A nation divided-ish

As a nation of diversity it is crucial that people have the right to speak their minds, exercise their rights and be given the freedom to choose how their country is governed, in principal.
What we face now though when trying to decide who to vote for is the curiosity of whose the lesser of two evils, who is going to do the least amount of damage? This is not something beneficial as we see conservatives and liberals creating a more polarized two-party system. As this polarization occurs to what could almost be considered extreme our society is turning against itself. People don't care anymore about whether someone can compromise or negotiate in order to see that their desires in the function of government are addressed. I think the ability to vote straight party should be eliminated. We don't need parties, we need issues to be considered, discussed and plans of action by candidates to be clearly known. What good is a party who's only purpose is to counteract the plans and goals of the other group?
Do away with straight ticket voting, do away with the impermeable party lines and eliminate the elitist attitudes that we are evil for working alongside the other guy. If this nation is going to be the greatest in the world then we are going to have to show that we have the greatest minds, hearts and intentions. We can't simply war with each other over everything simply because you belong to the GOP or are a Democrat. Two-party government is hurting us. There has to be a middle ground and the populace must be represented without title and ridiculous expectations.
The idea that simply getting out and voting for someone that isn't one or the other isn't going to change anything. It's actions that will change things. You can't possibly fight the parties like that, they have grown too large and too powerful. Things must be done from the inside and I have yet to see or hear a politician say anything like that and stick with it. But I guess that's just politics. I wonder if things will change or if we'll continue to spiral into out of control bi-partisanship, only time will tell.