[Paleopsych] electile dysfunction

[Michael Christopher]

>>We can no longer afford to think of the Democrats 
as the alternative to the Republicans.<<

--If you want a third party to succeed, you'll need
someone young, wise and charismatic. I'm not sure
someone like that can be found who wouldn't be torn
apart in the primaries. It takes a lot of money to
win, and only the Democrats have the means to compete
with Republicans in the media. I'm pretty sure there
will have to be a Democrat in 08 before an independent
party can get into the debates and act as a balance.
As long as war and security issues take precedence
over alternative fuels and new ideas for domestic
policy, Greens don't have much chance on the Federal
level. But if Bush's approval rating sinks low enough
in his second term (I think without Kerry to draw
fire, Bush will have trouble justifying the results of
his policies) there may be room for an independent
candidate to get enough of the vote to start competing
with the two major parties. But if someone like McCain
ran in 08, he'd probably have an easy win. Hopefully
that would come with a shift in the GOP to marginalize
"culture war" Republicans and favor traditional
economic conservatives. Either way, any real change in
American culture is going to have to be done without
government help. We can no longer expect someone
decent to get into office and fix everything, so we'll
have to focus energy on local elections and grassroots
change. 

If it were all up to me, I'd push a states' rights
agenda, and allow conservative areas to try out their
ideas and discover why they don't work. Allow liberal
states to decriminalize gay marriage and marijuana,
see if the sky falls or not. That would strengthen the
country against the fragmenting influence of the
"culture war" and relieve some of the paranoia. If
that means Alabama banning abortion and women
streaming out of the South, so be it. Let the men
fight over the virgins, and let everyone else have the
freedom to do what they want.

Michael



		
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