You notice I didn't say which party is best. No political party has a monopoly on correct thinking nor is devoid of mistaken perception. I serve in a non-partisan city council position in the small Idaho town where I live. I have come to see that there are seldom black and white realities to deal with. Political decisions are plastered in shades of grey and skewed by conflicting and often passionately held priorities. Some of those priorities include short term gains or losses weighed against long term needs and goals. There is always the judgement of how many minority interests should be sacrificed to the desires of the majority. And one of the hardest considerations is deciding when equality under the law isn't very equal and needs the flexibility of discretion in the face of individual circumstance. In the end, the best a politician can hope for is to gather enough accurate information to make a reasoned decision and hope that it turns out for the best, knowing that the sometimes harsh and often capricious hand of history will write the last word. I don't believe in party lines or grand philosophies that ignore individual circumstances. Sometimes the better decision is to do what is best for the majority, at other times, the better is to defend the minority against the majority. Many times the better is to do what hurts in the short run in the hope that it will make things better in the long. In other decisions, what makes a difference now is what matters. And while law, theoretically, is the great equalizer, a law founded on incorrect or narrow principles can ultimately only harm and deny justice.
You've probably guessed, by now, that I'm not going to start naming the better political parties. I personally don't feel a strong kinship with any party and can find both good and the repulsive in all the parties. As citizens of a free and representative democracy, we have the responsibility to get involved in the political process, to share our views, and support those individuals and groups that best represent our ideas of good government--being humble enough to admit the possibility we may be wrong. I would end by saying that those who don't work to get a well rounded view of the situation and then get involved and work for their idea of the greater good, lose the right to criticize and must accept the decisions of those who pay the price to be part of the process. Perhaps the better party is the willingness of the citizenry to be educated and involved.
