Abolish the Parties!?

[wildbilln864]

"Former 3rd party Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura claims that political parties, including third parties, should be abolished in order to root out corruption in a broken system.....


.....He argues that Americans would then have to vote for an individual as opposed to mindlessly voting the party line. "
more... :hi:

[uncommon]

1. I agree. I think this is long overdue.

[Tesha]

2. Given how well the "Two Party" system has served us, ...

...I've started to think that's a good idea as well.

After all, we just mostly voting for the representatives of
big corporations and big interest groups anyway, so why
maintain the charade that they represent different parties?

Tesha

[damntexdem]

3. Didn;t work before, won't now.

The 'Founding Fathers' didn't want parties, but they happened anyway.

True, the parties evolved, and some died and got replaced; but that is hard to see happening under current laws. Unless the U.S. adopted proportional voting or parliamentary representation, it's hard to see the destruction of the two-party oligopoly that we have.

[Ozymanithrax]

4. Parties were not included in the Constitution....

However, they are protected under freedom of association, which was used to throw a California Law that mandated absolutely open primaries back in 2000.

The communist party was outlawed in the Communist Control Act of 1955. So, I supposed it could be done. In 1961, the Supreme Court ruled that ruled that the act did not bar the party from participating in New York's unemployment insurance system. An Arizona district court in 1973 ruled the law unconstitutional, but the SCOTUS has never taken up whether the Communist Party or any party can be outlawed. No administration has ever enforced the act.

Some cities, including San Diego, have decided certain offices are non-partisan and the candidates parties are not listed, but everyone knows which party they belong to, so in San Diego it is a stupid law.

So I would ask of Mr. Ventura, how would he Outlaw Parties, and with whose congress, Senate, and Executive Branch would he do this.

I suspect, it would require a Constitutional Amendment, but that would have to be passed by party members on both side.

[SCantiGOP]

9. I agree

It would take a constitutional amendment, which would be a dangerous step. Also, the Communist Party is not illegal now; that was the paranoid fever of the 50s that allowed that constitutional travesty to occur.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. Depolarizing the thinking of America.

That might lead to critical thinking.

It will never happen.

[RaleighNCDUer]

6. The fact is, people will always gather around like minded people and support

like-minded people. That's how parties are born. The moment one person runs for office saying "I'm going to support doing XXX", everyone who hears and also supports XXX will coalesce around his candidacy.

That's a political party.

[rucky]

7. But without the labels, people would actually have to pay attention.

Parties nowadays are a bit of an ideological mish-mash within the broader deliniation of left/right, but they do serve as a way to funnel money to politicians who don't really have any socially redeeming ideas, and people vote for them anyways.

[Lucky 13]

8. Wait... we have PARTIES??

It's so damn hard to tell them apart now-a-days. Probably because I'm a drug addict and retarded.

Anywho... yeah, I think it's a good idea. In terms of the way I view candidate... I'm already there. Party means nothing to me. What is your platform? What is your stance on the issues? Be specific please. And my vote will be EARNED that way.

These DINOs and Log Cabin Republicans and DLCers and 3rd parties have pretty much turned my ideology on its head.

[blondeatlast]

10. I think that would (hard to believe, mind you) INCREASE political corruption.

Especially with the CU decision. At that point, we may as well just let them wear advertising. :shrug: