What do you think of my thoughts on politics... I'm 13...

Question

Okay, so, like I said, I'm 13, and I'm getting to the age where I'm starting to form my own ideas on politics. I want to see what you think.

I think that our nation is being divided by political parties. It's no longer America voting together to choose the best person to run our country. It's now become a competition. Our America against your America (Democrats against Republicans or vice versa). It's become TOO competitive. Some people just vote for their party of favor, not whichever candidate they actually think is the better choice. That's why I think that we should get rid of political parties. I mean, what if you don't agree completely with either party? What if you agree with both sides?

I also think that we should have more than one president. Maybe it would be better if we voted for 3 different presidents. One from the Democratic party, one from the Republican party, and one that isn't either party. This way, more ideas will be brought into the White House, and no one man can make the decision of what our country does. What if some phony ends up as president? Then we're screwed for the next four years. If there were 3, then at least their would be 2 more to fall back on. Would you really want the decision of whether or not to go into a nuclear war with Russia (or whoever) up to one man?

My final thought, and also my most emphasized, is get rid of electoral college! I think this is the biggest flaw in our government. Did you know that Al Gore actually got more votes than George Bush, but because of this, Bush won?! Isn't it unfair that even though so many people vote, the final decision is left up to the people in electoral college? I mean, they are supposed to make their final vote according to who their state votes for, but isn't it unfair that they can just change their vote if they feel like it?! I find this outraging - elminate the electoral college!

What do you think of my views on politics? Is there something that I'm missing? What are you thoughts on my views?

Answer 1

Well, generally... Republicans and Democrats will always have the same type of views. That's why some people decide to be ignorant and vote for whoever is best in their party. I, myself, am an independent. I mostly favor the democrats, though. I've never really seen an open-minded republican. And with the three president thing, that's a bit too much. That's why the president doesn't have full control over our country. Congress plays a big part in the decision making. They can void out irrational things the president wants to do. And on the last thought, I have no idea what electoral college is. Eheh, I know a bit about politics but not enough. The only time I ever discuss this sort of thing is with my friend and believe me, she knows EVERYTHING about our government and politics and whatnot. I think you have good basic views, though. You want our country to be a better place. =D

Answer 2

this is sooo weird, me and my family and some family friends had a whole discussion about this a couple days ago. I totally agree, for a lot of people its like even if you dont like the person you will still vote for them just because they are a democrat/republican. I agree there should be no party's it should just be which person you think would be better for our country.

Yes Electoral college is stupid, its like why do we vote if it doesn't count for anything. If those people have their mind set on someone our vote isn't going to matter in their decision.

The president can get overruled, technically he isn't the only one running our country because there are so many more people behind him that aren't noticed. examples: the United States Congress, house of reprensatives, i think all of these people, i haven't studied this in a while. Our country isn't really a democracy because everyone doens't have a say.

We were also talking about people who are on the side of McCain and want him to win, but will vote for Obama because they don't want to look racist.

Answer 3

Political parties are just a group of people with similar ideas. I am an independent voter. I prefer to vote for the candidate I think will be the best for this country and don't just stick party based.

Congress and the Senate act as a checks and balances for our President. They are supposed to keep him from doing something stupid. Sometimes it works and other times not.

The electoral college I agree is a waste of time. Each state has so many electoral votes. Depending on which candidate wins for that state they give those votes to the proper candidate. They can however choose to go against the public if they see fit which I think has only ever happened once or twice. They just need to tally the votes and not waste time with the electoral college.

I think you are pretty smart for your age, but you are like the rest of us. We could all stand to do more research about our candidates before we make a decision on who to put in office. If people would make an educated decision instead of just voting because the person is in the party they belong to then they end up putting people in office that end up hurting the people and not benefiting us. Honestly if we had more people in office like Sherrif Joe Arpaio we would have fewer problems, but that is a different subject entirely.

Answer 4

Well for the most part I would have to say I agree with your first paragraph. Many people do blindly vote for their party's candidate instead of the better man.

I don't think we need 3 presidents. Although the president does have some say his hands are tied by a series of checks and balances within the government, so he doesn't have complete control. Really since everything he does can be overturned, he has very little control. He's mostly just a figurehead of our government who gets some say. That's all. 3 presidents would only make things more difficult.

I do find the electoral college to be a bit of an annoyance, but they too have their place. Your vote (well not your vote, because you're only 13) does count. Many people were outraged after Bush won, may people were happy. I was happy, I don't think Gore has the ability to run this country anywhere but right in to the ground. He would have cried like a baby if he had had to deal with 9/11. Also he's a hypocrite. So in some cases the electoral colleges decisions are for the best. Also even if you disagree and wanted Gore, you must admit that the electoral college is still another good check and balance of our government.

The government may not be perfect, but it's what we have and it's doing better than any other government could.  

Answer 5

your ideas are well developed but have many basic flaws, the electoral college has no votes, the college as far as i know is not a group of voters but a system that makes every county an individual who votes either for one person or another and later a state becomes a group of individuals who all vote for a single person, it is corrupt, but not in the way you mean. i agree with you as well on the idea of removing political parties not because of te reasons that you presented but because the parties make the presidency more about whos more popular than whos better and removes the possibility for someone who does not win the primaries or who has loess money to become president, like with hillary, she may have become more popular if the democratic party had given her support as well as pbama, noww our only voting choices are obaama or mccain, which makes it like you said, democrat or republican.

Answer 6

I congratulate you on at least paying attention and thinking about what is going on in our country. Your sentiments are quite common.

The first thing I would say is that political parties are impossible to get rid of. They are nothing more than a group of people with ( supposedly ) common goals, assembled to use the power of the group. They are a natural phenomenon and can't be outlawed.

The idea of having more than one President is impractical. Nothing would ever get done. You can't even get 3 people to agree on what to have for lunch, much less get 3 different presidents to sign a law. But that is why there are two different houses of the Congress, each with its own goals, which have to agree before laws are created.

The last point, the Electoral College, was created to INSULATE the presidency from the voters with a layer of supposedly wise people, holding NO OTHER OFFICE, who could chose the president.

The founders of this nation had a justified fear of complete democracy. People are easily swayed by nonsense and corrupted information and disinformation. (you can see this happening even now)

Thus the House of Representatives were to be elected by the people.

The Senate was to be determined by the states. (originally, but changed by amendment to the Constitution)

The President to be determined by the Electoral College.

If we didn't have the Electoral College, Richard Nixon would have beaten John F. Kennedy.

It all balances in the end. That's what it is all about.

If you want to talk further, you can e-mail me. I love to talk politics.