I remember in my history classes that George Washington was against political parties. We never really got into the details of that but this election has certainly shown me why he might have disliked political parties. Folks, we've wound up with the least liked candidates out of all the options. Donald Trump with a 62% unfavorability rating and Hilary Clinton with 52%. How did we get here? Media coverage was a huge factor since Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump had the majority of airtime during this election cycle. Dividing primaries and debates has certainly had an effect on the election. But what if there was one primary rather than two?

I propose the no party system, at least for the Presidential election. Instead of having Republicans deciding what one of the two options is, why not the whole country? If we had Senator Sanders, Hilary Clinton, Senator Cruz, and Donald Trump on the stage together I think we would be able to see the ideas they express side by side and actually understand who is the best candidate for us. This would also give equal air time for candidates and could lead to an election where people do not necessarily have to choose between the lesser of two evils, which this has become. If Senator Sanders were to face Hilary Clinton as the two choices then more people would be alright with voting for Senator Sanders since he is more liked than Hilary Clinton. This would at least let people feel somewhat optimistic for the future since Senator Sanders isn't disliked by a majority of the country.

Unfortunately, my theory is not perfect because the majority of votes went to Trump and Clinton. However, Senator Sanders had only about 1.3 million fewer votes than Trump, which brings up the question of whether Sanders received more votes than Donald Trump. If Senator Sanders in fact had more votes but still lost to Hillary Clinton, how would it be fair to give Trump a nomination if most of the country decided to vote for two other candidates?

I know that there are some holes in my theory like half the country would still feel let down no matter who won or the reason that we have two choices are because of the rigid two party system. However, I would offer that elections based on views and policies over political party would be much better for American voters than the current system. Will we have a no party system in this country? Probably not. Perhaps it is a grassroots phenomenon that can start with State Assemblies rather than Presidential nominees. It is my hope that we can find the best candidates to represent us and I don't think the ideas that we need are always found on party platforms but rather in the men and women who fight for them as our representatives.