New party system needed for change

Watching the debates this past week has only confirmed what I already knew – I despise both of the candidates currently running for president. I have nothing in common with President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry doesn’t go anywhere close to where I stand on the issues. Since I am a registered Democrat, that is definitely a problem. I do not understand how I, or people like myself, can be part of the Democratic party! After speaking with a number of people of different political stripes during this electoral season, I’ve come to see that many share my sentiment. I have met Republicans who would vote for Bush only because of the position he takes on national security, but despise him on economic issues, and vice versa. Kerry is repugnant to many Democrats, and he seems to want to be centrist at any cost, which most definitely includes the election.I have come to believe that it is time for our two-party system to depart into the mists of time. For the most part, we have had the same political parties for over 200 years. The names have indeed changed, but the positions haven’t. There is a right-wing party and a left-wing party, with occasional third parties that pop up over the years. It is time for some real change to the political system, and I have a solution – a multiple party system.Think about it – you can very easily split up each of the two major parties into at least four separate parties apiece. Off the top of my head, I can see the Democrats splitting up into five distinct parties, from right to left – conservative, rightist, centrist, moderate and liberal. Granted, I don’t know much about the Republican party, but I see Christian, conservative, moderate and liberal strains sitting inside there. Think about the representation you can have in all levels of government within a multiparty system. Instead of voting for a candidate who agrees with maybe 30-40 percent of your positions, you can pick someone who agrees with you 60, 70, maybe even 80 percent of the time. This benefits people all over the country. If this sort of system is created, other, smaller parties like the Greens, Libertarians and Progressives would finally gain a voice. Even the members of the different parties no longer fit within their respective molds. How is it that the Republicans have both George W. Bush, a strong Christian conservative, and Michael Bloomberg, the very left-leaning mayor of New York City, in the same party? How can Zell Miller and Joseph Lieberman even consider themselves to be Democrats? They’re more conservative than many Republicans.This system has been shown to work in many countries around the world, most significantly in Europe. Countries like Great Britain, France, Germany and so forth have five to six major parties. Even a country like Poland, which has one-tenth our population, has six major parties at last count. If you’re thinking we’ll have chaos because of so many parties, well, think again – they’re doing just fine. It will be difficult for us to change our system, but it can be done.The two parties have become gigantic monopolies of political power, and they have to be stopped. Just like economic monopolies, they end competition. We have a century-old tradition of ending giants like Standard Oil, and more recently AT&T and Microsoft. Why can’t we do the same for our political parties?We have all been disenfranchised, our voting rights stripped away without our even realizing it. Our political system no longer represents us. It is time for change.Newmark can be reached at mnewmark@campustimes.org.