On the subject of the upcoming elections (as everything seems to be) I am reminded of Donnie Darko. In one scene Donnie is told to place somebodies actions on a line between fear and love. He refuses based on the fact that life isn't that simple. He gets a 0 for class that day. Figures.
What does this have to do with elections? Well, as much as people like to pretend that democracy leads to fair representation, the fact is that life is more complex than 2 or 3 parties can represent. when you vote you always compromise, because odds are that neither candidate agrees with you 100%. This is why we wind up with minority governments. It's also one of the reasons that George Bush won the first time around (Ralph Nader's followers would have been enough to push Al Gore past Bush's BS). The fact is that the decisions that need to be made are far more complicated than the American Democracy was designed for. 200 years ago what was really needed was a united but agreed upon front and thats exactly what the American's built. There are now a wide variety of issues all of which need completely different ideologies to approach and the system is bending under the strain. Good luck fixing this problem America. For all our sakes.
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What your saying is true, if not entirly complete. If the political forum were flooded with dozens of parties, all vying for attention, things would get a little sticky, no? What these few parties represent is a hegemony. The democrats fighting for the subculture groups such as immigrangs, gays, and those lunitics who want socialized medicine (Pift, whatever) and the Rebublicans representing the "Moral majority" Moderates and conservitives. There will never be a candidate who's opinions you are 100% in line with, unless you yourself are running, but the push and pull between powers creates debate. Through negotiation this Should move forward.
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