On the two-party system and voting by party

I posted this as a comment in a friend's locked entry, but decided to repost it here so I could point people at it. My friend was complaining about the two-party system in general, and in particular about people who felt it mattered a great deal to vote Democrat[1] or Republican despite the fact that their positions weren't that different -- and despite the fact that neither candidate really represents the voter's own positions very well. Since I do feel it matters that I vote Democrat regardless of whether the Democrats are leaning liberal or conservative this year, I wrote the following.

( My rebuttal )

[1] Yes, lilairen, I am intentionally using the noun form of the party name there, not the adjective form. I also "voted Kerry", not "voted Kerryish". (And I do know that in both cases, it's idiomatic grammar that's not strictly correct.)

On the two-party system and voting by party

I posted this as a comment in a friend's locked entry, but decided to repost it here so I could point people at it. My friend was complaining about the two-party system in general, and in particular about people who felt it mattered a great deal to vote Democrat[1] or Republican despite the fact that their positions weren't that different -- and despite the fact that neither candidate really represents the voter's own positions very well. Since I do feel it matters that I vote Democrat regardless of whether the Democrats are leaning liberal or conservative this year, I wrote the following.

( My rebuttal )

[1] Yes, lilairen, I am intentionally using the noun form of the party name there, not the adjective form. I also "voted Kerry", not "voted Kerryish". (And I do know that in both cases, it's idiomatic grammar that's not strictly correct.)