Bipartisan system a problem in US, two former congressmen say

    Our first president, George Washington, strongly opposed the creation of political parties. Looking back now, with our rigidly divided nation full of states color-coded red or blue, maybe he was right.
    “Bipartisanship has fallen apart in this country,” said Dan Miller (R), a former congressional representative from Florida. “Partisanship is not a pretty sight, and I think it’s going to be a key factor in the 2008 Election.”
    On Wednesday, 13 students had the opportunity to discuss partisanship in America with two experienced congressmen in an open floor question and answer session in the Magnolia Ballroom.
    Miller and Jim Lloyd (D), former California Representative, answered students’ questions and gave their opinions of the state of America’s political system.
    Lloyd agreed that divided political parties are bad for the nation’s progress.
    “It’s very bad. There isn’t anything else to say. Back when I was in Congress we had a good rapport on both sides of the aisle, with Democrats and Republicans,” he said.
    While both congressmen said that partisanship is negative, Miller said that part of the problem came from the primary elections system. He said that it was usually the most conservative or the most liberal people who vote in the primaries and they usually elect the most conservative and the most liberal candidates.
    Miller went on to say that he believed Americans would vote for the most moderate candidate available in the presidential general election, so the party with the most moderate candidate is a sure win in 2008.   Lloyd, on the other hand, said that the political parties need to be more unified and be able to compromise.
    Miller served in Congress from 1992 to 2003. He holds a doctorate in marketing and statistics from Louisiana State University and teaches at the University of South Florida in Sarasota, Fla.
    Lloyd was in Congress for three terms starting in 1974, on top of serving in the U.S. Navy as an enlisted man, an officer and a Naval aviator. Also, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Lloyd was the director of public affairs and Cold War activities at the naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
    The students at the meeting were very responsive to the Congressmen. Some left with a better understanding of our governmental system, like Lindsey Donahoo, a freshman with an undecided major.
    “I thought it was really good,” Donahoo said. “I don’t know anything about politics, so it was nice to learn a little something.”
    Some students, however, heard what they were expecting to hear.
    “I enjoyed it; it was good, but it reinforced what I already thought,” said Will Thompson, senior advisor to the Student Political Movement.  
    Gregg Kaufman, director of the Coverdell Institute, said that he had received very good feedback from the students.
    “A student came up (to me) and was so thankful that she was able to ask questions,” Kaufman said.
    Kaufman also said that he enjoyed the program just as much.
    “I thought it was fantastic,” he said. “These two congressmen have been delightful. They served in two completely different eras of the 20th century and they have really interesting perspectives.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 22 2006. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry