Political Hangover

I am a bit of a political junkie. Early in my post-college career I was offered a post with some friends to help manage and run a political campaign with a number of college friends for a contender for a seat in the House. It was a tempting thought. The fellows who were forming this team were incredibly bright and we had spent countless hours in college in class together arguing and even more outside of class doing the same, discussing both political theory and practice.

I had been very active in campus politics for my four years at university.And yet I declined the offer. I had a job of sorts and didn't want to take the risk. My friends went on to win the campaign, and two of the five are still very much involved in politics One is major wheel in local politics in our college town, the other is a smaller fish in the D.C. pond but has found his niche and has built a couple of nice companies and is what one might call "financially secure."

These days I follow politics, but my interest waxes and wains, depending on the season, the politicians and the issues. Neither of the major party candidates excited me, but the issues of the day certainly do. It seems that as a nation we are becoming increasingly polarized on issues and that our leaders are unwilling to compromise and broker deals.

That's a shame.

Politics does have winners and losers, but it is not a zero sum game. If we constantly bully  and push the 'other' around then what kind of system are we building? I had hoped (in vain) that the Libertarian party would break the 5% threshold this year and become a national voice and a viable option to the two parties in power. I have looked at some of the parliamentary systems with their multiple, fractious parties and see some value to those systems, although they are not without their flaws. But it does seem that in those systems the brokering of deals among groups becomes more important for getting things done.

On a side note, how different might presidential politics be if more states opted for proportional representation in  the electoral college rather than a "winner takes all" approach? Only two states don't use this approach but it might certainly get the nation a step closer to the notion of the a truly popular vote to elect the president, if that is what one wants.

Enough of politics for now. I still do have a bit of a news hangover.