Do you support your political party even when you know they're wrong?

Question

Registered Democrats and Republicans seem to support their party even when they do something that is not good for America. We seem to have the "My political party can do no wrong" attitude. Both parties are equally guilty. How can we get people to start thinking American instead of Democrat or Republican?

Answer 1

Good question!

Some support (blind or otherwise) to a particular party is indeed because of the influence of relatives and friends. People just become accustomed to calling themselves an R or D and often just vote that way. They truly do not analyze party positions or individual candidates.

Another reason people vote for one party or the other is because of the history of each. For example, years ago a person could assume one party was in favor of smaller a Federal government and annually balanced budgets. This and other "traditional" positions are no longer "automatically true" and many people haven't quite understood this fact.

Then, of course, each party has their own money. Certain people will vote for either party or candidate on the basis of their own very narrowly define personal benefit.

The fourth reason people vote for one party or another is actually try to divide the control of the federal government. Many people I know will vote for one party one year just to make certain the other party doesn't control both Houses of Congress and the Presidency. They think of this as a way to balance "extremism" from one party or the other. Some say they vote this way to make certain nothing gets done. They are actually afraid of giving too much power to one party.

Your question is a good one for another reason. Notice that none of the R's or D's running for President are laying out a specific and visionary set of proposals they'd promote if elected? All are simply attacking the war issue (which we all understand) but they are not giving the American people the vision and plans for what comes next. They are relying on their party affiliations (and the money) to carry them along to victory. Too bad - for all of us.

Answer 2

I can say definitively NO!
and to give a good example in my State, the Democrats took back the house for the first time in a very long time.
they did this mostly because of term limits which have been in place here for a wile now.
Now that they have the house they want to do away with term limits, and the only reasoning i can think of is so they can keep the seats they won.
They keep saying that no one can learn the job well enough to be able to better represent us in just six or eight years.
I say Hog wash to that! because if your going to run for office then you had better know what your doing before you run.
I ran for the Michigan Senate myself and even tho i didn't win I knew in my heart I could do just as good of a job as the person i was running angst.
I didn't go into it with preconceived notions that I would learn as I go but with the idea that with a good staff and the right reasons for doing the work I would be able to accomplish the goals I had laid out for myself and the public I would have represented.
So as you can see even tho I am a card carrying Democrat I don't always agree with their way of thinking or reasoning that they seem to believe everyone should adhere to.

Answer 3

i do not believe that we will ever be able to convince people to be truly open minded about their political parties. Too many people are attached to their political party like they are their favorite sports team. If voters today, whether they are a democrat, republican, or any other, could just step back and look at the facts they could base their votes on the things that count (and extreme party loyalty is not one of them).

Answer 4

The ideal is to pick the right leader and then let them govern based on their platform and the issues.

I've fallen in to the group that votes split party ticket. It's a growing number. Generally people in this category consider themselves to be moderates.

I vote on the candidate's service record as it relates to the platform on the issues (particularly at the local level) ... which is a micro-managing a politician ... voting issue by issue. I don't think that's best, but feel it's necessary for the time being.

Answer 5

I consider myself more of an independent. I do register lately as a democrat because I want to have say over who the candidate should be, even though I never get who I want. But I rarely vote democrat. I didn't even vote for Clinton during his two terms. I voted Green. And, if Hillary is the candidate for the dems, I'll be voting Ralph Nader whether he is or isn't on the ballot.

Answer 6

Good question. The best way I know is to vote independent. Even if your vote doesn't elect a leader the numbers will force the rep/dem parties towards a centralist position. Second is to vote for candidates that demand campaign reform.

Answer 7

no, im one of those people that accepts that my political party can be wrong sometimes and I have an open mind, i listen to my opposing party and i acknowledge that they have some very good ideas. i dont cling myself entirely to a political party, after all political parties were invented by humans, and humans make mistakes which are reflected by the negative aspects of the party, but their positive ideas can be great and i respect other peoples beliefs.

Answer 8

As an Independent, I support neither party, only individuals. The sooner party people wake-up and realize the only way we are ever going to get our government to work for us is with a third party, there is no hope. It will be endless gridlock and America as usual, loses.

Answer 9

No, as I don't belong to a political party due to your obvious statement. Blind allegiance to sinful man will only get you in trouble. Both groups claim the moral "high" ground while they turn a blind eye to the extreme evil their party leaders perpetrate on the people. Its a joke to them.

Answer 10

NO

As a registered independent I would not support the party if it was wrong to be free.