When I was younger, I never followed politics. I did not understand them. The idea that those in office had a profound effect on the way I would be able to interact with my country never entered my mind. I was simpleminded and politically dumb.
I am now still politically dumb, or maybe more succinctly politically frustrated. The idealist in me wishes that politics were primarily about the common good. The realist in me; however, has found out that politics are much more complicated than that. To be cynical, they have a lot more to do with influence and lobbyists.
We have our two party system here that pretends to be more than that. I will admit to having never even paid attention to any other party besides the Republicans, and the Democrats. There is no reason to follow any other party because there is no chance in hell that they can be elected to office.
From what I have learned there is no reason to vote for any other party than the big two because you would definitely be throwing away your vote. This is sad, but with the current way our elections are set up, it is true.
We have the Democratic primaries and the Republican Primaries. Why could we not have national primaries after the two largest political parties had theirs. The top two would then be put on the ballot. (We would likely have to keep presidential candidates and vice presidential candidates together.)
I do not think that any other party would win in my lifetime, even with a national primary. It is ok if the same old parties win. My preoccupation is with making the vote a little more fair for everyone. If our elections are set up this way, then there would be no way to throw away our votes (as long as we turn out and vote).
Changing the elections in this manner would also broaden the minds of many voters, as they would be more likely to want to follow at least some of the other parties out there. We are a capitalist society. Capitalism allows the market to choose and regulate itself. Why is our election system not a little more capitalistic? The truth is that the market (voters) most likely do want one of the two major parties to win. That is fine, but I believe that the system should be set up so that everyone has a chance. It does not make a difference that there is almost no chance that any other party will ever win. Who cares as long as the system is fair?