Collegiate Times

As most of us realize, the partisan political climate in Washington is not favorable to our interests or action on the part of the House of Representatives or the Senate. We all know that the healthcare bill is stuck in Congress, waiting for reconciliation, while millions of Americans still go uninsured. And then there is the economy, which is still in shambles after its collapse, and for the millions that are unemployed, it does not seem to be getting any better.

Most people give the fault of most of these problems to President Barack Obama and the Democrats in Congress, even many Democrats themselves. And to a certain extent, they have every right to do so. Obama has not carried out many of his original campaign promises in order to concentrate on the passing of the healthcare bill, which for many, does not look effective or is not what they originally wanted.

However, it is very upsetting to me that because of one year of mistakes and not getting what we wanted, many Democrats are giving up all together on the party, claiming that they will vote as independents, until they get what they want again from the Democratic Party.

To me, this “quitting until you get what you want” business is ridiculous. This equates to being close friends with someone and getting into a rough patch where you may be fighting a lot and upset with them, and then deciding to stop being friends with that person until they give you what you want. Doesn’t that sound selfish and unreasonable? When I’m upset with friends, I tell them that. I let them know that I am upset with whatever they are doing, rather than ignoring their texts or unfriending them on Facebook.

We need to do the same thing with our elected officials. We need to call, e-mail, and even Facebook them to let them know that we are not happy with what they are doing right now. If we never say anything, and then vote independent or not at all in the next elections, how are they going to know that we are displeased? Call your senators and representatives and let them know what you want changed or how you want them to vote on a certain bill. There is a number that you can call for every elected official in Washington. You may not be able to speak to them personally, but if enough people call, then you may be able to sway how they vote.

Also, as many of us learned in high school civics, the American two-party system is unlike most political parties in the world. In other countries, there are as many as five or six parties represented in the legislature, and in some cases two parties have to form a coalition and share power in the executive branch. This would never happen in the U.S. because of the way our government is outlined in the Constitution.

However, the way government works has caused a two-party system in our country. This means that most people are going to identify with one of these two parties, with the exception of a very small minority, that — let’s face it — is never really going to be able to gain much power in Congress. So, our political parties are umbrellas for many different, and sometimes competing interests, and at times other interests have to be served other than our own.

What upsets me the most, however, is that most people who are quitting are well educated and are aware of this fact and are still deciding not to stick with what they believe in, even though they may not agree right now. Just because the Democrats are not giving most of us what we want right now does not mean it is going to be like this forever. And we cannot just drop our affiliation like bad news, because then it becomes even less likely that anything will change.

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A version of this article appeared in the Feb 3 issue of the Collegiate Times.