I have a love/hate relationship with political parties. On the news (specifically CNN, which I watch far too frequently) I always hear about the importance of independent voters and swing voters and such. I consider myself to be an independent. The thing is, I haven't met too many other people from this supposedly all important bloc. I grew up in Texas, so I was surrounded by conservatives, but there are still quite a few democrats, even there. Utah is a little more lacking on the democrat side, at least in Provo anyway, but I haven't met more than a handful of people that are as willing to vote for either party as I am in either location. Maybe I have just lived in the wrong states. Frankly, I think it's kind of weird though. I feel like there should be a little more dissent than there seems to be currently. There is nothing wrong with conservatives voting Democrat or liberals voting Republican every once in a while, sometimes the other guy is better.
For example, I supported Obama in the last election, I didn't get the chance to vote because I was in Ecuador and there was some confusion about how to to actually submit an absentee ballot. But the point is, I supported Obama and still don't regret that choice. No, he isn't the worlds greatest president but he's not the worst one either and I still firmly believe that he has done a better job than McCain ever would have. And you know what else? If Romney wins the nomination (and I'm pretty sure he will) then I will (probably) vote for him in the general election. But if Romney doesn't get the nomination then I will vote for Obama again because I still like him way better than Santorum, Gingrich or Paul hands down.
Political parties are nice because it gives people a way of throwing support behind a candidate without having to pay attention to the news or the race at all. It's like a brand identity for politics. The parties need to maintain a certain level of trust so that they can maintain support and you end up with a sort of general McDonald's style list of candidates, nobody particularly new or innovative but nothing inedible either because the politicians are basically forced to hold certain party ideals in order to be successful in the party. That's what people are referring to when they talk about "playing the game" and "washington insiders". It's a system that has its pros and cons but the cons have really been rising to the surface. I don't claim to understand why the nation has become so polarized in recent years, I'm just not that smart.
Don't mistake my previous rant for pessimism. I am a firm believer that things work out in the end. Often when I feel a little worried about the direction things are going (like when the Herman Cains of the world are topping the polls) I think about a scripture in the Book of Mormon that I really like in Mosiah 29:26-27 and I feel better. It basically says, as long as the majority of the people are trying to do what's right, things will work out.
I've found that this idea holds true, countries that are less corrupt tend to do better economically and companies that commit fraud eventually tank, even though these results may not be immediate (see Bernie Madoff). I wont try to claim that we have the smartest country on the planet (see any video on youtube) but I do think our collective heart is in the right place. I think on the whole, we still root for the good guys and we still want what's best for everyone, some people just have a different idea about how to get there. Please note that I'm not trying to say that all ideas are good ideas as long as people are trying their best, because I'm not. But there is something to be said for people trying to do what's right even if they don't quite know how to go about doing so.
