politics as a team sport ??

I have often wondered why two people who are diametrically opposed but belonging to the same political party will endorse one another after one of them leaves the primary. I watched Romney, Rudy, Huckabee, Hunter, Paul, and the list goes on opposed John McCain on various issues which really set them apart during the republican primary. The same can be said about the democrat primary as well.
Once these competitors started dropping by the wayside they started to endorse the front runner as if they agreed with them during the whole campaign season, I like to call this kissing up. So far the only republican who has not endorsed McCain is Ron Paul, this will come back to bite him as the party will probably strip him of his committee seats, and he is the TRUE maverick in Congress as political party affiliation means nothing to him. HE WORKS FOR THE PEOPLE !!!
Have we gotten so entrenched in this political party system that principles are sacrificed in order to keep a political party in power ?? One ideology over the other means nothing as the individuals within those parties mean to control the rest of us and how we live our daily lives.

Granted on the state and federal elections you don't stand a chance unless you have a (d) or (r) after your last name, unless you have name recognition such as Jesse "The Body" Ventura or spend massive amounts of cash ala Ross Perot. Neither of these gentlemen would have been on the radar screen had it not been for popularity or money. This also can be a hinderance of sorts as well, as Lynn Swann discovered during the governors race in PA against Rendell. Swann had name recognition as being one of the finest receivers in football during the 70's and 80's however he was also running in a state that has two football teams, of which Swann played for the Steelers. Eagles fans hate the Steelers and Philly came through in a big way for Rendell, just as many Eagles fans came through for him as well in the other parts of the state. Now unions played a large role in this election as did government employees which spelled defeat for Swann.

The Steelers in the 70's were 4 time SuperBowl champs and since that time have gone back to two more of which they split. The Eagles in the 70's were terrible, since then they have gone to two different SuperBowls and have lost both to the AFC team. National Football League fans don't like the American Football League fans or there players although with fantasy football this attitude is changing. Something similar can be said about baseball with the two opposing leagues, the American has a designated hitter rule because they don't want the pitcher to get hurt, meanwhile the National League says a player is a player and they should play. Pitcher hits and pitches.

How did we become a nation of two political parties

The American two Party Political System Since the administration of George Washington two political parties have dominated the United States political system, but they have not always been the same two parties. The first two parties were the Federalists and Anti-Federalists. Federalists were those who supported a strong federal government and the Anti-Federalists were those who did not. The leaders of the Federalists were Alexander Hamilton and John Adams. Both were from the Northeast where the Federalist line of thinking was strongest. Thomas Jefferson became the leader of the Anti-Federalists. read more

How it began in the U.S.

America's first President George Washington, did not belong to a political party. He believed they did not best serve the people's interests. This made him America's only President who was elected as an independent (not affiliated with a party), though John Tyler was expelled from his party a few months after taking office. Most of America's founding fathers were opposed to political parties, and wanted none of them in the U.S. read more

In the United States, since roughly 1800, there have been two major political parties. For the last 150 years or so, these two parties have been the Democrat and Republican parties. This is in deep contrast to many other democratic nations, who often have as many as ten significant parties. Many people wonder why the United States has only two parties and why it is so difficult for a third or a fourth party to make any significant gains and become a noteworthy player on the national political scene. The reasons are many and varied. read more

The only way a nation can maintain freedom and liberty is to evict there rulers on a regular basis however with our current system this just is not going to happen as the political ideology is the driving force not the liberty of the people.