How did we come to this: Trump v. Hillary (pending a defeat of Sanders... which looks likely :( ).d
I'll tell you: Parties
If you've followed me for a while, you know I've published my views on political parties (see "Living the Grey: A Moderate Declaration") So if anything this is a sequel to that declaration.
(on a side note..."The Election of 1800" from Hamilton is playing as I write this. Coincidence? I think not!)
Party Politics have driven our once mighty country to our current state of affairs. The primary system has proven that the current parties do very little beside to preserve their own power. Look at the Super-delegate system in the Democrats: Secretary Clinton will get the nomination, even if the popular vote goes to Sanders. Look at the Republican infighting leading to Trump's nominations: Not even a desperate plea from former nominee Mitt Romney was able to derail the Trump train.
I'm not alone in my distrust (read: hatred) of the party system. Both George Washington and John Adams hated the parties. In Washington's case, the infighting between Hamilton and Jefferson, both members of his Cabinet, led to the creation of the Party System (Federalists and Democratic-Republicans) , and it splintered his Cabinet and Congress. His Farewell Address specifically calls out the danger of party politics.
Adams was forced to choose between the two, aligned with the Federalists, and was destroyed by them. (To be fair... the Alien and Sedition Acts were a little sketch). The poor Adams, who had stated in 1780 “There is nothing I dread so much as a division of the Republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader and converting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution," was destroyed by the institutions he feared.
So why did they hate the parties?
Factions divide us. Parties propagated the horrors of Slavery and the Jim Crow Laws (the 1800's Democrats), persecuted religious institutions (The Republicans were created to take down two things: Slavery and Mormons), and led to bloodiest war in American History (The Civil War ended costing 620,00 American Lives). Parties have led us into war, into depressions, recessions, and stalemates. Recently, Parties have led us into government shutdowns, into violent protests, and finally into a Trump-Clinton fight.
Parties divide us.... the country claiming to be "United" States. We aren't united anymore.
I would like to take a moment to talk to my fellow Unaffiliated. We have been told (by the Parties) that if we dare vote outside of the two major candidates, we are "throwing away" our vote, and allowing the "other side" to take control. That is a false argument that keeps the Parties in control. We chose to leave the parties, and we shouldn't let them dictate our vote. Cause our vote is special. Together, the Moderates and Unaffiliated can topple the power held by the Parties. We decide the next President. Vote who you think will help our Nation, regardless of which Party they belong to. They might be in the Green Party or the Libertarian Party. They might not. They might be Republican or Democrat. They probably aren't... but they might. Don't settle for "the lesser of two evils". Don't vote for Beelzebub to avoid Satan.
This Election will be historic. This is a chance for us a people- one people, one nation, all of us- to elect leaders that will help reunite us in our great Union.
And as one of my heroes Benjamin Franklin stated " We must, indeed, all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."
translation: United we Stand, Divided we Fall
With mucho amor,
An Average Nerd
Selected Sources:
http://www.ourwhitehouse.org/choosingsides.html
http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/faq/
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/washing.asp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-party_system