Free Post: Political Parties: Good or Evil?

This morning, my English class was cancelled. I spent the period in the library, engaging a friend of mine in a nonpartisan political conversation. During that conversation, it occurred to me just how willing we were to agree with each other, and how thoroughly we were able to discuss topics, a trait the American government seems to have lost, thanks to the deep-seated divisions of political parties. That got me thinking: would we be better off without political parties, or do these deep-seated divisions actually help the American people?

Let's start with the easier topic; the downsides of political parties. This is, perhaps, best demonstrated through our conservative Republican Party. Everybody has the stereotype of Republicans as rich old straight white men, completely disregarding others and caring for nothing but the money in their pockets. This stereotype is only reinforced by Republican presidential candidates, namely George W. Bush, John McCain and Willard Mitt Romney, all of whom come across as Tea Party stooges no matter how you look at them, proponents of big business and tax cuts for their wealthy friends. However, the vast majority of American Republicans are simple, hardworking members of the middle class, willing to work with the Democrats and compromise for the common good. This is perhaps best demonstrated by the governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie. Though Republican by party affiliation and ideology, Christie has demonstrated time and time again that he is willing to work alongside Democrats and collaborated with Barack Obama for reconstruction efforts after Hurricane Sandy. Christie's bipartisan efforts have allowed him to be elected, and re-elected, as the governor as a heavily Democratic state. Rumors have circulated about a presidential run for Christie in 2016, reinforced by his own statements and recent re-election. And it's quite possible that, if nominated, he would succeed. Republicans, the majority of whom are represented by Christie, would staunchly support their candidate, and a fair number of Democrats sick and tired of partisan bickering would likely throw him their vote as well. Several of my heavily liberal friends and family members have already voiced their willingness to support Christie if he were to run for the nation's top office in two years time. However, thanks to the Tea Party leaders of the Republican Party, it's highly unlikely that Christie would be nominated. And so, political parties will continue to behave as they always have; fighting each other like mad dogs, driven to battle to the death and yet immortal at the same time. They will halt progress, delay change, and dig our nation an even deeper hole. So how could there be any good?

There is one pro to the whole scheme of political parties; that one benefit is the order they instill. Back in the pre-party days when George Washington was first elected, everything worked out dandy. The nation was united under its new constitution, behind its new not-quite-partisan president. In his famous farewell address, Washington warned that political parties would be our nation's downfall. He may very well have been right. However, political parties do exist for a reason, and that is to provide unity and order for individuals who share most of the same beliefs and ideas. And let's face it; without political parties, every individual who ran for president would basically be their own political party. You could have a congressman who supported the right to assault weapons, gay marriage, and world peace, working alongside presidents who supported nuclear arms and feeding the hungry. As staunchly divided as our people are today, at least we're primarily divided into two camps with relatively similar ideals (ignoring our other, less influential political parties). Of course, this is a double-edged sword, as people who identify as Republican are automatically judged by liberals to be racist, sexist homophobes, whereas Democrats are viewed as drug-addicted Communist sympathizers by conservatives. In the vast majority of cases, this is not at all true, but people who associate with specific parties often have to support the darker sides of their party in exchange for those aspects they value. So in the end, political parties are a double-edged sword, as I mentioned, but the edge against them is much sharper, so to speak, than the edge for them.