No, it does not.
Written by a true Englishman - and one of the reasons why we continue to beat the crap out of them in every arena is that guys like JD continue be claimed as leaders in every walk of life. He left England came to America and mouths their crap. As to being single issue conservatives - maybe the spending conservative and the negative conservative is all JD can find as issues in America. Did he notice all the judges and other conservative laws passed by this congress?
"Republican president, Democratic congress — looks pretty appealing." 'No, it does not.' ~ Bahbah
Never did. Never will.
Why Party Trumps Person. bttt [excerpted]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1733872/posts?page=123#123
A time-honored cliche heard every election year goes something like this: "I'm an independent thinker; I vote the person, not the party." This pronouncement is supposed to demonstrate open-mindedness and political sophistication on the part of the pronouncer. It's your vote, cast it any way you like - or not at all.
But idealism and naivete about the way our electoral process and system of government works shouldn't be mistaken for wisdom or savvy.
For better or worse, we have a two-party system. And party trumps person. Either a Republican or a Democrat is going to be elected... No one else has a chance.
..not the Libertarian candidate, nor the Communist, nor the Green. Minor party candidates are sometimes spoilers .. but they don't win.. elections. Ross Perot got 20 million popular votes in 1992, and exactly zero Electoral College votes.
In Europe's multiparty, parliamentary democracies, governing coalitions are formed after an election.
In our constitutional republic, the coalitions are formed first.
The Republican coalition includes, for the most part, middle- and upper-income taxpayers (but not leftist Hollywood millionaires and George Soros), individualists who prefer limited government, pro-market and pro-business forces, believers in American exceptionalism and a strong national defense, social-issues conservatives and supporters of traditional American values.
The Democratic coalition is an alliance of collectivists, labor unions (especially the teachers' unions), government workers, academics, plaintiffs-lawyers, lower- and middle-income net tax-receivers, most minorities, feminists, gays, enviros, and activists for various anti-capitalist, anti-business, anti-military, anti-gun, one-world causes.
...party trumps person because [regardless of the individual who wins an election] the coalition will be served.
.. After the individual members of a new Congress have been seated, a figurative nose count is taken and the party with the most noses wins. That victory carries with it control of all committee and subcommittee chairmanships, the locus of legislative power.
Now, let's say you're a registered Republican voter who clearly prefers the Republican philosophy of governance. And you're a good-natured, well-intentioned person who happens to like an individual Democrat, a Senate candidate, who's somewhat conservative. You decide to cross party lines and vote for him.
As it turns out, he wins, beating a Republican and giving the Democrats a one-vote majority, 51-49, in the U.S. Senate.
Congratulations! You just got Ted Kennedy, Patrick Leahy, Dianne Feinstein and Hillary Clinton as key committee chairs, and a guarantee that your Republican legislative agenda will be stymied.
That's the way the process works.
Does this mean that in a two-party system like ours it comes down to choosing between the lesser of two evils?
You bet it does.
That's not to say that either party is really "evil," that's just an expression.
If we had [300] million custom-tailored minor parties, everyone could find his perfect match.
But that's not practical.
You can be a purist and cast your vote symbolically with a boutique party, or be a player and settle for the least imperfect of the Republican or Democrat alternatives.
Your vote, your choice. ~ Mike Rosen http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1728426/posts