The recent nationwide Tea Party protests criticizing ballooning government spending and taxation attracted a spectrum of conservative and middle-of-the-road participants.
This ad hoc coalition was not without some friction.
There was some recrimination from members of the far right about independent voters. One protester in Louisiana cast the election in religious terms, and chided independent protesters, saying that only the “far right” and “far left” are really in the game . . . independents have commitment issues.
Au contraire.
When dealing with the two leading political parties, this “either-or” talk is the bleating of sheep . . . the yowling of people who have the mental strength to think for themselves.
Neither party has earned our trust or devotion. Neither has delivered on its promises. Each has sold its soul to special interests. Each has but one goal: to be in power, for power’s sake.
And those who blindly cling to the party label do so not because of any serious evaluation of the party and its performance in delivering its promises, but for the emotional security of a seat on the bandwagon.
Neither the far left nor the far right is going to see its dreams fulfilled . . . although the “losing” side may feel that the success of a particular party is the final sign of the Apocalypse.
Obama did not win by appealing to the far left . . . he won by persuading the middle that he would be less of a disaster than the other guy.
And McCain didn’t try to appeal to the far right . . . he tried to persuade the middle that he would be less of a disaster than Obama. The performance of the Bush White House was the tipping point. against McCain.
And it should be noted that Bush appealed more to the far right – especially the religious far right – than any president in my lifetime. Even so, he betrayed a wide spectrum of conservative principles. Whatever he was, he wasn’t conservative; he had his own unspoken agenda. Obama also has an unspoken agenda.
The two-party system is unconstitutional – in the sense that it’s not provided for in the Constitution. The fact that two parties have managed to hornswoggle enough blind adherents into an either-or mindset weakens us as a nation.
The only thing keeping us afloat is the independent middle, which (one hopes) takes each candidate on a case-by-case basis and makes a choice based on a healthy skepticism.