Saturday, October 9, 2010

The Independent Party

The Independent Party




I’ve long argued that we need a 3rd political party in the U.S. I called it the Common Sense Party. A party that looked at every issue with a large dose of common sense, rather than political partisanship.


Well, I’ve changed my mind on that – sort of.


I now believe that the answer to our political system being bogged down with those who vote along party lines is more Independent elected officials in our U.S. and state congressional seats. Think about it. Independent Senators or Representatives would be voted in solely on the merit of their political views on the important issues that face our country or our state. Presumably these views would be drawn from a combination of both parties as well as independently thought out compromises of each issue. A Independent would be similar to a moderate member of either the Democratic or Republican Party.


As such, our Independent thinker would hold no loyalties to either party. Our Independent thinker would not contribute to stalemate in our nation’s or state’s capitol. Our Independent thinker would not contribute to the current situation of changing course 180 degrees every election cycle.


The result would be that the Independents would soon hold the power in the House and Senate. They would be the key swing votes of every piece of legislation being considered for passage. The extremists in each party would have to sway the majority of Independents (presumably the more moderate members of Congress who are more likely to vote strictly on the merits of the bill as opposed to voting along party lines) in order to get their bills passed. This would put the real power in the hands of people who are more concerned with the state of their country or their state – people whose views are more in line with the average citizen.