Do you think political parties as they are today are good for the American political system?

Question

Personally, I think that they're too rigid. A party tends to have a core set of beliefs that you can either take or leave. When you vote for a Democratic candidate, they're more likely to vote along party lines instead of actually what they believe is correct. People often believe in a mix of the ideologies offered by the party system, but we can't vote for the combination of ideals we believe in. If we could vote for individuals instead of party members, we would be able to select an individual who matches more of our beliefs.

Answer 1

If we can get both the far right and the far left out of politics, strip them of any real power, then we'll be just fine.

Neither extreme speaks for most Americans.

I don't care which party you vote for as long as you vote for the most moderate candidate running.