George Washington’s Warning

If we mean to support the liberty and independence which has cost us so much blood and treasure to establish, we must drive far away the demon of party spirit and local reproach.George Washington

What if we listened to Washington, what would this nation look like without a party system? Candidates wouldn’t have a little letter by their name. Us citizens would have to research what the candidate stood for. To be reelected the candidate would have to actually do what they said they would. Policy making wouldn’t be a popularity contest. Imagine if candidates had to earn their own way, meet & great their constituents. Would this nation be less divided?

Do those little letters actually create a demon of party spirit? Almost 75% of registered voters in Florida declare loyalty to a specific party. Even though most of us don’t agree with everything one particular party stands for, we vote down party lines. We vote for candidates we don’t know anything about except that little letter by their name. Or even worse we vote for candidates we know we don’t like. We want our party to win regardless of record. Just like sports we overlook the fouls our team makes & yell at the ref for the slightest misconduct of the other team.

At the end of the day, the candidates we voted for don’t even play to win for us their constituents. They play to stay on the team year after year. The problems they vowed to solve, never end up getting solved because the parties are too busy calling foul on the other team. Meanwhile us constituents act like loyal fans. We find ourselves attacking the opponents regardless of the candidate’s promises unkept. Even willing to lie & label each other based on a little letter. This happens all so our little letter wins. Unlike sports though, more is at stake than just winning or losing.

America was a great experiment. For the first time a government’s powers were limited by the people vs the people limited by the government. In the 1790’s two distinct political parties emerged out of major disagreements over three main issues: the nature of government, the economy and foreign policy. Over two hundred years later the United States finds itself at the same cross roads. What will we do, vote party lines or actually vote for the candidates that we feel most represent our own beliefs in the nature of government, the economy & foreign policy? Will we take the best players regardless which party & create an All-Star team? We the people still have the power as of today.

Please read next week as we learn about our City leader’s goals for the rest of 2021...