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Whenever I think of changing terms to describe political affiliation, I'm reminded of the saying, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."
Whatever terms we come up with, we eventually run into the same problems of old: attempting to villify whatever label with which we disagree.
We complain of how much we disdain labels, then quickly label ourselves. What I find curious is how many people, in the attempt to not label themselves, label themselves as libertarian. This is not a jab at anyone here - lest it be taken as such. The point I am making is that we have created a new label in the hopes of escaping labels. It's normal human behavior to classify. It's what we do. Airports do it, grocery stores do it, gas stations do it, birds do it, bees do it....
Instead of railing against labels, I say create more and give more political choice. It's not the labels that voters hate, it's the lack of choice in identifying themselves that they hate. Not all liberals back every action of the Democratic party and not all conservatives back every action of the Republican party. Having only two solid choices tends to force us into a box with which we're not entirely comfortable. I'd like to see a more Parliamentary system in which a third party candidate can translate votes into representative seats in the house. Maybe then we can have more choice and more a sense of ownership in our government.
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"I can normally tell how intelligent a man is by how stupid he thinks I am" - Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses
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