democrat and republican parties

“The Democratic Party at its worst is better for the country than the Republican Party at its best.” This was a statement made by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1955. Lyndon B. Johnson of course was a Democrat. Is this quote true today? That is a question that can only be answered after a careful analysis of the philosophy of the Republican and Democratic leaders that help to run this nation.

“Neither of the two major parties is made up of people who are all of one mind. Each party is a coalition of many people with diverse interests who come together to get their candidates elected to public office.” (Political Science textbook) If this is the case, it makes the decision of choosing who is better even harder. An individual would need to examine the traditional values of each party to see if those values match with each person’s values. After examining those values, a person should consider the performance of past presidents, members of Congress, and the Senate to see if those values and philosophies were upheld and if the voting record of these individuals shows that.

How good or bad a political party is depends on who is speaking and who is writing and how an individual interprets that information. “The Republican Party was born out of a campaign to abolish slavery. The initial organizer of the Republican Party, and the man who named it, was a staunch Democrat named Alvin E. Bovay. Unable to convince his fellow Democrats to denounce slavery, in 1854 he helped establish a third party. The Democratic Party, when describing itself, does not mention the word slavery when describing its history. I believe there are good people in both parties. The people I respect are those who stand up for what is right, regardless of what their party decrees.” (Tom Barrett, www.conservativetruth.org) This is a noble statement that almost anyone could agree with and reminds people of the old saying “if everyone was jumping off a bridge, would you go to?” Democrats are against the testing of teachers (not surprising, since 10% of the delegates to the democratic convention were members of the National Education Association). Republicans believe only qualified teachers should teach, and that they should prove by testing that they are able to read and write coherently.

The fundamental difference bet...

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...y of the individual. When Lyndon B. Johnson stated the quote “The Democratic Party at its worst is better than the Republican Party at its best.” It was 1955. During that same time period, Richard Nixon was saying the same sort of thing about the Democratic Party. The Democrats have a history of wanting to help the common man and to make sure that even the poorest American’s have a voice. They also like to spend large amounts of money on social programs that do not always work to this country’s best benefit (i.e. welfare). Throwing money at a problem is not always the best solution. The Republican Party helps to keep this spending in check. Republicans have a tendency to spend money on a large military defense. The objections of the Democrats help to keep this spending under the watchful eye of American’s. Both parties serve to counter balance one another. It cannot be said that the Democratic Party was truly the best for the country in 1955 and it cannot be said that the Democratic Party is best or better for the country today. Both parties are necessary to keep the extremes of either side in check, which hopefully will serve the best interests of the American people as a whole.