One of the many ways that one can parse the differences between the parties and gives a little bit of insight into the fringe parties.
The creators of South Park are said to have noted that something to the effect that they don't like Conservatives, but they hate f**king Liberals. And this, I suppose is the basis of centripetal politics in this country.
On some level this breaks down in some elements of the fringe parties.
The Left, in part, can be distinguished by the fact that while they may not be big fans of government (in and of itself, although they may view it as a useful means to an end). But, it can be said with a much higher degree of certainty that they really dislike Corporate America.
Conversely, the Right may not be entirely enamored with Big Corporations, but it can be said that they harbor a very significant measure of loathing for government.
From these folks, the small fringe parts are spawned, this reflects, quite often a feeling that the hatred exhibited by the major party is not pure or comprehensive enough.
The folks in the Green Party hate big corporations with a passion. Likewise, hardcore libertarians really despise government. In both cases, the dislike has morphed into a nearly visceral hatred that is much more than intellectual and approaches a moral view.
This is not the entire catalog of views that describe American politics. There is another component. Similar to the way that the Left and Right view corporations and and government, both groups have complementary views on liberalism and conservatism. The Left is a big fan of social liberalism, although they tend to trend rather conservative on economic (not government spending) issues. Contrariwise, the Right harbors a significant group of socially conservative people, while tending to be quite liberal economically.
Taking this further to the fringe elements, we see that the Pat Buchanan-style folks place the emphasis on social conservatism at levels so high, that they are now increasingly more likely to be found in bed with an array of parties that can be quite comfortable with big government, such as certain elements of the Green Party. Likewise, there exists a contingent of people who are so attached to economic conservatism that they'll leap at any opportunity to ally with anyone they can (you'll note that the LaRouche folks have made all manner of party affiliations over the years).
And finally, the balance of the political spectrum seems to involve folks who are very aggressive about liberalism, be it social or conservative. By definition, these people tend to compose a hard-core element of the Libertarian Party.
Personally, I vote based on defense and foreign policy issues. Very few people do, although the largest contingent of these folks have historically have resided in the Democratic Party, for it's dedication to Wilsonian foreign policy. Not that many folks will base their vote on Jeffersonian or Hamiltonian views, but a measurable of people are sufficiently hard-core Jacksonian - those who are, have, at least since 1968, been staunch Republicans. Since, by definition, Jacksonians don't tend to get riled up during peacetime, many Jacksonians don't cast their vote for muscular foreign policy in peacetime.
And, of course, American politics being the dog's breakfast it is, this explanation is of course, incomplete and won't cover all (or even, necessarily, that many ) cases. But hey, if politics wasn't inherently messy, what would bloggers do with their spare time.
Launched by Bravo Romeo Delta at September 5, 2004 10:38 PM