Not sure if this thread will get any life, but I can tell you that after nearly 3 total years in foreign lands, my political outlook has changed significantly. I used to be Die-Hard Republican. I voted party line, didn't matter that candidates presented good arguments.
Over time I changed to more of a "vote for the best candidate" person, yet I still found myself voting the party line whenever I didn't know much about the two choices I had.
Recently, I changed much more drastically, and perhaps it has been all the reading I have been doing especially, but I turned my back on the Republican Party and joined the Constitution Party. I simply cannot support the two-party system in the U.S. any more. There are too many buffoons in both parties, both are morally bankrupt, and both of the major parties are spending the country into insolvency.
I'm not the only one feeling this way. Apparently, in June 2009 there was a 1% shift of the nation away from both major parties to a different status. In many cases, they've joined a party separate from the big two, and one biased report I read stated that the Constitution Party was the largest and fastest growing of the parties outside the big two. That's not why I joined the CP though, not to latch on a fad, but it was the party platform. When I read it, I agreed with every single one of their points. Simply put, the CP wants to get back to Constitutional practice.
What say you? Do you believe in Republicanism and the Prophet Limbaugh? Are you Democrat to the end, even if it really means "the end?" Sorry, I just had to jab a bit.
I don't want to overlook our fellow Fixxtures outside the U.S. either. For example, there's much debate now about individual national sovereignty in Europe vs. collective Euro-Union practice. Even PM Brown has to cow to former PM Blair because Blair may become the first "President" of the European Union. Some see the presidency as further eroding sovereignty in Europe. Canadians also have it rough as the perceived 51st state, so what are your gripes with overbearing U.S. interference in your affairs (or the U.K.)?
Looking forward to fiery discussion in here, if you're willing.
Oh, we haven't even started on religion yet, should save that for a bit.
BM