The Decline of the Political Parties

In previous blogs I’ve shared the trend of voters registering as Independents as opposed to any political party. By last count nearly 50% of the adult citizens are now unaffiliated with any Party and the number appears to be growing.

I believe the election last November advanced the trend even more. Maybe pushed it over the top.

The two major Parties, Democrat and Republican, still control much of the election processes and candidates in almost all states, but they no longer represent anything approaching a plurality, much less majority of the voters.

So why do I suggest the election last fall is a milestone in politics? Here’s my take.

First, the Republican Party. For years this Party stood for commerce and economic growth via business. It was the bulwark of capitalism. It was also the home of most conservatives who believed the Constitution was almost sacrosanct, solid in establishing our democratic republic. They trusted it as a blueprint for a small federal government. Elected Republicans in the not too distant past were considered the “don’t rock the boat” types and gained a reputation of being somewhat staid and conventional.

Now the Democratic Party. Long thought of as the working middle class political voice before it was hijacked by left-wing ideologues.

As Democratic ideologues took over center stage in politics with the assistance of the legacy media, conservatives, and Republicans were called racists, Nazis, fascists, homophobic, Islamophobic – and many more derogatory tags. In the face of the noise many Conservative voices withdrew from public exposure. That in turn resulted in a clear path for rhetoric of more ‘victims’ of the Constitution and United States culture, such as transgenderism, Project 1619, CRT and DEI were pushed into our schools and workplaces and onto the populace. Added to those dogma was climate change and trillions in spending.

By the time 2024 rolled around the silent majority had had enough. Looking through the lens of a void in leadership, irresponsible government spending and crippling debt contributing to inflation, uncontrolled immigration and crime, most voters stood up.

They saw and heard a candidate who railed against the established order and promised to bring about radical change in the country’s direction as experienced the last decade plus.

Donald Trump represented the change the voters were hoping for. It could have been anyone who wanted to change the role of the Republican Party – with which he affiliated to gain access to the system controlled by the political parties. While certainly a capitalist, Trump appealed to Americans who wanted a change in direction and the application of what most consider common sense – and indeed has changed the course of the Republican Party.

It’s interesting to watch the Democratic Party reacting to the will of the people by opposing this ‘maverick’ running for and ultimately winning the White House. Having been hijacked by political ideologues, the Party will not regain its former status if those radicals remain in power and the spokespersons of the Party.

Going back to both major parties, the appeal of those parties has waned as voters become more skeptical of their effectiveness and more disillusioned by any perceived disconnect from the electorate.

The Republican Party seems on track to try to reconnect with voters and dump its establishment base, but it still is dealing with past webs of party power.

The Democratic Party needs to do something similar to regain relevance.

In both cases, leaders need to recognize that the public wants a return to traditional American values.

Despite the current political environment and backdrop, that means being run by populist leaders, whose appeal lies in their ability to directly connect with voters. It also means admitting the recent dirge of blatantly partisan legacy media has run its course while social media has overtaken spreading news and messages.

And while the electorate has growing intolerance for partisanship, expect more candidates seeking office who do not play the political party game whether affiliated with a Party or not on the ballot.

Younger voters are starting to understand what their elders have known and witnessed for most of their lifetimes called “the loyal opposition.”

Longer time readers have seen me reference the relationship between the Democratic Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neill, and Republican President Reagan in the 1980’s. Both were strong leaders who knew the meaning of the royal opposition. They worked together on passing a number of bills/programs that made sense to their respective perceived constituencies. In addition, both epitomized statesmanship.

In other words, and contrary to what we are told by partisans, neither of today’s political parties require a majority of members in the Congressional chambers to do good for the country.

The dichotomy between partisan politicos we see today is not a government built on debate and compromise. Starting with our Constitution we know the nation has seen success with plenty of both.

Will the two major political parties survive another generation?

With the current mood of the electorate, they will not regain viability and support unless they stop taking themselves so seriously and start listening.

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Have a great and prosperous week.

Hug somebody.

SPIDER Bytes

This week’s trivia question is: What is August’s birthstone? The answer to last week’s question re: the war in which The Charge of The Light Brigade occurred: Crimean. The Charge of the Light Brigade was a failed military action involving the British light cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War. Lord Raglan had intended to send the Light Brigade to prevent the Russians from removing captured guns from overrun Turkish positions, a task for which the light cavalry was well-suited. However, there was miscommunication in the chain of command and the Light Brigade was instead sent on a suicidal attack against heavily defended Russian troops. The event was immortalized in the poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson. It was also the war in which Florence Nightingale set the standards for modern nursing.

A Trump/Zelensky meeting Friday did not end well for a quick ending to the Ukraine-Russia war. Apparently intertwining US/Ukraine economics did not meet Zelensky’s idea of security guarantees. When/if he signs a deal for rare minerals with the US will the war end because the US would be protecting our engineers and mining operations, putting the US directly in Putin’s path.

Oscars tonight. Kathleen will be glued to the event.

7 planets at the same time are now visible in our night sky. The last time that happened was 1982. Cool.

Elon Musk’s Space X put its Starship into orbit for the first time last week. The next step on the way to Mars.

Meanwhile, Firefly Aerospace, another private spaceflight company, landed its Blue Ghost on the moon earlier this morning.

The Agriculture Dept. is apparently going to try/do several things to stop the avian bird flu from further infecting the country’s laying hens. The number euthanized is now approaching 2 million. USDA plans to spend $1B to stop it and recover. BTW, this ‘flu’ is apparently also infecting Sand Hill cranes in Indiana.

It’s become more usual in recent years. You’ve likely watched some professional golfers approach the hole from their mark on the green by shifting their weight between each foot. It’s called Aimpoint putting. The idea is to determine the slope, ergo the break of the ball as it approaches the hole. Now there’s a device available with red dot on a scope that determines the slope/break. I don’t think the connection between my feet and brain is as good as that between my eyes and brain. Anyway, the speed at which anyone hits a putt affects the influence of the slope.

Helion Energy plans to produce electricity via fusion in 2028 in a new plant in Washington State. It has a deal to supply Microsoft with 50 megawatts and the surrounding area of Everett with power. They are developing a magneto-inertial fusion technology to produce helium-3 and fusion power via aneutronic fusion. The technology is beyond me, but if they pull it off it will be the first real ‘harnessing’ and control of nuclear fusion.

I had forgotten the land speed record of 628mph was set in 2019 by a British team on a course in S. Africa. The Bloodhound LSR was powered by a turbofan engine used in military jet fighters and built by a consortium of companies. The car weighed 7.5 tons and is supposedly designed to exceed the speed of sound – 761mph. That’s crazy!

Rather than ‘phlishing’ – primarily e-mail scams – hackers are ‘mishing’ – focused on text messages on our mobile phones.