It is an argument I have heard too many times to count.
“Democrats know what is best for the country.”
“Republicans know what is best for the country.”
I think the real question is does either party, as individuals, actually know what is best for the country?
Other statements that I hear all too often are all the things that each party wants to take away. For example, I have repeatedly heard how all Democrats want to do is take away our Second Amendment rights, but I cannot think of one of my Democrat friends who actually has a firm belief on gun control.
Another common debate I seem to hear, especially in this election, is how Republicans want to take away women’s rights to have birth control. As someone who used to consider herself a Republican, I was and am still in favor of birth control. Many of my Republican friends — and my Republican parents — also are in favor of birth control.
My point is, issues seem to be skewed dramatically by other parties. Obviously, each party wants to make its agendas seem more urgent and in doing so tries to make the other party seem like a group of heathens. Which brings up my next point: do only the Republicans and Democrats know what is best for the country?
What about third parties? Until recent elections, voters seemed to forget that third parties even existed. Of course, I think voters did not feel that there was a need for third parties until recently as many previously chose who to vote for strictly by party affiliation.
In my five years of being able to vote, I thought one thing was going to be constant, and that was “Republicans are going to vote for Republicans and Democrats are going to vote for Democrats.”
Of course, I would believe that seeing as how in my first election people were so divided between John McCain and Barack Obama the term “third party” had never crossed my mind.
In this election, I have heard people hell-bent on Obama and Mitt Romney, in addition to third-party candidates. As I said, I am someone who used to consider herself a staunch Republican. Just because I do not entirely consider myself a Republican does not mean that I entirely consider myself a Democrat or a Libertarian.
My main point is that all parties exist for a reason and they are important for many reasons. In this election, I did not just vote for one party across the board. Instead I voted for Democrats, Republicans, and third-party candidates because I would be doing myself no favors if I voted for a Republican who I did not entirely agree with, nor would if I had voted for a Democrat who I did not entirely agree with. As diverse as our country is, we need to look at the big picture and not be so blinded by political parties just because that is how we have traditionally handled elections.
