As Campaign 2008 is shaping up, it appears to me that we are in for a good one, at least in Presidential politics. We have two strong Democrats vying for the nomination at this writing, and it looks like we will have a good old-fashioned convention fight. This is a good thing, despite the opinions of the Clinton and Obama camps. I am one of those people who think competition is good for democracy. On the Republican side, there is a candidate worthy of taking on either one of the Democrats. All in all, things are looking good for a healthy two-party system.

Sadly, Vermont’s political scene is looking like we have no competitive parties. As of early April, there was no Republican candidate for Congress, and no Democratic candidate for governor. Shame on you, all of you! A pox on both your houses!

Shame on the Democrats for letting the Progressives steal one more race from their party. You have already let Progressive/Independent Sanders steal your congressional ambitions for more than a decade, then let him take the Senate as well. And where was the Democratic Party Leadership during all this? Backing Sanders rather than their own party’s candidates, in some cases even discouraging real Democrats from running.

The Republicans are no less shameful. They have beaten down the young, ambitious members of their party for so long, they have no one to turn to anymore. Put simply, they have Jim Douglas, Brian Dubie, and few others. What future does that hold? Not much. Without viable opposition numbers in either house of the Legislature, they appear to lack any rising stars. Why is no one stepping up to run against Welch? It is easy to assume anyone who isn’t chosen by the elite of the party fears getting hung out to dry in another “straw poll” coronation, as happened two years ago. The Republican leaders have made their own bed, by promoting their big money Washington-backed candidates who ultimately failed, instead of real local political talents.

What this indicates to me is that we have two very lost parties in our state. And the blame lies with all of us. We have allowed the demagogues and kingmakers to take our parties. There is only one solution. We, all of us, regardless of our political persuasion, must get involved in grass roots politics. If you are unhappy with the way the party of your choice is acting this year, let them know. Get active, get loud, get nasty.

A word of warning to the parties: new parties can, and do, rise from the discontent of the masses. Remember the Whigs? Guess what happened to them. They forgot parties belong to the people, not that people belong to the parties. The Democrats and Republicans don’t own us, they need us. If they don’t learn this lesson soon, they will meet an end like the Whigs.

Finally, the Republicans should remember that Vermont was one of the first states to organize the upstart Republican Party that replaced the Whigs. Ordinary Vermonters did it before, we can do it again. And the Democrats should see a danger in the Progressive Party that is already nibbling on their lunch. That is a wolf, not a sheep, no matter how peaceful the words it utters. As in the fairy tales, sooner or later, the wolf will get what it wants—the Democratic Party— and you probably won’t even know it until it is too late.

Paul Cook is a native Vermonter and part-time professor of Political Science at the Community College of Vermont. After a seven year exile in Connecticut, he returned to Vermont in 2005. He lives in Cornwall.