Crazy Ideas I've Been Thinking About For A Week #1

If the biggest elephant in the political room is partisanship, why not try something to address it? Instead of this endless circle of senate majorities and minorities, wouldn't it be worthwhile discussing some options?


Let's start in the Senate. I have no position of power and my opinions are somewhat ignorant, so I don't feel too bad if this sounds totally naive, because it most likely is. Naive and crazy...like a fox. Wouldn't it be fun, maybe just for a short period, to have voters vote for one Republican and one Democrat Senator, regardless of one's politics? So you're have 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats in the Senate. That leaves out guys like Benedict Lieberman and Bernie Sanders, but both caucused with the Democrats...so...let's just call them Democrats. I have a feeling that Lieberman is only Independent so he could retain his position as Senator. Maybe I'm wrong, though.

Anyway...I know there would be a bit of a logjam for a while, but the result might be really good. Imagine a legislative branch that wasn't about party politics and lobbyists and pandering to bases. Maybe with the small ideologies that keep us, as Americans, apart, like abortion or same-sex marriage, would either cease mattering Federally or trickle down to the State governments, the way they should! Imagine a legislative branch that actually checked and balanced! Maybe politics would stop being about winners and losers and start being about the people. There's too much power in Washington and not enough humility. Politicians are only there because we allow them to be.

I think both Liberals and Conservatives can both agree that after 200+ years of beautiful democracy, something is a little off about our government. I don't think it's the small things that keep both parties and ideals apart: essentially we're all the same. We all want to have happy lives. So why do we continue to settle for politicians that don't seem to care about that?


I just think if we're both forced to vote for a Republican and a Democrat, we'll make our votes really count. Our democracy isn't meant to be a static, unchagning thing. It should evolve with the times and this may be the first step into perfecting it. Or maybe I'm drunk on sleepiness.