Contempo Magazine Blog

By Dr. Tony Magana

The American political process is often characterized as a “two-party” system, implying that members of the electorate will belong to either the Republicans or the Democrats. However, the reality is at least half and often more of participating voters in election are actually independents who hold no real affiliation. Although political parties are a useful instrument to allow the organization of political candidate’s campaigns and their alliances with others, they must not be confused as being an end goal in themselves.

Many political pundits were flabbergasted by the recent special election for the United States Senate in Massachusetts. Conventional wisdom held that the state was the “bluest of the blue”. The only election which mattered they mistakenly believed was the Democratic primary because only 13 percent of the voting public was Republican.

What both political parties seem to forget is that voters should vote for the individual not the party. The increasing education level of the average voter, the internet, the development of competing news media with various points of view, and the scandals unveiling crony-ism of both Republicans and Democrats all contribute to a rising level of not only dissatisfaction but outright mistrust in the sincerity of political parties. The ready access of the public to facts and figures in modern society today creates an unavoidable environment of transparency which limits the ability of political party hacks to deceptively spin their agendas.

Americans must continue to move away from the concept of political parties being the center of political theory or practice and instead see them in a more realistic light of being campaign facilitators. Most Americans of any political persuasion would agree that there are both good and bad Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. Political parties serve the public best when they have relatively small enrollments of the overall voting public and must prove their point to a greater majority then when they represent a monopoly. This forms the real engine of positive change.

There is nothing inherently wrong with being a Republican or a Democrat in our advocacy for a particular issue or candidate, but being so on any and every issue should only occur after we have examined the issue or the candidate through our own independent point of view unfiltered by the prejudice of party affiliation.

Party labels do not help the unemployed find jobs or the sick to get health care. Those who hold leadership positions in government should not have to be “bribed” with secret back room deals to convince them to do the right thing for their constituents. Instead of being a conduit to promote overall societal improvement, the American public has too often recently seen established political party leaders became fixated on personal power acquisition through narrow focused partnerships with special interests.

The nineteenth century commentator on the American political process, Alexis de Tocqueville, lamented that the power of the majority would overwhelm the ability of a small group of enlightened intellectuals who would be best fit to rule a nation. He felt that the American success story had occurred by luck rather then design and predicted future chaos. Now almost 200 years later, we continue to marvel at the genius of our founding fathers in their conception of a government which most highly values the inherent goodness and judgment of the common man expressed in the form of the independent voter.

Thanks for reading Contempo Magazine blog which discusses issues for McAllen, the Rio Grande Valley, and America from a conservative Hispanic point of view. Tony Magaña grew up in McAllen Texas, attended Texas A&M University, served as an officer in Army Reserve, and holds a doctorate from Harvard University. The co-founder of Contempo Magazine has participated in Valley business for over 20 years. He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and also writes for the American Daily Review. Follow him on twitter http://twitter.com/contempomagazin

Copyright 2009, Dr. Tony Magana. Some rights reserved.
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