Steven F. wrote: "Gregg -- do you seriously want a one-party government?"
Ahhh, the sweet smell of politics. BA, MA in PolSc. About 2/3 of a Ph.D. in PolSc. I would have finished by now but we moved away from Norman. Anyway, just wanted to let you know I'm not a crank or something.
"One party government." Well, I don't think the Democrats are going to give up and go home. IF the GOP holds onto to control of the House and Senate, it will be by extremely close margins. The Senate probably matters less because the minority party has a lot of power to block things (unless the majority party has 60 seats or more). The House is a different animal. One seat, one way or the other can make a huge difference. Whoever "has the majority" gets to control all the committees (which includes the Rules Committee). The Demos controlled the House without a break from 1954 to 1994. The GOP has been in charge since then. The last time we had a US Government with a GOP President and GOP majorities in the House and Senate was 1952 (first half of first term for Eisenhower). That's 9 years before I was born and I'm an oldtimer by most Internet standards. I think I'm ready.
The Founders put in checks and balances but there isn't anything about "divided government" in the Constitution. Actually there isn't anything about Parties at all since most of the Founders considered them to be "evil." There are a lot of problems with the type of government known as "Parlimentary" but the one thing they _must have_ is a "majority government." As I've gotten older that has seemed more and more desirable to me. The US usually has "divided government." In a way, that gives both parties "plausible deniability." Any complaints you make about Clinton's legislative record, "It's the GOP's fault." You say the GOP didn't do what they said they would, "Clinton vetoed it." At this point I say, "let's let one party have a shot at it. If they blow it, throw the whole batch out and try the other party." That's the only way you are going to shake things up.
The US system is heavily biased against third parties. In US history, there has only been one third party that rose up to "main party" status (GOP replacing the Whigs). I would like to see the Green Party get 5% so that they could get federal election funding next time. Oklahoma is one of three (I think) states that don't have Nader on the ballot.
Try looking at the only unbiased poll site that polls 3000 votes every single night and has been for months. Bush is going to win easily and the real polls have been saying that for a solid month.
http://www.portraitofamerica.com/
Gregg
