Political parties benefit politicians, not people. The democrats support progressive tax, gay marriage, abortion, government regulation/intervention in the economy, public health care, and amnesty for illegal immigrants. Republicans favour flat tax, no gay marriage, no abortion, free market economy, private health care, and deportation of illegal immigrants. If you want to mix and match with those policies, too bad. If you are against the death penalty, you had better either side with the democrats (who historically have protected the death penalty anyway) or else get lost. It's a broken system, honestly. Personally, I'd like to see a moratorium on the death penalty until the penal system is not completely broken. Personally, I'd like to see a more free market, but to me, a totally public health care option would be better than the pile of bovine droppings of a system we currently have. Personally, I'd prefer we deport illegal immigrants, yet offer a system where it's much easier to legally immigrate, and I think gay people should marry each other all they want. I don't like abortion, but I think that there are cases where it is necessary, and, more importantly, I don't trust the government to have a clue when it comes to understanding the difference. I guess that makes me what democrats would call a republican and what republicans would call a worthless commie POS. I hate both parties, since I firmly believe that they both are losing the plot and becoming too polarized to maintain the health of the nation. I also think that a majority of Americans lean more toward my beliefs than the beliefs of either party, even though I'm sure I'd disagree with nearly everyone on at least one important issue. So, in short - neither party is worth getting involved.