As unfortunate as the attempted insurrection on January 6th is, we should be aware that this has been coming for a long time. The two primary political parties conduct, promote, require, and reward tribal warfare against the other party for the simple and primary purpose of obtaining and maintaining power. “Governing” then becomes the positioning and re-positioning, each election, based on the power politics of the extremes. Maintenance and financing of power becomes the norm, and little attention is paid to the needs of the country.
The corrective measure requires breaking the deadlock. As bad as recent events are, maybe this is what is required for the citizens to finally take control and create additional political parties.
- Let us start with splitting the Republican and Democratic parties in two. This would create two new parties to allow the extremes to exist [freedom of speech must be maintained].
- First eliminate the current names of the Republican and Democratic Parties to allow new allegiance without the baggage of the past.
An example could be:
Current Republican Party Becomes the:
- ⇒ American Conservative Party
- ⇒ Tea Party
Current Democratic Party Becomes the:
- ⇒ Progressive Party of America
- ⇒ Socialist Party of America
We currently already have the Libertarian and Green parties. This would provide 6 parties and at least the start toward allowing voters other options as they believe and vote. This would break the log jam of the two current major parties we are and have been stuck in.
The new political parties could be:
- American Conservative Party
- Progressive Party of America
- Libertarian Party
- Green Party
- Tea Party
- Socialist Party of America
I recommend using a “ranked voting”¹ system for ballots [all paper, hand delivered or mail in] to allow for complete openness and full disclosure in all elections.
[1] “Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop”, Lee Drutman, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-091385-4
I vote by mail and have for many years.