Bloomberg Is Leaving Republican Party

[sctx]

Originally Posted by MikeW

I was counting on that. Watching a bunch of congressmen running around, wondering what the hell is going on, wondering why the president knows every stupid thing we do and then tells the public about it.

i could just hear him........."I don't give a damn if it's 4:30 a.m, we ain't leavin here till we get this done"

[ryberg]

It's not that I don't sympathize... I do sympathize. A parliamentary system of the type found in Europe has seemed pretty appealing to me ever since we first learned there could be, you know, different approaches to a representative democracy, in junior high or whenever that happened to be introduced. It would be great if a party could get some proportional representation in the legislature, for example, even if it's tiny, even if they have to get over a 5% bar in terms of the popular vote or whatever to get started. Then at least they can grow, and as has often been seen, they can be important in their own right, necessary to form coalitions so that a given one of the large parties can govern, etc. It's a more equitable system, I think. It's more like democracy, I think -- fewer sacrifices made to the spirit of democracy as it has practically to enter a representational form. And of course lots and lots of people would like some more serious change, and I'm sympathetic with that, too.

But I fear that sort of hope is inevitably extinguished when you look at how the system really works. No, the Constitution doesn't limit the number of parties or legislate a 2-party system, Ralph Nader and the Greens and others will tell you. But they tell you only the part of the story they want you to hear, as far as I can see. It's not that people are just dense, en masse, and continue voting for the same two parties they complain about, hitting their heads against that wall again and again. The system is tailored to and now built up around 2 parties, and people getting annoyed enough or another generation coming along is not going to result in a wave that rises up and changes that. That's the sort of hippie-era hangover "you say you wanna revolution, you tell me it's the institution, you better change your mind, instead" grassroots, consciousness raising stuff that Heath & Potter so successfully riddled full of holes in terms of any realistic possibility it might offer for change and improvement in society in The Rebel Sell.

Sorry to sound so cynical or curmudgeon-y. I like Obama's approach and that idea of the audacity of hope. I like it, though, in part, because it seems appropriately tempered with real world... well, realism.

Steve

[roni]

Originally Posted by sctx

i could just hear him........."I don't give a damn if it's 4:30 a.m, we ain't leavin here till we get this done"

Congress would have chewed Ross up and spit him out.
No doubt about that.

[Just Lucky]

I am in generally in favor of third party candidates. I am however greatly concerned by what the world might look like should we have another Republican President with similarly poorly thought out domestic and foreign policies as the present one. I don't want to use up all the eek symbols available.

[ryberg]

Originally Posted by southbound

Well, I value your opinion, Steve (except the one about Yes ) and on this topic it's about what I figured it would be and I'm guessing you won't be alone with it.

Nice one.

Originally Posted by southbound

Anyway, I think Charity is right. We might not see it this time around, but I think the revolution is coming. Betcha we'll see it in our lifetime, Steve.

Well I tell you what: we get old and that happens? I owe you a Coke.

You, too, Charity.

You know, I think I feel a song coming on...





Steve

[roni]

Originally Posted by pamplemoose77

maybe not in 2008... but i think as more people from my generation start voting and the babyboomers control starts to decline, it's more and more likely.

honestly, i'd rather "throw away my vote" on a 3rd party candidate than vote for the other guys just to make a point. and more and more people my age feel the same. but i don't have a chart for you

It would probably help if a few more of your generation and the one following you would actually vote.

I voted for an independent candidate back when Anderson, Congressman from Illinois ran as a moderate. I voted for Benjamen Spock, the pediatrician, back when McGovern started kissing Regular Party Ass back in Watergate Days , so I have not been opposed to voting out of the 2 party system.

[pamplemoose77]

Originally Posted by ryberg

Well I tell you what: we get old and that happens? I owe you a Coke.

You, too, Charity.

i don't drink Coke, but i'll take you up on that. maybe i'll like coke by the time the 3rd party woman wins

[Cosmo]

Pretty soon we shall have progress, not congress...or both.

[sctx]

Originally Posted by roni

Congress would have chewed Ross up and spit him out.
No doubt about that.

I don't buy that, he woulda made them look like fools for protecting the status quo........not that it takes much to make them look like fools protecting the staus quo

[pamplemoose77]

Originally Posted by roni

It would probably help if a few more of your generation and the one following you would actually vote.

i agree.. i haven't voted in any presidential elections up to this point cuz it seemed pointless to me (save the flaming, i know, i know)...

but the older i get, the more exasperated i get with hearing everyone b*tch about everything.. and heck, if getting a 3rd party would break up some of the left/right squabbling, i'd start hassling everyone i know to vote for them. not that i have as much sway as the "rock the vote" movement.. but whatever...

[southbound]

Originally Posted by Just Lucky

Do you have any idea of his stance on the major issues likely to sway the election?

I am fearful of any third party candidate who could split the Democratic vote.

Uh, well -- if you ask those kinds of questions, it's difficult for me to remain positive about his candicacy! Let's see: he favors strict gun control laws, supports same sex marriage, supports the current immigration reform measure, and he'd probably try to implement some kind of Federal ban on smoking. Oh, and I've never heard him utter a word about foreign policy. Ahem. Do you think he has a chance? But that makes it all the more interesting to see how how he will position himself. Of course, I'm assuming he's going to run.

But if he's not planning on running, then what the heck is he up to?

[Cosmo]

I agree with Chastity...

[pamplemoose77]

Originally Posted by Cosmo

I agree with Chastity...

omg, you're killing me!

[Cosmo]

Everything feeling good?

Originally Posted by pamplemoose77

omg, you're killing me!

[pamplemoose77]

Originally Posted by Cosmo

Everything feeling good?

well i'm doubting my sanity now that i've posted several times in a political thread, but other than that, yes!