Changing the direction of an underway aircraft carrier takes time

Are we in the USA stuck with having two national parties, and the choices offered to be the next President of the USA? Many American voters say yes, often reluctantly accepting the choices. Many other Americans say no, though many think it is too late to expect to be able to do anything in 2008. And their judgment is reasonable.

Yet there are more than a few articles popping up suggesting one or both national political conventions in 2008 may have to be decided the old fashioned way, be it the smoke filled rooms caricature, or some more obvious horse trading and scheming going on in the background. If this should happen, a crack appears for someone else than those already running to gain a nomination. This small option smells of poor leadership, as in “anybody but”, but that is the way things could happen to produce a good leadership type person who acts in the national interests, first.

And then there is the chance in 2008 that dissatisfaction is such that no one candidate will achieve an electoral college majority, in which case it is time to dust off the 12th Amendment. Then the States, with one vote each, use the House to elect a President from the top three in the electoral college. So a third party candidate could slip in that way, though more likely which ever party has a majority of each State will probably vote for their national party candidate. And it can actually get a little more complicated than this, though the ideas and principals are correct. And the idea of voting at all levels, local, state, and federal, gains even more credence as to importance.

Looking ahead to the elections of 2010 and 2012, and the Presidential election of 2012, time to change the direction of American government has more time to take effect. Voters can change the captain of the ship, and those that steer it, more easily than they can in 2008. Third party efforts have a cathartic effect on those that promote them, and often also have an influence by drawing off votes from another candidate. One would like to avoid the more emotional counter votes for “Mickey Mouse” or “Darth Vader”.

Voters have another option to consider in the near future. We are not stuck with the present two national parties. In fact, there is nothing in the Constitution at all about national political parties. In a nutshell, the present parties are an invention of we Americans. And the present parties have been ensconced long enough to dictate rules and practices that promote themselves while they suppress other party efforts. Much of these “rules and practices” are at the party and State levels, so again the idea of the importance of votes should be at all levels. In general, think of the old historical poll tax idea used as a means to suppress Negro votes, and apply it to the rest of us, nation wide. Now this is not a call to revolt, but more a report to say the present status quo is no better than that, the present status quo. To suggest one change, recognize the present two national parties have more in common than not. Call them by a refurbished name, the Republican Democratic Party. And let a newer second party arise, call it the National Party.

So we as Americans are not totally stuck in the present status quo. And there are so many fine Americans out there that come across as better than what we are being offered for the 2008 elections. And the offer is not just the character of the volunteer candidates as offered by the national parties, it is about our American future.

For some other possible inspirations, listen to a license free part of “Ride of the Valkyries”. Digress from the old ideas from Apocalypse Now, Blues Brothers, Jarhead, Lord of War, and even Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd in What’s Opera Doc?