Everyone complains about political gridlock caused by partisan politics. We could fix the problem and eliminate partisan politics in the United States today, and it is not that difficult.
Right now there are approximately 42 million Democrats, 30 million Republicans, and 24 million independents in the United States, so Democrats outnumber Republicans by about 12 million voters (from Wikipedia). The Republican Party, despite being smaller, has a cohesive and loyal following. They also have a more favorable election map. Because of this, Republicans will continue to control more than their share of seats in the House and Senate, and partisan politics will continue, regardless of who is elected president. In other words, nothing will be accomplished.
Rather than continuing down the same path, which has proven to be unsuccessful, why not try a different approach? Why not effectively eliminate political parties? This could be done if every Democratic voter registered as a Republican. Remember, belonging to a political party does not determine your vote – you can still vote for the candidate of your choice. If this change in registration occurred, Democrats would have considerable power in the Republican Party. In fact, there would be only one political party, which would essentially mean that there would be no political parties.
Some people may cry foul at this approach, but there is nothing unethical about it. Following the Civil Rights Act of 1964, millions of Southern Democrats switched to the Republican Party. Besides, with all of the partisan gerrymandering taking place across the country, neither party can claim ethical superiority.
So, to put it simply, let’s all register as Republicans so that there will be just one big political party. That party would better represent the wishes of the country and elect officials that truly reflect the population. In that way, the majority will once again rule.
EDIT: Maybe some people are missing my point. A political party is just a label. The party can represent anything that the members desire. If everyone joined a single party, it would represent the will of the majority of people. Remember, Republicans were once liberal and Democrats were once conservative. Everything can change.
We cannot keep pinning our hopes for reform on an already partisan and gridlocked system. If we want change, we need to do something ourselves.