While scanning the news for good articles to share with my peers, I happened to notice one about something Senator John McCain said. Here is the article, it isn't long at all but check it out. Now, this headline is certainly something that will grab your attention. "John McCain "We Are Dividing the Republican Party Rather Than Attacking Democrats" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/27/john-mccain-republican-party_n_4001786.html. For me, it makes me angry. But this blog posts are not the platform for political ranting, so I would like to try and break it down intellectually and use logic and rational thinking to break down why what he said is so wrong.
Let us talk about the headline first. To see it again, just look up, or check the article. As a voter who tries to support a candidate and not the party, seeing the rabid group mentality of the parties is disturbing and a trend I wish would stop. It does not seem like we have politicians who will stand on their own anymore, and instead will follow their parties rules and toe the line and not have a voice of their own. How can I honestly give my support to a candidate if they can't have their own voice? They should not be afraid to voice their opinion, especially when they should be voicing the opinion of their constituents in the first place. I think we have come to a sad time in American politics when people have to vote for the 'lesser of two evils'. During the last Presidential election, I honestly did not fully support either candidate. So I voted for the one I thought would do the least damage to the country.
The next issue I have is the idea that the Republicans need to attack the Democratic Party. As a voter, this seems petty and does not make me want to support the Republican Party in future elections. I would rather see them trying to work together and find compromises. I want to see them offering their own plans and ideas as opposed to just simply opposing whatever the Democrats are doing. They are focusing so much on trying to fight Obama and the Democrats that the issues at hand aren't being solved. Regardless if they support 'Obamacare' or not, we cannot deny that we have a serious issue with healthcare in this nation. Instead of trying to find an alternative or come up with their own plan of action, their only idea seems to be lets just scream and shout as loud as we can about it until we can get rid of it. As a young voter this isn't the kind of thing I want to see my elected officials doing.
Agreed, Brandon. I had the same logic going into the last election. Unfortunately, my actual third party choice for president, if I recall correctly, did not even make it on the Georgia ballot otherwise I would have probably just "thrown my vote away" on her. What is even more infuriating about this childish bickering and blame game is that the media perpetuates it. They feed off the conflicts and so do their ratings. Additionally, I continue to hear more and more the words "Republicans" and "Democrats" being used rather than individual congressional names. The parties have become so tightly concentrated and hard-lined ideologically that, as you mention, congressmen do not think for themselves anymore. McCain is quite hypocritical in promoting himself as a "maverick" back in 2008 and now being the most deeply loyal to his party. Courage is what is missing. Courage to stand alone, to be wrong, to admit defeat or propose compromise that results in both sides giving something up, etc. I feel there is no courage anymore in Washington.
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