House of Reps term... too short?

After reading the article "The Vulnerable American Politician," I decided to post this blog questioning the length of term of the members of the House of Representatives.
When the House was initially put together, it was debated that the election of the members should be annually, but also Madison argued the elections should be held every three years. The annual election was though to deter the chance of "tyranny." Delegates ultimately split the difference and the 2 year terms were enacted.

Two year elections are argued as too short for many reasons:

-The "long view" or forecast, is absent in the term due to the fact that politician want something to show for their term. Short term issues are delt with in order to make progress instead of solving or voting bill for a larger issue.
-House members are continuously campaigning. As soon as they reach office, they have another election to prepare for.
-House members have difficulty challenging popularity because it risks voter loyalty, but are expected to face issues that are unpleasant such as crime or tax policy. The short time increment does allow public popularity to rise in time for an election.
-The constant campaigning sometimes turns people off, giving the vast majority of House members(nearly 90%) re-election due to lack of electoral competition.

Could longer terms fix some of these problems or create more problems within Congress?

Politcal Parties: Good or Bad?

The framers of our constitution were clearly against the formation of parties for fear that these groups would divide the country. However, they also proved that parties were an inevitable characteristic of our democracy when they too formed their own parties to solve issues(Federalists/Democractic Republicans.) Parties put issues out in the open, whereas historically political issues were kept isolated between certain people. Our country's two party system allows the ideologies of our candidates/leaders to be more broad and I feel that our population is represented well. Parties allow the public to make a more "simple" decision when voting, and while this is not always a good thing(voters lacking education can skew results,) I believe the partisanship encourages more voters. The actions of political parties are responsible for many positive changes in our country including womens' suffrage and the end to slavery. There are pitfalls to political parties, but I think that their existence is necessary for representation and implementation of ideas.

Current Events

On CNN.com I frequently read read articles regarding the election campaigns. Today, 9/12/07, there is one posted describing Hilary Clinton's opinions of the war in Iraq. Clinton stated that she wants to remove troops from Iraq immediately. Regardless of whether or not one supports troops stationed in Iraq, how can we possibly know what will happen if we decide to just leave the coutnry as is? Should we finish what our current leaders have started, build on it, or just uproot it completely? I chose to comment on this current event because I have many questions I feel my classmates can answer regarding what good can come out of promises that are being made today that will not take effect until late next year.

What is a politcal party?

A political party is an organized group of people with similar interests, ideas and ideologies working together to reach a certain objective. A political party is actively involved in politics and current events pertaining to their common goal. To exist and/or gain recognition, a political party must strive to recruit members actively.