You’ve heard about swing voters — those who might still change their minds on whether to vote for Obama or McCain.  Many people think they’re mythical.  I mean, how do you not know yet, after more than a year of campaigning?

I’ve actually met one.  I stopped at a convenience store for a drink, and the man behind the counter asked me if I’d watched the debate.  He said he just didn’t know whether it was even worth voting this year.  “They’re both just so radical!” he said.

That blew my mind.  I don’t see either candidate as being particularly radical, but in this man’s mind, they are.  He’s a man in the middle.  Both Democrats and Republicans are too radical.

He also said he likes Biden, and he seemed indifferent to Palin, although he thinks a Biden-Palin ticket might be interesting.  Somehow I don’t see that working out.

It does make me wonder, though, whether there is a better way.  Our current two-party system (which was not set up in the Constitution) pits adversaries against each other.  It inhibits true cooperation.  Even when politicians are “reaching across the aisle” it’s still about getting something for the party.  That’s where all those evil earmarks come from — they compromise and put these things in to get people to come together and vote on an important bill.

What if there were true cooperation in our government?  What would that look like?

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