Right, this is probably going to be ignored, but it's worth mentioning. After looking over the latest round of topics, and combined with the fact that it all seems to be dancing around the same fundamental few points: I support person A from party 1, therefore any other candidate from parties 1 or 2 is wrong. There is no third choice, and there seems to be even less interest in cooperation. Attacking a video placed online, or perhaps another round of debates over Obama's birthplace; it seems we may have lost what the focus is here. Or maybe both parties in general have lost it and the influence has trickled down. My point is, outside of candidates shouting it as a mantra, isn't it about time that some actual change took place? I'm not talking about what one president will do, but perhaps changing the whole system? This "race" narrows the field to an us or them approach with a vote only mattering if it is cast one of two ways, there are not alternatives and no other way around it; or maybe we could try something different, going back to the original roots, back to Washington's ideals before parties even existed. Naive as they are, if there is no pair of political machines controlling at a basic level all ideals between each other then maybe the individual will count for more.

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It is better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
Eugene V. Debs

Can’t say the Idea sounds unappealing but how would you go about making such change?
Specifically...

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Perhaps I'm a bit cynical but I believe the vast majority of people vote based upon party first, personality second, sound bites third, and political agendas of the candidates last.

I wouldn't call it a vast majority, but I would call it a big enough percentage to change the outcome of any given election.

EDIT: and yes, you are a bit cynical...

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Tax & Spend > Borrow & Spend

I reject your reality and substitute my own.

Every feeling you've ever felt can be found in the works of Beethoven, Bruckner, Mahler, and Wagner.

Maybe, just maybe, a viable third choice will emerge and save us all. If not in this election, then maybe in the next one. If only.

(Just remember, I said viable, so RP doesn't need to be mentioned.)

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Feel free to dislike me, I probably dislike you anyway. :)

It's too late for this cycle I think, but if enough people get disgusted with the status quo, we may very well see the emergance of a third part option with a decent chance by the next one. We certainly hope so anyway.

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"Oh people, know that you have committed great sins. If you ask me what proof I have for these words, I say it is because I am the punishment of God. If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you!" -- Genghis Khan, Bukhara 1220

For the status quo to be broken, something on the order of WWIII needs to break out. Or for this country and our two parties specifically, we just need to keep doing what we're doing. The more interest that emerges in politics and the more that people start to actually pay attention to what is actually being said, the less they enjoy hearing it. As time goes on, and it becomes more and more obvious that the United States is no longer the premier super power in the world, I think it is entirely possible that the stage could be set for a third party within the next twenty years. Part of the change can start now though; it involves raising awareness about what everyone on this site and others is actually saying. If the absurdity of it (note: read the latest on Obama's "dirty past" bit that has been floating around, or a diss aimed at McCain) becomes obvious enough, then more and more people can finally start to realise that the system we are in is rather corrupt. Granted, where I'm from it is hardly idealic having more than two parties, coalition governments spring up overnight and so on, but the process is far more balanced than the us or them system currently in place.

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It is better to vote for what you want and not get it than to vote for what you don't want and get it.
Eugene V. Debs

The Democrats and Republicans have pretty well rigged the elections against any viable third party candidates. Limitations on campaign financing was about protecting their superiority in any election because for a third party candidate to be viable they would require funding that would violate the current laws. In otherwords they would need someone with big pockets and such a person is prohibited from donating a large sum of money directly to the candidate.

Until the Independents form a single all encompassing party of their own, with organized representation, no Independent stands a chance in an election as important and powerful as that of the President. Without and Independent primary and delegate representation of the people, it' a lost cause. The solution is the formation of a new "Third" party while including all of the variations and views of those who currently identify themselves as "Independents". America First, Constitution, Family Values, Green, Labor, Libertarian, Socialist, Natural Law, Prohibition and Reform Party all under one roof? Not likely.

As long as this is the case I will never "waste" my vote, primary or general, on an Independent. The money, organization, leadership, vision and direction are all missing. That said, Independent's can and will continue moving forward and gain seats at the local and state level as long as people keep demanding "change" or desire new ideas. But the thought of ever having an Independent President, without these changes, is about as likely as Ron Paul winning the Republican bid at the RNC.