Why Are We Obsessed With Parties Instead of People?
Partisan politics in current society is the worst I’ve even seen in the 50 years I’ve been voting. No one seems to care about the issues anymore. As long as there is an “R” or “D” following their names no one seems to care who the candidate is or what they stand for.
The party lines have become so strict that anyone who strays with any kind of opposing thought is immediately crucified.
Voting With The Party
Democrats blindly vote with their party far more than Republicans.
Of 53 Democrats in the Senate, only 12 vote with their party less than 90% of the time. The lowest Democrat Senator is Joe Manchin, III, who only votes with his party 72.8% of the time.
Republicans, on the other hand, are far more likely to deviate from the party line.
Of the 45 Republican senators only 16 have a rating of voting with the party 90% or more of the time. The lowest Republican Senator is Susan Collins with a record of voting with her party 63.7 percent of the time.
The Way Things Used To Be
I became a student of politics long before I reached voting age. Times were different back then. No ten second sound bites, no comments “off the record,” no obfuscating the facts, and there was compromise.
In politics today there is no room for compromise. “It’s my way or the highway.” The most dangerous place in America is standing between a politician and a TV camera. We let talking heads and party leaders do our thinking for us when it comes to political issues. We blindly follow the “D” or “R.”
Who Pays To Play?
If you are talking politics it won’t be long before you hear either Koch Brothers or George Soros. When you hear someone spouting those names ask them for others. That’s when you get the “deer in headlights look.”
Most people in America have never heard of either the Koch’s or Soros. They are parroting a party line and should be given no credibility for just repeating a name they saw or heard on a political web site. The fact that they don't know any other names speaks volumes as to how informed they are.
If a political party is going to shoot at the opposition, they go for a big target, not a bunch of little ones. That would be way too confusing and boring for the average voter. Plus it takes up too much copy space. Always better to find just one name and dump on them.
What’s In A Name Anyway?
Have you ever heard of:
- Harold Simmons
- Robert J. Perry
- Fred Eychaner
- John Joe Ricketts
- Fred Eshelman
- Robert L. Mercer
- Peter Lewis
- John W. Childs
Those are some of the people who are in the top 20 of political contributors to both parties. You can see the entire list, and who spent what where, here.
Some Final Thoughts
The great statesmen in history were not great because they followed party lines. They were great because they did the right thing for our country. The founding fathers didn’t sit around debating gun control or entitlements. They had much bigger fish to fry.
They formed a nation where people, not parties, could make America a free and prosperous nation. I think our current leaders, blinded by their ideology, have lost sight of that fact. When you vote in November investigate the person, not the party.
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