by David Remer - Political News & Analysis

Is Sen. Miller from Georgia a rose by another name or a horse of a different color? An article in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution provides excerpts from a prepared statement issued by Sen. Miller on Wednesday.

In his statement, Miller stressed, as he has before, that he has no plans to become a Republican. But he said he cannot support any of the nine candidates vying for the Democratic nomination. "The next five years will determine the direction of the world that my grandchildren and great-grandchildren will live in," he said.

"I do not want to trust that crucial decision to the current Democratic field. So, I plan to vote for George Bush and will help him any way I can. This does not mean I am going to become a Republican. It simply means that in the year 2004, this Democrat will vote for George Bush."

To many, if not most, in the Democratic Party, Sen. Zell Miller's announcement will appear to make him a Republican by another name. But, to those conservative Democrats sometimes formerly referred to as Dixiecrats, Sen. Zell Miller represents their conservative wing of the Democratic Party thus making Sen. Miller a Democrat of a different color from that of centrists and leftists in the party. While Democrats can debate the party traitor vs. party conservative labels, Sen. Miller's announcement underscores the diversity of the Democratic Party which has always been a core strength of the Party. However, the primary purpose of political parties is to promote and extend the core values of the Party's constituency. Sen. Miller has voted with Republicans on a wide range of issues. If Schwarzeneggar remains true to his liberal bent on social issues, he will appear to be Miller's counterpart in the Republican Party.

Which raises the question of whether political parties of the future will have any relevance at all? Should the subdivision of political parties into left, center, and right widen, political parties will begin to look like a tie-dyed shirt where bleeding of affiliation across party lines makes the parties indistinguishable where the Left of the Republican Party reflects the Right of the Democratic Party, and vice versa. Voter apathy, the rise of the Independent voters, and the plethora of third parties all appear to be signs that the basic two party political system is failing to represent an increasing number of American voters.

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