Government is not a Team Sport
It is sometimes mentioned that the founders did not intentionally create a two party system. Dave pell seems to have hit the nail on the head as to why that might be the case. It’s clear that there is impetus to gather support among like-minded voters, especial when that’s what the other team is doing. This is a conundrum for those not heavily involved in politics. The differences between the parties devolves into questions of the lesser of two evils, matters of flip-flopping, childish name-calling and other political cliches.
If the party system is the weak point of American government then how do we create incentives to encourage candidates who represent their ideals, and not the ideals of whichever minority their party happens to be targeting.