I've been saying for a long time that the democratic Party is badly in need of reform, both to purge the extremists who have a disproportionate influence (as extremists tend to, being the squeaky wheels who demand to be greased), and to purge the corrupt apparatchiks of the machine. What I wouldn't want is for the democratic Party to disappear, leaving a defacto one-Party state.

Yes, I can agree with this statement of yours. :) I feel justified in cut/pasting your paragraph because you did say "I think it would be equally bad for America to see a permanent Democratic majority." Am I right or is the democratic party not in need of serious reform as well?

As a moderate I'd love to see both parties disapear or at least the chasm between them disappear.

I wonder how we could reform congress away from the majority/minority structure? Would it be possible to throw in a 3rd leg to stabilize the stool? The problem with adding a moderate party is moderates can never agree. They can move right and left on many issues, but never move right and left on the same issues. Moderates never quite feel right in either party, so they choose the one they feel more comfortable in. For me its the republican party, for you the democratic.

Would a 3-leg system stop our government? Would the moderate leg be used as a bludgeoun by the D's and R' or would the D's and R's be constantly trying to woo the moderates to their side to the point they ignore their extremist counterparts? If that were the case I'm not convinced it would be totally bad. In fact it could be very good. Power would shift to the moderates and away from the D's and R'. As power shifted more politicians would begin running as moderates instead of as D's and R's. Only the extremists of either party would remain D's and R's where they would be marginalized to the point of unimportance.

Now, how to write rules for a 3-leg congress to ensure a level playing field would require somebody much smarter than myself.

-Steve G.