Those who accuse progressives of calling for "purity tests" want this party to stand for nothing.

[RiverNoord]

143. I agree 100%.

Thanks, Ken Burch.

There are theories that conclude that the only purpose of a political party is to win elections.

I happen to profoundly disagree with those theories.

But our system of exactly two fully institutionalized political parties results in pretty much that. When the citizens of a country are convinced that there are only two legitimate options for political office, the real differences between the parties tend to fade away. And, when these two political parties stage heavily loaded, illusory contests that result in the selection of their candidates for offices, representative democracy doesn't actually exist. At least not on the basis of 'one person, one vote.' It may exist on the basis of 'votes assigned to patrons, proportionally based on said patrons' current influence levels.' Then, we have representative democracy based on the combination of wealth and a knack for picking the right 'politicians' to promote.

The country vacillates between Democrats and Republicans regularly, especially on the subject of the President of the United States. And one driver of that is simply the fact that people get bored and want something else. No purpose, no comprehension that there are pretty clear predictors of the likely in-office behavior of specific individuals and those who are likely to move into positions of power with them. Just 'time for a change.' Even if the government's in pretty good shape, things are relatively good, etc. Time for a change.

Think the parties don't know this? Of course they do. So they simply position themselves to be constantly changing. You can't expect the Democratic Party, for example, to espouse the same values it did 10 years ago. Even if they were damn good values. That's stagnancy, in terms of the how the parties have to keep up with public vacillation.

When an actual person with discernible values and a tendency to generally speak the truth shows up, like Bernie Sanders, it's a threat to all of the people and organizations that depend on more or less relative predictable vacillation between the parties. So, what happens?

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