Those who know me may be surprised to read the title of this post, but I truly am. I can root for them, because the only way that they are going to be able to come back is to have better ideas. I want to have a choice as to who to vote for, and they have not given me one in quite awhile.
The link below talks about the start of a 3rd party -- an idea that at least seems intellectually plausible. But is it really necessary? When we look back at history we see that the party's have been very loose structures, with coalitions often crossing party lines. Regional differences often separated those within a single party. In essence, what our congress, and by proxy, what governed us were coalitions. They were not that different from the coalitions that permeate the governments of Europe. Hubert Humphrey (D) had a hell of a lot more in common with Everett Dirksen of Illinois (R) then he did with Richard Russell (D) from Georgia. See the breakdown of the regional votes for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 below as an example.
The original House version:
* Southern Democrats: 7-87 (7%-93%)
* Southern Republicans: 0-10 (0%-100%)
* Northern Democrats: 145-9 (94%-6%)
* Northern Republicans: 138-24 (85%-15%)
The Senate version:
* Southern Democrats: 1-20 (5%-95%) (only Senator Ralph Yarborough of Texas voted in favor)
* Southern Republicans: 0-1 (0%-100%) (this was Senator John Tower of Texas)
* Northern Democrats: 45-1 (98%-2%) (only Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia opposed the measure)
* Northern Republicans: 27-5 (84%-16%) (Senators Bourke Hickenlooper of Iowa, Barry Goldwater of Arizona, Edwin L. Mechem of New Mexico, Milward L. Simpson of Wyoming, and Norris H. Cotton of New Hampshire opposed the measure)
The Gaucho Politico: At What Point is a Third Part Viable
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