Do political parties become victims of circumstances?

Question

Or do they forget why they were elected?

It seems that each party that is elected promises to fix everything, so the people vote them into office.

Then the people get tired because they haven't done anything they promised and boot them out of office.

It's a cycle that has been repeating since the US became a country.

What say you?

Answer 1

I agree, and will take it one step further...

Political parties are the Vitim's of their members too... Look at some of the recent scandals, which just go to show that the public is all too willing to let a few bad apples spoil the batch as far as public opinion goes.

A party should be defined by its ideology, not by the actions of a few of its more radical or fundamentalist members.

Answer 2

Well the Republicans have been an obstacle for the Democratic Congress. The Democrats do not have a clear majority to get legeslation passed. The Republicans keep threating a fillabuster if certain bills are brought to the floor.

In 2009, we need to ensure that Democrats have a clear majority so that they can get things done.

The Republican party is hopeless at this point.

Answer 3

My opinion is simple; the truth hits them in the face the minute they are elected. Sometimes they get a chance to see the results before hand. In the case of Hillary and Obama, President Bush allowed them some interesting facts about this War on Terror and they altered their view on what was possible. Not many candidate have that opportunity.

Answer 4

I think the oldest party in the US is the democrats. They seem to have been around a while, but they have change many times over the last couple of centuries.

Answer 5

Yeah the first President Bush promised not to raise taxes, but guess what, he raised them. That's why he only had one term in office. His son however hasn't raised taxes and he is on his second term. :)