Party Elections

Party Driven Elections Political parties are the driving force behind elections in the United States. Since the Reconstruction, no third-party candidate has even been close in winning the Presidential Race (Schattschneider 186). Also since then, only 163 third-party candidates have been elected to government office without being affiliated to the two major parties( Schattschneider 189).George Washington was the only man to be President as a true independent. Many people may look at this and think that if Washington did this, maybe the system should be changed. But the fact is unless the system is changed, the United States will most likely always be controlled by only two parties. Ever since this country was created it has been governed by two parties. Originating with the Federalist and the Anti-Federalists, advancing to todays Republicans and Democrats (Domino 705). A party has almost always claimed at least a 50 percent majority in Congress. Never has any third party risen to power and stayed there, without bringing another party down from power. The longest leading parties in history are the Republican and Democratic Parties (Domino 707). While the parties' stances on issues may have developed, their core beliefs have never changed. Republicans have always been in favor of a decentralized government, while the Democrats have always supported a centralized government. Some examples would be Obamacare for liberals, and tax cuts for the conservatives. But not everyone supports all issues of his or her parties platform. Many prominent leaders ally for the most part with their respective party, but sometimes disagree on a prominent issues. Sometimes a leader claims to hail from one party, but almost entirely disagree with the party on many issues. Ron Paul is a perfect example of a man who does not believe in his party's values. Paul