoever they happened to see last on TV.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

I'd counter that by saying most people know whether their happy with the way their country is run, and if not, pick the other guy...

Simplistic, I know, but hey :D

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

Point taken, but that assumes they have any idea if the other plans to do anything differently or not...

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Yep :D

[the-ravyn.livejournal.com]

I'm not offended at all.  What you have presented here is a well thought out and informed opinion.  I wish to gods we had more people like you here in the US.

The fact that many people here to day vote based on the most superficial reasons is what irks me to no end.  For example, if someone tells me they voted Democrat and I ask them why, their response is usually "because I always vote Democrat."  When I ask them what platform is the Democratic candidate running on, they can't answer.  Some even become defensive and say something like, "It doesn't matter!  I wouldn't be caught dead voting Republican!"  If I engage them further and tell them they don't have to vote for a Republican, but can actually vote a 3rd party candidate (if one is on the ballot) if they think he or she is presenting a better way of running government affairs, they give me that RCA dog head tilt and that "WTF?" look in their eyes.

While the right to vote is a privilege to all of us here in the free world, an informed vote is worth more than its weight in gold.

[mysticpickle.livejournal.com]

LOL! I know exactly what you mean by the RCA dog head tilt and the WTF look when you mention another party other than Rep. and Dem. If I had a dollar for every person who said to me Ross who? When I mention ross Perot I would be wealthy enough to buy the government...lol.

[the-ravyn.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAHA!  You and me both! :)

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

Yep, and we had a great chat about it too! :D

**Grins**

[infinitywhisper.livejournal.com]

This is a conversation I would love to explore with you face to face. . . so I'll hold my comments until then.

Re: **Grins**

[mysticpickle.livejournal.com]

Me too.... Oh.... crap...I remembered... I won't be there. Well, think of me in spirit and I'll try to communicate telepathicly...LMAO!

Re: **Grins**

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

**GRIN**

Can't wait!

[mysticpickle.livejournal.com]

Have you ever heard the old saying "To keep your friends your friends and not turn them to enemys never discuss money, religion, or politics."?? Just wondered.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

But those topics are FUN!

[mjtheanarchist.livejournal.com]

I...um....anarchy?

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Well, of course, that would be the ideal :D

[sirenity.livejournal.com]

Re: Voting - Yes, agreed. Ignoring your right to vote and/or ignoring to do research so that you vote in an informed manner is simply ignorant.

Re: 2 vs 3/more party system - Although technically we (USA) live in a 3/more party system, we can all agree that it's basically being led by 2 parties. Sadly, the party system here is a mess. In my opinion, it has become a fund raising monster that is led to represent itself with the leading 'it' topics in order to generate/feed said monster with more funding. If you really want to be an informed voter, you have to try and dig past the huge PR spins that lead the parties in this fund raising feast. Ahhh well, politics. =)

With that said, what I see as another huge fault in the system is the blinding frenzy that is spun with being forced into saying you are either a Republican or Democrat. Depending on where you live, if you're the "other" party, minds are closed, debates are shut down in anger and no sense of communication is passed between party lines. To me, that's just ridiculous. Where is the debate and democracy in that?

I have never voted based on a party. Generally, I vote for people that I feel are responsible/intelligent enough to listen to what I have to say and will have an open mind on various topics. And I have lots to say. =) I can give you the email address' to most of my representatives. I email them. And generally, they actually email me back! I voice my opinions on topics that I consider to affect me in my personal life and many times, I write on behalf of the board that I am on for the mommy/baby group. I wish more people would do the same because, especially in our small community, our representatives listen. Heck, one representative that I write to all the time showed up to Ralph's art show! =)

Anyway, as an example of my non-party ties, today, I voted for a Republican Governor and a Democratic Senator.

To be honest, I wish there were a different system other than partys. I wish there was a way for the people to truly vote on specific topics instead of broad generalities. Until that happens, I will continue to cast my "dual" vote and hope that the issues that I find important are brought to light with my support. And yeah, until then, I'm stuck with the two (actually 3 or more but you know) party political system that we have in place.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

You made an informed decision and stuck to your values :D

What more can be asked for?

[sirenity.livejournal.com]

World domination?

Oh, I dunno know. ;)

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

LMAO!

Run for office!

[red-bull.livejournal.com]

women got the right to vote? :O





*ligjht blue touch paper and stand wellll back* ;)

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

LOL! :D

**stands back to watch**

What's a Tory?

[mighty-rontor.livejournal.com]

I remember them from the comedy "Coupling."

Re: What's a Tory?

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

The word "Tory" means "Thief"... And it's the nickname of the Conservative party :D

Re: What's a Tory?

[mighty-rontor.livejournal.com]

Sounds like an epithet of sorts! =)

Re: What's a Tory?

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

LOL! :D

[crescent-fresh.livejournal.com]

i didn't vote yesterday, because i haven't registered in ohio yet, and i knew my vote would be meaningless in kentucky (where i'm still registered); i think 52% of the people in that state just vote 'straight republican ticket' and don't worry about the candidates/issues. but ohio voted in the guy who wants to take god out of government, so i'm excited!

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

W00t for Ohio!