Reform Party 2: Electric Boogaloo

[Tuckerfan]

Admittedly, these guys do have some good ideas and seem to be short of nutty billionaires.

What We Believe

Unity08 believes that neither of today’s major parties reflects the aspirations, fears or will of the majority of Americans. Both have polarized and alienated the people. Both are unduly influenced by single-issue groups. Both are excessively dominated by money.

In our opinion, Crucial Issues include: Global terrorism, our national debt, our dependence on foreign oil, the emergence of India and China as strategic competitors and/or allies, nuclear proliferation, global climate change, the corruption of Washington’s lobbying system, the education of our young, the health care of all, and the disappearance of the American Dream for so many of our people.

By contrast, we consider gun control, abortion and gay marriage important issues, worthy of debate and discussion in a free society, but not issues that should dominate or even crowd our national agenda.

In our opinion – since the disintegration of the Soviet Union – our political system seems to have focused more attention on the “important issues” than the “crucial issues.” One result: The political parties have been built to address the interests of their “base” but have failed to address the realities that impact most Americans.

Hmm, makes sense, it’ll never work in America.

[Sunspace]

:: sighs with relief ::

For a moment I thought this was going to be about the Canadian Reform Party, which was basically a coalition of the social-conservative, nominally small-government, western-annoyance, and Christian/Muslim/Hindu fundamentalist wing of Canadian politics, whose power base is in Alberta. It was very similar to current-day Republicans without the corruption or kleptomainiac streak.

The Reform party changed its name a couple of times and managed to take over the federal Conservative party (causing them to drop the “Progressive” part of their name). They flamed out during the previous-to-last federal election when lax party discipline allowed backbencher candidates to express their true views, after which the progressive sectors of the electorate (mostly in the east), fanned by the propagandists of the Liberal party, abandoned them in droves.

The Liberals themselves flamed out before the last election due to corruption in the federal government itself (the infamous Adscam), the Conservatives improved their party disciplin immensely, and enough Canadians voted Conservative to give them a minority government.

The opposition parties working together can pull the plug on a minority government, by defeating a budget reccomendation. But so far, they haven’t. The Conservative government survives.

[Sunspace]

I think your Reform party’s policies are a lot better for your long-term survival than those of your current administration…