I hate big-party politics
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Yeah, it's a bit old, but Jib Jab sure does some great political satire.
Anyway, my strongly conservative views are no secret. Yet when I registered to vote this past spring, I refused to align myself with the Republican party and instead registered as unaffiliated. Why? Because I hate the two-party system. It lets the parties get too powerful, and in the end that just hinders the democratic process and hurts the American people.
For example, thanks to our friend Dubya (my feelings towards whom are lukewarm), the Republican party isn't too popular right now. This means that John McCain and other Republican candidates lost votes due to a sort of guilt by association. Fine. But because there is only one other major party, and because the majority of people feel they're "wasting their vote" if they support minor party candidates, Barack Obama and other Democratic candidates were able to gain votes simply by not being Republican, thanks to the false dichotomy of the two-party system. That bothers me.
When the voters only see two options, red or blue, and one has done something to lose favor, they default to the other. This creates many undesirable situations: people voting for a candidate because they feel they have no choice, people voting for a candidate they don't like, and perhaps most disturbingly, politicians benefitting from mistakes that hurt the country.
Big parties, like big government, are also prone to corruption and waste. An example: my mother donated money to the Republicans to support McCain, and she's been getting junk mail from them ever since begging for more. Today they sent her a stationary set. Of course, she'd be more likely to donate again if they spent the money she donated the first time on campaigning, which is what she donated it for, rather than stationary.
As a side note, I think "The Times, They are a Changing" is a completely stupid song. But damn if that music isn't catchy.