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Originally Posted by Webstral
I've been following the developments in Texas education. It does not seem like a pretty picture.
The Tea Party confuses me. If the electorate doesn't like what their elected officials are doing, why not put more pressure on those officials? With the number of people flocking to the Tea Party, they easily could bury the incumbents with letters demanding a particular policy. Special interests can provide funding, but they can't provide votes. How a legislator votes on given issues is public record. Wouldn't it be simpler to hold a legislator accountable for how s/he votes than create a whole new party? If the numbers involved in the Tea Party were to sign documents representing a unified position, neither Democrat nor Republican incumbent could ignore them. "We'll vote you out" is the one message to which our elected officials really give their attention.
I understand that most republics have the same problem. We're too busy with our everyday lives to get involved in politics until things go south. Ounces of prevention...
Webstral
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Two words: "voter apathy." It's a disgrace how little of the eligible population in this country actually votes, and its a disgrace how ignorant the electorate in general is of voting issues. It's why most of those who do vote can so easily be led around by the nose by special interests and the political parties.
In his parting address to the country, George Washington warned of the danger of forming political parties. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were already forming the ancestors of the current Democratic and Republican parties. I really wish that the country had listened to him.