By LEE HOWELL
Contributing Writer

For years, we have been told by this land's preeminent political prognosticators — ranging from James J. Kirkpatrick on the right to David Broder in the middle to Molly Ivins on the left — that America's historic two-party system is sick.

In fact, we have been told over and over again that our political parties are so sick beyond cure that the announcement of the demise of one or both at any moment should come as no surprise to anyone.

In fact, the Republican obituary was broadcast after the Goldwater debacle in 1964 and again after Watergate, while the Democrats were presumed on their way to the dustbin of history after the McGovern fiasco and so many lost presidential elections afterwards.

These dire statements are made by some very prominent individuals who have been professional observers of the actions of these parties and their leaders for years.

Surely, if anyone could get a feel for the waning pulse of these institutions, those who watch them the closest should be the ones to do so.

But, don't you believe everything you read or hear.

The two-party system may be weaker than it was at one time, say in the late 19th Century when the parties were a combination job bank-welfare agency-community activities center which peddled influence (if they had won the last election and had some influence to peddle) and operated as a year-round get out the vote effort.

And, there may be an occasional victory by a third-party candidate in a state (the Minnesota governorship) or national (Vermont's congressman) election.

But, the two-party system is still alive and so entrenched that to talk of its death makes one sound either extremely brilliant (because you can see through the rhetoric and realize that, like the bumblebee, there is no valid scientific explanation for its continued existence) or extremely dumb (because they are simply so entrenched that it would require a total and complete revolution to dislodge them).

Sometimes, we seem to forget just how deeply ingrained in our customs, our institutions, and, indeed, our legal descriptions of our political culture that our two party system is.

For instance, all our political scorekeeping is predicated on the Democrats and the Republicans; almost all of our state and Federal election laws are based on the existence of a two-party structure; even legislative committees and commissions — as well as various boards and agencies — are organized in terms of majority and minority memberships.

Now, throughout our history, there have been some very prominent American leaders who have wished that political parties would not be formed or, after they were, wished they would be abolished.

In 1796, George Washington said that political parties “serve always to distract public councils and enfeeble public administration ... (they) agitate the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindle the animosity of one part against another; and foment occasional riots and insurrections.”

Since his time, other equally wise individuals have railed against political parties.

Still, since the 1864 election — which pitted Republican Abraham Lincoln against Democrat George McClellan — only these two major parties have had much influence on the country.

Sure, there have been Populists, Progressives, Dixiecrats, Prohibitionists, Libertarians, American Independents, and Reformites on the ballot. They win some votes and sometimes minutely affect the outcomes.

But, the prospect of another election like the one in 1800 or the one in 1824 — which were decided by the U. S. House of Representatives because no candidate received a majority — is very, very unlikely.

The political parties as we know them today seem in no danger of demise.

So, the smartest thing for somebody who wants to be involved in self-government to do is to join the local political organization of their choice.

If you believe it needs to be changed, then get in there and fight for what you believe.

But, remember, in this country at all levels of government above the local city council (and sometimes there) the two-party system reigns supreme as the source of legitimate candidates and policy positions.

They may not be what they once were, but there is a whole lot of life left in both of them.

[Lee N. Howell is an award-winning writer who has been observing politics and society in the Southern Crescent, the state, and nation for the past 25 years.]

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