The Color Purple

No, not the movie.

I'm talking about the tendency of the media to classify someone as a "blue-state" person or a "red-state" person.

That's unfortunate.

See, I live in the bluest of the blue states, Kansas. I voted for George Bush because, to me, he was really the better choice of two candidates. John Kerry never inspired anyone and so I voted for who I thought would be the best for the job out of the two top candidates.

There's something inherently wrong with my reasoning, though: I'm purple.

I'm fiscally conservative (low taxes, small government, etc), but socially, I am at the very least a moderate, but I'm likely much more a little left of center.

Therein lies my dilemma (as well as that of many other people). Where is our political party? Over the past several months, the optimism that I maintained throughout the 2004 Presidential Race has been worn down. I realize that President Bush is probably doing the best he can, but the problem is that he (as well as any other president) usually has to answer to a strong lobby by his political party's strongest proponents. For Republicans, that happens to be the religious right of the country. Now, I consider myself a part of the religious part, but why do we have to be considered "The Religious Right". There are a lot of people that I know who are what might be considered a part of "The Spiritual Left." Do I hold my own Christianity above theirs? Absolutely not.

Until we are provided with a viable, middle-of-the-road political party, there will continue to be the bickering and name-calling that exists in Washington today. A third voice needs to be heard...that of the level-headed, whose allegiance is not necessarily to lobbyists or interest groups, but to the WILL OF THE PEOPLE.

I think that I am young enough (29 this year) that it isn't unreasonable for me to expect to see this come to fruition before I become an insignificant member of the polls. Unfortunately, the stranglehold on Washington by the red and blue parties doesn't really allow for purple. Independents are looked down upon and have trouble gaining a large stage unless they are either completely loaded or completely crazy.

The question that remains is:

Why is it that our country only seems to function under a two-party system?

I can't figure it out. This is AMERICA. The Land of Opporunity. The Melting Pot (mmm...fondue...). The Big Salad Bar. Isn't it a bit near-sighted for the Powers That Be to think that we are all represented by two major political parties?

It just feels like there are large chunks of the country that are relatively ignored because their demographic just doesn't fit into the system.

Until that happens, our country will continue to be sharply divided. I hope that someday we'll see the end of that division.