Look, I've been thinking about this since my last response. I was at a town hall meeting last week, and this independent candidate gave this amazing speech about education reform. Everyone loved it. But when someone asked him about zoning laws and how they affect school funding, he completely froze. He had no coalition behind him, no one to consult.
Here's the problem with your argument, yel. You say issue-based coalitions would solve problems, but that assumes politicians can actually build functioning majorities from scratch every single time. They can't. That's not how human psychology works.
Parties are ugly and messy, sure. But they're predictable. When I vote for a Democrat, I know roughly what I'm getting on 80% of issues. With your system, I'd need to research 500 candidates individually. Most people won't do that. They'll vote for whoever has the catchiest name or best ads.
You're trading imperfect but functional structure for theoretical purity. That's not reform — that's wishful thinking.
11:02 AM