What is a Democrat - A Republican? What do they individually stand for? Why not just be a Independent? (lobbyists, lobby)

[Icy Tea]

There are democrats and there are liberals. Just like there are republicans and conservatives, or neocons, I guess.
Neither liberals nor neocons represent the best ideals of most of their party and why they are allowed positions of power and influence escapes me.
I suppose they have their place in their parties and some no doubt like their message and even need their representation. But their beliefs may not work for everybody.
I've said for years that the two party sytem is a monopoly and if politics was considered a business( which it is), we'd have the two main parties broken up into 6 or 8 smaller parties each with one or two core beliefs. Liberals and neocons would each get about 10 to 15% of the vote and would never get anbody elected higher than congressman.

[CosmicWizard]

Icy Tea wrote:

I've said for years that the two party sytem is a monopoly and if politics was considered a business( which it is), we'd have the two main parties broken up into 6 or 8 smaller parties each with one or two core beliefs. Liberals and neocons would each get about 10 to 15% of the vote and would never get anbody elected higher than congressman.

I've had similar thought many times over. I'd like to see the 2 party monopoly system abolished. Until we-the-voters have the courage to write in the candidate of our choice, the two party monopoly will continue to monopolize. We ( myself included ) b*tch, moan, whine, and complain about the lack of a real choice, yet we usually end up pulling the lever for the lesser of the two evils on the ballot. However, this time around, I voted for Obama becasue I genuinely liked the guy, believing ( perhaps foolishly ) that he might actually be a president of, by, and for the people. We'll have to wait and see!

[Taboo2]

Republicans are cheap, uptight, religious fanatics, warmongers, hate poor people and the working class, don't believe in a womans right to choose anything but especially having abortions, hate paying taxes even though they make a ton of money. Want prayer in school. SOCIALLY CONSERVATIVE.

Democrats are liberal, open minded, for the working class and the poor, believes in a womans right to choose her destiny, for tolerance, peace, and they understand why we need to pay taxes even though they make pennies. For the seperation of church and state. SOCIALLY LIBERAL

[suzyms]

Wow, I'd have to agree with California on this one. Southen Lady, while you are currently a "Republican," under the same value system you would have been a "democrat" when the 14th amendment was adopted and thus, "your party" would not have been responsible for it. On the contrary, "your people" would have shot it down. I hope that makes sense. I am not saying what you personally would have done voted against it because I do not know you, I am merely responding to your "Republicans were responsible for the 14th amendment" comment because that is the most ridiculous thing I have heard in a while.

[monkeywrenching]

Originally Posted by Deacon

What is the difference between a Democrat and a Republican? What is the difference between them? Why not just be an Independent? After all, our Constitution is all about being individual thinkers? Your input will be greatly appreciated.

Democrats and Republicans are 2 sides of the same coin. They both want uber large goverment and for the goverment to be in your face from cradle to grave.

Independents only want to be left alone, and want the goverment to provide as few services as possible. When 1 party screws up, the other party gets elected, and visa versus.

The Republicans screwed up alot in the last 8 years and did not follow the conservative values and therefore got booted from office. When Democrats get out of hand and start messing with peoples lives and taxing the hell out of the people who work for a living, they will get booted out of office too.

It is a never ending circle, I just wish one of the parties would get it right and stop screwing over americans.

[ncpatriot69]

southern lady you make no sense,anyone that has lived in california knows it is a very very liberal democratic state,arny is the governer because grey davis the one before him was in a budget crisis and arny being in the right place at the right time with the right influence and money siezed his opportunity but he has done a horrible job and is even worse than the former gov as far as budget goes,he will not get reelected you can take that to the bank.as far as your other posts everyone knows the south is all borguese bull,they like low wages to keep people barely making a living keep them struggling and reap the profits from theyre labor even to this day and that borderline slavery itself,matter of fact i used to live in ca but now im in nc and its so bad in fact that they blatenly hire illegals they really have noone to challenge them on it its just accepted as part of doing farm business here because theres no more white people that will do the work so they claim ,im a southern democrat i believe i will vote republican this next time only because i like the candidate well if he runs if he doesntthen ill vote independant because republicans are a bunch of crooks ,its all for them and screw the working man that just wants to provide for there family people forget that repubs had control of the house and senate at one time and did absolutly nothing for the working class in this country so i really dont know what scares people that the dem have it now unless they are scared that they will lose control over the huge profits that they take from this country ......vote ron paul 2012 obama is a wolf in sheeps clothing

[ncpatriot69]

Originally Posted by subpar77734

So you are in favor of stealing from the rich and giving the loot to the poor?

hell yes screw the rich they only got there because of a broken system ,they dont get it the honest way as they would want people to believe .if your rich in america you either won the lottery,inheritaded it ,or stole it from the working class ,take it from the rich and give it to the poor this isnt england we dont have kings here sorry to burst your bubble but being the only one at the top isnt free market thats called a monopoly

[ncpatriot69]

Originally Posted by DavePautsch

The ideologies of the parties have gotten so terribly lost due to the venom and partisanship in the world of politics today. Many people have expressed what they believe their parties stand for, but too many times in the past 30 years the politicians have put "winning" over the philosophy of what their party once stood for.

Look back over this thread and examine all the "bashing" that has taken place! We have degenerated to the point of name calling rather than an intelligent discussion about how to address the problems of our country.

Our current candidates seem to be running on 2 qualities - Experience and Change. Both of these are false choices as none of them has the experience needed (they've never BEEN president)...and I'm not sure that neither of them has the capability to usher in a change to the political system that is so bound up in partisanship that we can accomplish very little positive change. It is not the failing of the candidates here, it is the failing of the Congress and the news media, as well as the extremists on both sides.

For myself, I wish they would stop all the campaign ads that are not issue oriented (who cares about all the "gotcha" b&$*#!%.

i think obama only got elected because people are so desperate for change and that he may have been placed in that race by elitests sensing this,knew the masses would vote for him and then bam they have there candidate no matter what party repub or dem they have there puppet

[ncpatriot69]

i myself bought into it i admit i was really hoping for real change but we will see.honestly do you really think obama would have gotten elected 20 years ago? wake up people in would not have happened he has been placed there by the elitests and i would be very very careful who you vote for the next round and take a little time and reasearch your candidate because as we are finding out it does matter ,ron paul is the only repub i would ever vote for well maybe colin powell but hes to honest for politics he wont ever run,any ways 2012 will be an interesting year

[ovcatto]

Originally Posted by Deacon

What is the difference between a Democrat and a Republican? What is the difference between them? Why not just be an Independent? After all, our Constitution is all about being individual thinkers? Your input will be greatly appreciated.

A more important question is what is an independent. What can independents accomplish within a democratic system that makes the creation of political coalitions absolutely necessary?

Being an independent is meaningless, and has nothing to do with being an "individual thinker", just being independently powerless, since there is no unifying political theme amongst independents who consist of a disparate collection of individuals with disparate political philosophies and agendas.