It's a big problem with the two party system. If there was a third major option with it's own platform, compromise wouldn't just be something people encouraged, it would be a requirement.
Not necessarily. That would depend entirely on at least one party being able to find common ground and compromise with the third party so to speak. On the other hand if that does not happen things get more chaotic. The issue at the US seems to be that simply people from both parties have radicalized. It's not just the republicans that come up with increasingly more far right wing ideologies. Bernie sanders is as far as I understand openly socialist, not just left wing, and has specifically an almost anti rich people rhetoric. Would that have been possible even the last elections? Common ground between parties has decreased over time and that reflects over the current state of US politics.
Not necessarily. You'd have to get rid of the plurality (AKA "first past the post") voting first, or you'd be stuck in a situation similar to the one we are in here Canada (but for you it would be even worse, since I don't think you can have non-confidence votes or coalitions, at least as far as I'm aware). Canada has three major (and two smaller, but significant) parties that have held official party status, only two of which have ever actually held the federal reins. In the past, our parliamentary system has sometimes meant great compromises between parties (such as the one that lead to all Canadians having access to basic health care). However in the last few elections, we've repeatedly been stuck with a governing party that consistently receives less than 40% of the vote, because the other parties split the remaining vote. Our next election is on Monday and the same thing might happen again. The tragedy here (aside from the shockingly undemocratic and damaging policies and attitudes of the Conservative gov't) is that the non-governing parties are all more similar to each other than any one any one of them is to the one that is in charge, especially the two biggest opposing parties.
More accurately, the Western world has followed the United States in moving its political rhetoric ever rightward, to the extent that the establishment members of your Democratic party (including Obama) are really more centre-right and not on the left at all. (People with a much better grounding in global politics than me have pointed this out time and again.) "Obamacare" is a prime example. It was originally an idea from the right wing think tank the Heritage Foundation. In 1990 they proposed an individual mandate as part of health reform that preserves the "free market" (because insurance is still private). Flash forward a couple of decades and now the same people think "Obamacare" is a vile government intrusion into the marketplace. There are countless examples of Republican party politics moving to the right but you'll not find that many examples Democratic party ideals shifting to the left (definitely not economically; maybe a few socially). Everyone has moved to the right, and your country's tendencies have influenced others to do the same.
Probably because.... Trump personifies... the ignorant American... most of all?
Because the Republican party is pathetically out of touch with it's base. They'd rather vote for a boisterous reality tv star that has nothing in common with them than someone of actual substance. And shit, complaining about a candidate not having any substance is nothing new, but Trump defies all previous challengers. The silliest thing is that enough of what Trump apparently stands for isn't even the craziest stuff to come out of these candidates mouths. That's the only excuse I can think of to give some voters the benefit of the doubt....but it is incredibly perplexing even so...lol
anti immigration
Lol, that is true. I just remembered how they used to call the mormon guy an alien given how out of touch he was and mccain got called a robot or something as well. Funny, the republican party has gone through war veteran, religious nutjob and now business mogul/realitytvstar as candidates. I wonder what gimmick they will try to milk next.
Carson might be the dumbest "smart" person I've ever known of. To think that this guy was a local hero for so long due to his work at Johns Hopkins...I guess that was before anyone knew his beliefs. He's a nutter and as insane as it is, Trump would probably be a better leader. At least, more sensible.
Jeb is one of the few who actually seems sane. The issue with him is the shadow of his Brother's (and Father's) presidency. He has the financial and political backing...if he was anyone else he'd probably be a decent contender.
Except Democrats are mostly split on this decision....and again, Obama isn't running for president.
Yeah, a few of the things he believes caught me off guard. It goes to show that being intelligent or even a genius does not stop you from believing crazy stuff. I am not sure if trump would be more sensible or better leader. I guess trump would have his business experience there but then again being president is an entirely different context.
Sad but true. He's the most moderate of all of them. Beyond just his brother though, the family political dynasty issue is also a problem (a third Bush!). His nomination would help Democrats neutralize Republican attempts to attack Clinton on the basis of dynasty as well. (That said, Romneycare sure didn't stop anybody from attacking Obamacare.) Anyway if he can rise above these issues somehow he would probably have a better shot at the general election vote than anyone else running on the Republican side.
I've been thinking about Trump's claims of being good at making money, and recently I came across where people had analyzed what he could have made based on how much he began with. Compared with those in his income bracket, he didn't do that great. (Note: I only care about this because he is campaigning on what a great businessman he supposedly is. I mean that's silly enough when you consider that business and government are two completely different things, but if his argument is just that he knows how to manage money then it's all the worse that he's full of hot air in that area as well.)
http://mic.com/articles/124840/heres-the-real-reason-donald-trump-is-so-rich
http://www.vox.com/2015/9/2/9248963/donald-trump-index-fund