Saturday, February 02, 2008

More Political Choice For Iowans

Well, it's official. You're now reading the rantings of a registered Libertarian kook. It took a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of Iowa to get it done, but Iowans can now register as Libertarian or Green Party members. Unwilling to let go of the old political duopoly completely, the two newest parties are technically referred to as "Non-Party Political Organizations" on the official voter registration form.

Really the Libertarian and Green Parties make good opposing bookends on each side of the two Republicrat Parties. Now that neither of the major parties is advancing small government principles, the Libertarian Party gives an option for those who still believe in those principles. For gaia-worshipping freaks who don't believe that the two major parties trample on free markets and property rights quite enough, there's now the Green Party.

This is a small step, but one in the right direction. I think we'll begin to see a mass exodus from the two-party system as the industrial era that spawned them sputters out. Kids that are now growing up with hundreds of different television channels, soda pops, religious denominations, and websites to choose from won't long tolerate a political system that essentially offers them the choice of vanilla or french vanilla.

Such institutional change will be hard fought. If there's one thing that the two major parties always agree on, it's protecting their turf. But any system that potentially offers voters only the choice of Hillary Clinton or John McCain invites the wrecking ball.

1 comment:

Bawb said...

Thank God a handful of Iowans have some common sense. The two-party oligarchy system needs to be consigned to the trash heap of history. Here in Montana, however, instead of opening things up for third parties, even the party faithful are being muzzled by their handlers. The GOP and Democrats sneer down on us in blissful ignorance and arrogance while behind them we see the approaching slow-motion inevitable train wreck coming.