Political Parties
In the U.S.A. there are many political parties. Some exist primarily for the purpose of promoting their candidates for election, while others exist primarily to exert influence on elections. Still others are “fill-in” parties which exist to put up a candidate only under exceptional circumstances such as 2009′s New York 23rd Congressional election. Of course, the two parties that matter for the purpose of U.S. national elections are Democrats and Republicans, but the others are worth a look.
In general Keene Politics recommends people think very little about party affiliation and focus more on issues and candidates. We believe people’s ideals are bigger than those of any single political party. Also, there is a hidden danger with party affiliation: The temptation to support a certain candidate or official’s actions even when they flounder.
Democrat
Democrats generally favor finding government solutions to problems. They tend to be reluctant to go to war, and are occasionally impugned as “weak on defense”. Generally, Democrat’s support lifting restrictions on abortion, and support most gay rights. Democrats are often accused on being “tax and spend”, this is only partially correct. Democrats more often increase the gap between what low wage earners pay and what high wage earners pay (see our Tax Policy page for more on the progressive tax system). They occasionally oppose 2nd amendment rights, with notable exceptions (such as Howard Dean).
Republican
Republicans tend to favor free market solutions to problems. They are often proactive on national defense, sometimes so much that they are accused of nation building. They also oppose abortion almost unanimously, and are mixed on gay rights (generally preferring to allow States to create laws regarding gay marriage, for instance). Republicans generally flatten the tax structure somewhat, by reducing the burden on high income earners. This has garnered them criticism from other parties for favoring the rich. They usually promote 2nd amendment rights.
Libertarian
http://www.libertarianparty.com/
Libertarians are mostly social liberals but fiscal conservatives. In general they oppose any government imposition on freedom. They are generally in favor of abortion rights, gay rights, and immigrations rights. Libertarians tend to oppose government spending, including that spending which is used for war and the military. For this reason, they are often seen as conservative on fiscal issues.
Constitution
http://www.constitutionparty.com/
The Constitution Party claims a stricter adherence to Constitutional principles than other parties. However, they more closely mirror the social platform of the Republicans. In particular, they are strongly opposed to gay marriage, explicitly opposing hate crimes legislation because it would “legitimize inappropriate sexual behavior and to stifle public resistance to its expression”. It might be more appropriate to call it the Catholic Constitution Party.
Conservative
http://www.conservativepartyusa.com/
The Conservative Party is the only party on this list we support. Their ideals tend to most closely match the independent conservative spirit we endorse. However, the Conservative party is highly fragmented, with each State having a Conservative Party that has a franchise agreement with the national party which is run out of Louisiana. Even with the Conservative Party you must vote for candidates, not parties…do your homework before you vote.
Green
As the name would imply The Green Party has a large focus on environmental issues. Although they are also include gay rights, and an extremely liberal social policy in their platform. It’s safe to think of the Green Party as left of the Democrat party. As of this writing, the Green Party’s main home page prominently features the headline “SINGLE PAYER NOW”.