By Martin Walsh

There was a time not long ago when I thought it was silly to have anything but a two party system. When my friends would argue the point that it’s more representative, I pointed out that this system keeps things moderate. If we had a bunch of third parties, we’d end up like France several years ago, who, because of parliamentary structure, faced a race between the Communist Party and Fascist party (which, contrary to what some believe, are opposites).

I’ve come to realize that I was very wrong. First of all, we do not have a parliamentary democracy; no matter the makeup of the House or Senate, the President is elected independently.

Secondly, moderation cannot solve many of our problems. This is the realm of staunch conservatives (beyond George W. Bush’s pseudo small government) and bleeding heart liberals (the kinds that make Hillary Clinton look like John McCain). Taking turns with these types in office, and creating a more diverse Congress is the best way to get us through problems like campaign finance reform, a plummeting dollar and the role of faith in our public school system.

Now I’m what some might call liberal (No way! Crazy isn’t it?), but even I can see there may be benefits to having someone like Ron Paul (who is an arch-conservative and should-be-a-Libertarian Republican) in office. He would eliminate our presence in Iraq and most likely whittle the national debt down pretty quickly. However, he would have to be balanced not by a Liberal Congress full of Greens and Socialists, but a diverse Congress with Republicans and Democrats, Greens and Libertarians, Independents and Independencers (Indepedencites? People in the Independence Party).

I don’t think any one president will be able to fix all our problems. I simply think there are different types of solutions to different problems.

As I wrote in the last issue, pigeonholing someone into unilaterally following the (very broad) doctrine of the Republican or Democratic parties doesn’t get us anywhere.

We’ve acknowledged the need to embrace diversity in our classrooms and everywhere else. The halls of Washington are no different. By different political factions working together, each acknowledging they are only part of the puzzle, I believe we can end up with the most practical and beneficial policies our government has produced in a long time.

So when it comes time to vote next year, don’t be afraid to vote for whomever you think is best on whatever issue you think is most important. Red, blue, green, purple, orange, yellow, whatever political banner you choose, make your choice count and vote for it.

Filed under: Opinion by Justin Roth