Political parties have, over the years, evolved to become much like corporations in that they seek to benefit themselves.
There is a grass roots group within each political party which is very interested in the issues and as a result this group will work very hard on the party’s platform in order to make a statement as to beliefs and purposes. These platforms are pretty good gauges as to the grass-roots movement of the party and shows the direction that the party is moving.
When it comes down to the rank and file members of a party, they generally do not hold to the party’s platform and are very interested in keeping the status-quo of the party organization. This is the group that presses the idea that to vote a straight party ticket is the duty of every member of the party.
In a Republic, the guide for the voter to use, as a primary point of decision, is that he wants to find the man with the best morals and therefore the strongest backbone. But if men are persuaded to vote for the man who represents any given party simply on the basis of the party he belongs to, not only does the proper selection process of a Republic go out the window, but (possibly worse) along with the straight party ticket goes the idea that ‘if he is of my party he can do no wrong’ or at least the one under question will not be opposed in what he is doing. This is a partial explanation of why, even though we elect new people and even change the parties which are in control, we have no real change in the direction we are going but only a change in how fast we are going in that direction because parties will not ‘police’ their own people. The political parties have become social parties where social etiquette dictates what is expected so as to keep everyone smiling. The result is that the turn-coats or traitors are backed by their party when they should be removed by their party.
Many times one finds that, after all due diligence is taken, all the right candidates are from the same party. This is not uncommon in a polarized society.
To vote straight party ticket as a matter of standard procedure is to put the party above faith and country. What results can come from such an idea, other than disaster?