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Ideologues believe in absolutes, but life is not static and truths can change with expanding knowledge. Frank voices of common sense need to be heard above the din of the current two-ring circus. Imagine a party whose candidates examine each issue on its merits, without reference to some stagnant ideology; a party that really supports constitutional freedoms, ignores self-serving special interests and acts in the best interests of the entire nation.
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good article, Nic. and right on the money...
seems like there is about 20% on the left and 20% on the right that dominate the national political discussion...and they get away with defining the issues because of the 60% in the middle who are too uninformed and/or too apathetic to grasp the real issues.
so all we hear are the voices of the idealogues - the political fundamentalists...and the two parties can focus on wooing them coz they're the ones who get out and vote.
my gf is Brazilian...and where she comes from, voting is mandatory. it's not a bad idea. requiring people to participate in the civic process is nothing new here - it's done every day with jury duty. why not require people to participate in voting, which is the most elementary civic duty in a democracy? if everyone was required to vote, there would be little to gain politically by appealing to the idealogues, coz they would no longer be the majority of voters in any given election.