Colleague Response

I completely agree with Kmearite in her article Setting Stage 5 for Right v. Wrong. She argues that politicians these days are much too concerned with procedure, and that because of this they often lose site of what they think is right. As a result, they will vote one direction on a bill when in their hearts they feel the other direction would be in the better interest of the country.

Many things could possibly attribute to why some politicians don’t follow their heart and what they think is right. However, I think the primary reason people vote a certain way against their gut is to stay in line with their particular political party. In some ways, parties have become an obstacle in our political system as the ties to those within their party have made some politicians, and possibly citizens, forget what Government’s role as a whole is. The existence of different parties and ideologies puts pressure on people to choose a side. Once a side is chosen, they receive further pressure to stay in line with that side. Even since the start of this course less than a month ago, I have felt confused and unsure when I learned that my first gut instinct on an issue was not in agreement with my determined and supported ideology and party affiliation. It is very hard to come to grips with the fact that you may agree with the opposing party on an issue, particularly when loyalty is such a prevalent characteristic in politicians, if not the human race.

I cannot offer much of a solution to the problem, only encourage people not to worry when they think outside the lines of their party. They should indeed just do what they think is right. We really cannot ask for much more than that.