John Adams said it all in 1801, in a rarely seen letter to a friend, bitter over his loss in the election of 1800, where candidates actually campaigned for the first time.

“Clouds black and gloomy hang over this Country threatening a fierce tempest, arising merely from party Conflicts, at a time when the internal and external Prosperity of it, and the national prospects in every other respect are the most pleasing and promising, that We ever beheld. I pray Heaven to dissipate the Storm.”

Adams was so sore because a “press leak” revealed that Adam’s supposed Federalist Party colleague Alexander Hamilton had declared him unfit. After Jefferson’s partisan pals in the press made this public, Adams saw the beginnings of a complex and bitter party rivalry that would only continue and worse.

Let’s face it, there are serious pitfalls with party politics. Undeserving candidates can receive votes along a party-line ticket simply on momentum. Fear of reprisal may prevent endorsements that cross party lines and voters may hesitate to seriously consider candidates on the issues.

Parties are wonderful however, as a vehicle for newcomers to get involved in politics without reinventing the wheel. The parties are all set up to recruit candidates, get them on the ballot and support them with existing organizational “machinery”. The local-national dynamic works well to multiply the power of those that share generally overlapping philosophies.

I have hope personally though, that as information-sharing and technology race ahead, we may one day conduct politics more a la carte, creating personal profiles based on issues-based preferences and less on party affiliation. This way candidates could come to us for our votes instead of us having to settle on one of them.