tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3272880754967904727.post5273978819000865052..comments2023-09-06T04:44:37.711-04:00Comments on Marshall in the Middle : A Case for Independents - No More Closed Primaries Marshall in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16763884124915806504noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3272880754967904727.post-21336859514357892322013-10-26T10:47:06.001-04:002013-10-26T10:47:06.001-04:00If I could offer you an alternative. Please visit ...If I could offer you an alternative. Please visit wtp-wethepeople.com. They are offering another approach for those of us not interested in being "party members"Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03782988653371814332noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3272880754967904727.post-28781913926516968302013-10-22T20:36:19.286-04:002013-10-22T20:36:19.286-04:00I'm gratified to see someone else noting the t...I'm gratified to see someone else noting the thoroughly undemocratic electoral processes put in place by the parties. Closed primaries and partisan (even bipartisan)-developed districts must go. Last I looked, Louisiana's open primary and Iowa's redistricting methodology should be universal. That would only be a good start, though, as, for instance, all party-based means of "disciplining" representatives in the rules of legislatures must be eliminated. There is nothing constitutional about the House Speakership being a partisan elective office that controls all bills getting a floor vote, or the presence of "leaders" who have more power than any other representative with respect to committee assignments and such, or the PAC-based marshaling of funds to threaten primary opposition. These are all methods of warping democratic functions in elections and government. Competent, average citizens must run for office, as independents, and they must changes all these partisan rules and laws in place. And then they can act like true representatives -- forming temporary caucuses on individual issues, developing legislation, and then having up or down votes, and then forming new coalitions with other representatives on different issues. Parties warp the entire process from front to back. The most important thing to a party politician is reelection. We need to break that cycle by electing independents who treat the job like the Founders did -- the job was as servant to the people and as soon as they leave office, they become the master again. The Founders did not belong to parties, unlike historians who fall into presentism suggest, and their warnings to avoid at all costs the lure of party were prophetic. The polarization engendered by party is collapsing our government and the majority of Americans are seeking a way out. They should read this blog.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09012828216102961844noreply@blogger.com