Our contemporary government is filled with bipartisanism. Bipartisanism can be defined as:

Of, consisting of, or supported by members of two parties, especially two major political parties- (freedictionary.com)

In the United States, there are two major poitcal factions; the Democrats and the Republicans. These are the “red” and “blue” states CNN is always mentioning in times of election.

The Democrats (blue) are often seen as the more liberal of the two parties with the common platform including higher taxes and more government involvement.

The Republicans (red) are seen as the conservative choice for America. They often have the common platform of lower taxes for many, especially the wealthy, hoping that the trickle-down theory of economics, in which tax cuts for the wealthy will benefit the poor in the long run, will come into play. The Republican party platform also guns for less federal government involvent and allows for state governments to thrive.

The problem here though is that these common platforms are not one hundred percent reliable, and they lead to the masses of voting Americans to believe misconceptions. When George Washington resigned after his second term, he was quoted as saying in his Farewell Address

“I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party, generally.”

In this passage, he blatantly warns against the forming of political factions, and for good reason. They lead to this “Left wing vs. Right wing” war in which, to the average uninformed American voter, a man is not seen for his particular views, but only the color of the faction he represents. They lead to entire states not voting for a man, but a political party’s platform. How can America prosper, when every election day, millions of people with no knowledge of the candidates on the ballot go and make their mark to vote for someone based solely on the party they represent?

And the problem is not local. National news networks support this idea when they color states based on who they think that state will primarily vote for. The color red does not represent the Republican candidate, it represents the republican party. Nor does the color blue does represent a Democratic candidate, but the party itself. These news networks are not predicting the bulk of a population in a state will vote for a certain candidate, but instead that this population will vote for a party.

And isn’t that, exactly as George Washington predicted, what they are doing?