"Who?! Who does not want to wear the flag pin?!"

Mr. T · Post by **Mr. T** » 2007-10-07 02:10pm

Guardsman Bass wrote:Oh, for hell's sake, he didn't say he wouldn't vote, period:

Of course, when next November comes and it is one of these pussy moderates vs a nutjob or two pussy moderates, I'll probably end up going for the lesser of two evils (a half step in the right direction is better than nothing), which will end up offending few, but not really pleasing anyone either.
In any case, all I can hope is that the Democrats hold onto a majority (and hopefully get a filibuster-proof majority) in both Houses in 2008. Things are looking good for them in terms of elections, although the difficulties over getting past Bush are hurting their legislation, along with the limitations inherent in barely controlling the Senate.

How are things looking good for them? Aren't they polling an all time low of something like 11% approval?

Dargos · Post by **Dargos** » 2007-10-08 01:42am

I said back in 2002 that I find those pins creepy, and I still find them creepy.

Flagg · Post by **Flagg** » 2007-10-08 01:45am

Mr. T wrote:
Guardsman Bass wrote:Oh, for hell's sake, he didn't say he wouldn't vote, period:

Of course, when next November comes and it is one of these pussy moderates vs a nutjob or two pussy moderates, I'll probably end up going for the lesser of two evils (a half step in the right direction is better than nothing), which will end up offending few, but not really pleasing anyone either.
In any case, all I can hope is that the Democrats hold onto a majority (and hopefully get a filibuster-proof majority) in both Houses in 2008. Things are looking good for them in terms of elections, although the difficulties over getting past Bush are hurting their legislation, along with the limitations inherent in barely controlling the Senate.
How are things looking good for them? Aren't they polling an all time low of something like 11% approval?

Congress as a whole is, but IIRC the Democrats in Congress are polling about 46%. Plus people are voting against the war and Bush. So that's basically Democrats.

Big Orange · Post by **Big Orange** » 2007-10-09 11:13am

Dargos wrote:I said back in 2002 that I find those pins creepy, and I still find them creepy.

Me too. And while I cannot do anything about the Presidential election and my opinion is irrelevant in the scheme of things, I'm puzzled why American democracy is constrained by a very firm two party system with no alternative third way (encourages ideological and political inbreeding), and worried about only 40% of US citizens allegedly bothering to vote in the first place (the people who actually do vote are seemingly right-wing cranks from the country being badly moderated by centre-to-left voters from the urban coasts).

Drooling Iguana · Post by **Drooling Iguana** » 2007-10-09 04:13pm

The American two-party system is the inevitable result of the winner-take-all manner in which their elections are structured. Any third party would inevitably take votes away from whichever of the main parties it most closely resembles, allowing the ideologically opposed party to take power. The only way to make third parties viable in the USA would be to change the entire way American elections are conducted.

Guardsman Bass · Post by **Guardsman Bass** » 2007-10-09 08:59pm

Well, you could conceivably get a third party a la Liberal Democrats, as long as they can win elections in certain regional areas (I believe the Socialists have actually pulled it off once or twice, but it amounted to a tiny amount of seats). But to truly change it to make a major third party, you would have to change at least one of the chambers of congress into a proportional representation system.