NationStates Jolt Archive

I have heard people feveriously debate recently about how bad the US two party system is. But lets get the facts straight. Just because this past election was a disaster means nothing, yes John Kerry was an unpopular Democrat, and Bush sucked everyones nuts, but going back in time. 2000 Gore vs. Bush, I dont think that was between two bad candidates, I mean Gore wasnt a dream but he was certainly very good. Just because he had bad charisma means nothing except how much it hurt his voting outcome. 1996 Clinton vs. Dole, This was an exceptional race, Dole was boring and not very good, but Clinton was amazing our econemy boomed, we had a surplus, and yes Clinton did many things to get peace in the Mid East A LOT MORE THAN BUSH EVER DID! 1992 Clinton vs. Bush, Bush was on a scale from 1-10 about a 6, he had amazing foreign policy, such as the Gulf War. Yes I will argue my point. He was very inteligent, he was just bad on the econemy and he gave a bad impression on it, some thought he didnt care. Than we had Clinton who as I said before is amazing.


So before you bash just think of our good presidents, and how recently some of them were.

I hope the rules are relaxed however for third parties, it is very easy for a two party system to become currupt. All the major 2 have to do is make something a non-issue and its not talked about. They also control the legeslation and can make it even more difficult then it is now for 3rd parties just imagine if the debates this season included Green and libertarian Canidates and how people wouldnt feel like they were wasting there vote if they weren't considered minority or 3rd parties. more ideals and idealogys could be expressed as well

What the two party system does is force a choice between voting for one of the two or being meaningless. This has the affect of slightly moderating the candidates’ image and most of the time their positions.

Some people are upset about this because they did not like either candidate. But I don't like it because it devalues extreme opinions, which can sometimes be as important as the moderate ones. For example, a country without a King, Circa 1776.

I would ideally vote for a mix of a Green and Libertarian candidate.

It's sad that any third party that gets big only hurts their closer ideological opponent, such as when Perot hurt Bush Sr. (though Clinton still would have won, but closer) in 1992, and when Nader obviously spoiled Gore's 500 some votes in Florida.