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>And about bringing up issues - what's the average influence of voters on issues where the two parties agree? Do these ever come up for public debate?
What do you mean by 'public debate' ? People publicly debate things all the time. Nobody stopping them. Do they get publicly subsidized airtime? No. Do they get a forum paid for by my taxes? Hopefully not. But nobody is suppressing them. Minority opinions ( many of which I share ) are just that - the opinion of a minority. Hence there are fewer people making that argument. Political parties most often take positions according to what they think will get them the most votes ( when you hear the words "Big Tent" you know you are talking about "To hell with principle" <g> )
But one thing I don't think we lack in this country is the expression of minority, unpopular or downright strange opinions <s>
Charles Hankey
Though a good deal is too strange to be believed, nothing is too strange to have happened.
- Thomas Hardy
Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm-- but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.
-- T. S. Eliot
Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed sheep contesting the vote.
- Ben Franklin
Pardon him, Theodotus. He is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature.
