Rise of a third (or fourth) party will better the political landscape

The United States is taking leaps and bounds toward a more effective and self-regulating political system even if it is going unnoticed.

The bipartisan system that has constipated the political processes of this country for the greater part of its existence is beginning to change a little each year, but this year more than any other in the past.

The changes taking place in the United States are very important and should force voters in every state to look beyond the party of their parents and the normative party lines seemingly etched in stone from generations before.

The abandonment of a strict left or right political system will instigate political creativity, foster better political cooperation and ultimately benefit the American people.

For the past several elections, candidates who are not typical of one party or another have started popping up all over the map.

Independents in the Northeast, and now Tea Partiers are beginning to demand respect from the parties who are used to having one enemy and categorizing everyone as either for "us" or against "us."

As a note, this argument is neither an endorsement nor condemnation of the tea party. That is not what is important. What is important is the emergence of an alternative party, even though the party does seem to emerge nearly in its entirety from one of the original two parties.

This midterm election has shown the willingness voters have to elect third party candidates.

Such is the case in Kentucky where Rand Paul, the tea party's prince, if you will, was triumphant, calling in 160,000 more votes than his Democratic challenger.

Rand Paul's father, Ron Paul, is attributed as the founder of the tea party movement in 2007.

Florida elected Marco Rubio, a tea party candidate. This is even more interesting because running with the Republican nomination, Rubio and the second highest vote getter, Charlie Crist, an Independent, both fall outside of the normative party structure. Together the two pulled in 79 percent of the vote in Florida.

As with any movement, the tea party has had a few shortcomings.

The Democrats, whom they do not side with, gained control of the Senate because of the failure of two candidates to perform in their own elections.

Tea party candidates Christine O'Donnell and Sharon Angle both failed to win in key races in Delaware and Nevada, respectively, allowing for a Democratic majority.

While these losses may hurt the party, let us not lose sight of the bigger picture.

It is asinine to believe the political beliefs of an entire nation can be lumped into two aged categories.

The advent of parties that do not follow the conventional left or right of center dichotomy will lead to systemic changes and benefits that will be reaped by the entire nation.

This will make policymaking more difficult, but more good will come from the increased labor to bear the same policy fruit.

Lawmakers will be forced to create policy that provides more good to more people, wasteful pork and party back-scratching will ebb, and lawmakers will have the opportunity to take advantage of a greater diversity of ideas in their policymaking process.

With the diversity of representation present in a system estranged from the current bipolar political system, larger problems can be solved through a greater thought process and the fostering of cooperation across all former party lines.

This system, while neither Utopian nor perfect, will bolster the successes and minimize the shortcomings already present in the United States. The elimination of an "us vs. them" element within the political arena will far outweigh the loss of structure that outrages those in power within the current system.

Consequently, the election of Independents and tea party members in this midterm season is the starting point for an American change that will shake our political system to its core.

From the rubble of the existing structure will rise a more flexible and fluid system, able to adapt to the needs and desires of their constituents and create policy that is not only better for the people but is better policy for all of the people.

Though knowing what this new system will look like, it is undoubtedly on its way.