The Two-Party Party
This website was created as part of an effort to create useful alternatives to the feelings of unease, frustration, anger, and even despair, being felt by large numbers of voters in America, over the current state of American politics, and over the huge and dark storm clouds on the horizon, concerning the 2024 elections.
When this was first written, in May 2023, our federal government was teetering on the brink of defaulting on America's debt. However, rather than solving the problem, Congress only pushed it a little farther down the road, and things have been getting even worse, ever since then. Somehow, the voters and citizens of this country need to figure out how to "right the ship," and return Congress to a state of workable functioning.
So . . . this is a serious effort to offer a "first discussion draft" of some new and different proposals, for steps that voters themselves can take, to try to wrestle at least some politicians back under the control of "We, the People."
Among other things, this website describes:
(i) why third parties cause the opposite of what they want, hope, and try to do. Put simply, it's because they always, predictably, and inevitably split the vote with whichever party they are closer to, thereby helping elect the candidates that their supporters dislike, and even detest, rather than electing the candidates they want. History has proven that fact, over and over, and yet, some people stil choose and want and hope to ignore it;
(ii) why Congress is doing pretty much the opposite of actually helping the middle class, even though it claims and pretends to be doing exactly that. That is tragic, because history shows – repeatedly and consistently – that the best, happiest, strongest, and most productive period, for any city-state, empire, or nation ever in history, was when their `middle class’ was the largest, strongest, and most stable;
(iii) why Congress does not even try (and, for the most part, does not even want) to help solve any of the most divisive, polarizing, and hate-filled issues that are tearing the nation apart. Why not? Because they have learned how to exploit the anger, heat, and steam created by those issues, to power the engines that help them get re-elected, As a direct analogy, steam engines do not, and cannot, run on just plain water; instead, someone must light a fire beneath that water, and then keep pouring fuel onto that fire, to keep that water boiling hot, and creating steam; and,
(iv) how extremists, zealots, and `far-wingers’ (or wingnuts, nutcakes, `culture warriors', `show-ponies', `camera whores', or any other preferred term), out at the far ends of the political spectrum, have come to dominate the nominating battles in BOTH parties, by being so aggressive, unpleasant, and noxious that most moderates and centrists will simply leave, and abandon the contest in disgust, allowing the extremists to win `last man standing’ battles they create and inflict on their parties.
This website also proposes a number of logical proposals to fix (or at least help reduce and control) the problems listed above. These proposals were thought up, discussed with others, and slowly refined and improved over a span of decades, by someone with an unusual combination of skills, credentials, and professional licenses (including scientist, engineer, lawyer, patent attorney, and inventor).
So . . . those are the kinds of things that are proposed and discussed in this website.
And, instead of side-stepping, evading, and dancing away from the most difficult, divisive, polarizing, and hate-filled issues that are tearing the nation apart – instead of simply taking one side or the other, in any of those issues – this website sets forth positions and proposals for how moderates, centrists, and successful problem-solvers can help build bridges, and encourage better communication, between the warring camps on both sides of each of those issues.
The bottom line is that, in bell curves that can be used to describe people's positions on any political issue, the largest number of voters will always be somewhere around the middle, rather than at the extreme outer tips at either end. Whichever party will most quickly and effectively recognize, admit, and wrestle honestly with that fact, and begin working hard to win THOSE voters, will begin to win more elections.
So . . . rather than trying to create a THIRD party, we need to repair and rebuild the two that we already have. A simple phrase, with rhythm and cadence, can summarize a major part of the basic principle of The Two-Party Party:
Three is too many, and one is too few.
Two can both govern, and give us a choice.
Abstract and Executive Summary
This is an early draft of a website by a scientist/engineer/patent lawyer/inventor who hopes to use that combination of skills and experience – i.e., in actually solving problems, and in working with creative people who want to help others – to at least TRY to help make politics “better”. That effort will focus on the following things:
1. Pointing out and explaining why America needs TWO stable, reliable, and functional political parties – mainly so that each one can help offer at least viable, if not always better, alternatives to voters, while also helping to keep the other party under the control (or, at least, somewhat better control) of the public. We fully (even painfully) recognize and agree that the modern two-party system has become badly broken; however, the best path forward is to repair and rebuild it, rather than shifting to some fractured and fragmented multi-party system which will totally screw things up, and become unable to govern because of the demands of the minority members of any "coalition";
2. Warning voters who are fed up with the two main parties (for VERY good reasons, we heartily agree), and who may be attracted to third-party alternatives, that whenever any third party has grown strong enough to change the outcome of an election, they ALWAYS have created results which were the exact OPPOSITE of what they SAID they wanted . . . because ANY third party will ALWAYS “split the vote” with the party they are closer to, and hand a victory to the party they do NOT like;
3. Creating mechanisms and tactics which can enable moderate and centrist voters to put powerful pressures on BOTH of the two main political parties (i.e., Democrats, and Republicans) to back away from aggressive, mean-spirited radicals and fringe-dwellers who have created “last man standing” battles that disgust and repel moderates, thereby allowing fringe-dwellers at BOTH ends of the spectrum to choose loud, obnoxious, `show-pony' (or `culture warrior', `camera whore', etc.) nominees, who are crippling Congress and who do NOT serve the needs or wishes of tax-payers and voters;
4. Pointing out that in any “democratic republic” (which is what our Constitution created), things like negotiating, bargaining, and compromising are absolutely essential to enable functioning, competent government; and, describing a specific tactic voters can use to push BOTH parties back in the direction of selecting nominees who will do those kinds of things, even if it means having to actually negotiate with people from the other party;
5. Creating an early draft of THE MIDDLE-CLASS MANIFESTO, which will: (i) point out that the best, happiest, strongest, and most productive period of any city-state, empire, or nation that has ever existed, was the period when its MIDDLE CLASS was large, strong, and stable; and, (ii) propose ways that voters can force politicians to face up to that fact, and begin actually helping the middle class, rather than making useless empty promises to do so, and then serving their campaign contributors, for real; and,
6. Pointing out that career politicians are NOT EVEN TRYING to solve ANY of the most divisive, polarizing, hate-filled issues that are tearing America apart (abortion, gun control, immigration, health care, etc.). Instead, they have learned how to exploit, abuse, and "milk" those issues, to help them get re-elected. How? By exploiting the anger which is driving people apart, to get more campaign contributions, more attention and publicity, and more campaign workers. As a counter-effort, a set of logical, reasonable, productive and helpful positions have been developed, on each and all of those four problems, which ANY moderate candidate, from EITHER party, can endorse, get behind, and work for – if they want to actually help solve problems, and appeal to moderate and centrist voters.
America is in severe jeopardy of getting caught in a “perfect storm,” with not just one but several major, severely threatening, and powerful challenges, all barreling toward us, and looking as though they might ALL hit us, all at the same time. Therefore, we – ordinary citizens, taxpayers, and voters – need to find ways to pull BOTH of the major parties (Democrats AND Republicans) back from their efforts to tear this nation apart, and try to at least begin getting ready, before we get hit – hard – by things that we will NOT be able to control, after they have already landed on top of us with full force. We need to find ways to forcibly and effectively remind any and all candidates for Congress of their obligations to ALL of America, and to all the middle class, and to all taxpayers, and to all the respectful and respectable people who are doing far more than Congress is doing, these days, to hold this nation together. We need to find ways to push and pull BOTH major parties back toward more stable, productive, and workable truces between them, using steps that will require BOTH major parties to change, and begin working on actually solving the most severe and urgent problems facing America.
A final point, for this front page: there are at least a dozen political organizations that have adopted goals and strategies which are nicely aligned with the “moderation, balance, and actual problem-solving” goals of The Two-Party Party. We do NOT want to compete against ANY of those organizations; instead, we intend to reach out to as many of them as possible, once this website is up and running, to let them know what we are doing (and how, and why); and, we hope to create cooperative partnerships and working agreements with as many of them as possible.