Third parties, unfortunately, are not the option. Look what happened in 2000! Ralph Nader had a perfectly good point in that, if Al Gore couldn't win that no-brainer of an election by himself, why should it be the Greens problem? They had their own message to push.
But Green votes may have made the difference between Gore, a pragmatic environmentalist, and Bush, an avowed industrialist. Smart thinking.
In Canada, the opposition forces are split between four different parties and none of the pack enough clout to worry the governing party. The conservative opposition is split between the right-wing western-only Alliance party (which will never govern because they can't appeal to anyone but the western rednecks) and the once-powerful Conservative party, which is on a very slow rebuilding track but is constantly being threatened with being eaten by the Alliance. What this means is the ruling Liberals have become fat and lazy because no one effectively holds their feet to the fire. They have absolutely no fear of defeat. This isn't healthy in a democracy.
Here in America, the right-wing consolidation in the GOP means most of their ducks are lined up. They don't have fractious fights. But you're SO right, that our leadership are often dullards, speaking in hushed, mealy-mouthed tones. Where are the fiery orators? Daschle? Gephardt? Leiberman? Leahy? Where is the indignation? Kennedy? Dodd? Clinton? Torricelli? Where are the ideas? Feingold? Davis? Kerry? Where is the strategy? Sharpton?
The Democrats are not devoid of talent, but effective new leaders are not cultivated and the party has far too much emphasis on being nice instead of being effective. Who have they sent into battle, besides Bill Clinton? Walter Mondale. Michael Dukakis. Al Gore. Who were the challengers for those nominations, excepting Jesse Jackson. The likes of Alan Cranston, John Glenn, Dick Gephardt, Paul Simon, Paul Tsongas, Bruce Babbitt — all intelligent and capable, but hardly an inspiration or a firebrand among them.
Let's hope that someone who knows how to campaign and how to win, like Bill Clinton did, is not a singular super nova the likes of which we won't see again. The GOP has the spark and no brains. The Dems have braisn but no spark and, as any advertising exec will tell you, Americans will choose spark over brains any day.
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