Should I change my voter registration card?
- I am pro-choice. = Democrat
- I don’t believe in same sex marriages (at least not those sanctioned by government what you do in your house is your business). = Moderate Republican
- I am obviously against “big business” and feel that corporate influence has no place in political legislation. = Green Party
- I don’t think amnesty for illegal immigrants is an option. Anyone here illegally broke the law. Even if it’s a $1 fine then so be it. But, the real way to solve this problem is to make it unaffordable for American companies to hire illegal immigrants. No jobs = no incentive to hop the border. If the cost of common goods go up slightly – deal with it. = Independent
- I also feel that religion has no place in politics or legislation (America was not founded as a theocracy or “Christian nation” and should never become one). If religion is to enter politics then all religions’ must be equally represented, not just the Southern Baptist Convention. = Libertarian
- I am all about health care reform of any type. = Anybody?….anybody?… Spineless wusses… You’re all afraid of America’s largest employment industry that’s busy bankrupting the middle class.
My point is that no single political party affiliation is going to encompass all of my beliefs. I think the majority of Americans could make a list like this of their own and determine that they cannot vote straight ticket without sacrificing at least one social issue of personal importance. We are now a nation facing issues that cannot be addressed by partisan political positions. Democracy in its purest sense can only be recognized when each individual’s position on each issue is taken into account. Until we can trust the public at large with this responsibility we are dependant on our elected representatives.
Future representatives need to denounce “party lines” and tell us what they believe in. Not what their party believes in. To this end we need many more Independent candidates. We need candidates who do fear being labeled non-partisan which in turn sacrifices their party’s financial support. Independent candidacy will only be achieved when the nation’s voter base comes to recognize the idea that a candidate doesn’t have to choose sides.
Running our country is not a sporting event where there are two teams and you have to be fan of one or the other. By endorsing Independents’ we can in effect have representation that reflects the position of the majority instead of settling for the closest match under our current model of choosing one of two sides. The truest exercise of Democracy is supporting local Independent candidates.