When people say "I want Congress to get something DONE", what the heck does that REALLY mean? Since there are more than 2 sides to any given issue, and a plethora of competing opinions, there simply cannot be some generic "Get Something Done" by any person, party, or branch of government. For example, if I believe in gun control and you don't, then Congress getting something done, for me, involves passing legislation that would put more control on who gets to purchase guns, where they can carry them (I will NOT go to places that allow open carry), and not allow guns in bars. For someone who believes in no restrictions on guns, Congress getting something done simply means leaving things as they are and fighting against any attempts TO do gun control. Therefore, the metric of Congress passing things is simply not a valid one. 

I've said before I'm not a fan of the two party system, for one thing because there aren't only two opposing points of view. Quite often, people have overlapping positions. For example, I'm a liberal when it comes to social issues, but a fiscal conservative when it comes to accountability for money (my father was a CPA). The UK has multiple parties which have different percentages of representation. That said, that's how it is now, and unless there was some huge overhaul of the system we have, 2 parties is  what we're stuck with. 

So how to tell which party or candidate to vote for? Over the history of this country, the labels for parties have flipped back and forth. For example, the Democratic party was, at about the time of the civil war, the racist, slave holding party, and Republicans were not. When President Lyndon Johnson signed the civil rights act in the 60's, a lot of people from the south left the Democrats to join the Republicans. Here I am, someone who believes in civil rights, so, regardless of party affiliation at any given time in the past, I want to vote for the party that most represents my values. 

I found something I wrote in 2011 about Rick Perry that I"m going to re-do here, more generally, as a list. Over the next 2 years, I intend to closely monitor which party does good or bad through its actions on the things I care about, will do it under a "Scorecard" type heading. 

• I support public education. If someone wants to send kiddo to a private school, it should be a choice of they spend their own private funds. That includes charter schools