I MIGHT be going independent for '08, also looking at more conservative parties in NY. Lots of dissatisfaction with the GOP. Never thought I'd consider a small 3rd party, but I just might. Felt like I needed a good scrub after the last time I voted.
Why worry about switiching parties? I just vote for who I think the best candidate is for the particular office without respect to party affiliation.
I'm pretty convinced that I'm going to switch to the Dem's I think they are both mostly full of it but as I age I am finding myself more fiscally conservative but socially liberal (2 things that often find me conflicted) but I find myself more aligned with the Dem's lately.
ive been independent my whole voting life, but i will be registering as a republican so i can support ron paul.
we don't. you can vote dem one time and rep the next. i skipped the primary in 2006 so i could sign the kinky friedman petition. if an independent candidate enters the race i would do the same again. otherwise, i may vote libertarian depending on the candidates for each office.
Third parties in this country are a waste of time, in my opinion, if you really want to produce change in the system. Work within an established party to get candidates nominated who reflect your views more than the other party, and you just might be able to help produce change. Go off and support 3rd party candidates, and you frequently allow the worst kinds of candidates to be reelected with a minority of the vote, the reelection of Perry here in Texas, with about 38% of the vote, being an excellent, and tragic, example. The presidential election in 2000 being another, on the national scale. I understand how people are drawn to 3rd parties, but they should consider that there are consequences that can ultimately produce the exact opposite of what you would like to see happen. People love to say, "Well, it doesn't matter who I vote for, anyway, because they are all the same, they are all bad, they are all (fill in the blank)." The truth is that they are NOT the same. Voting for Bush, for example, produced a far more conservative Supreme Court that will be affecting this nation long after Bush has left to muddle around on his "ranch" and making millions on the lecture circuit. Heck, after he's dead. And that doesn't include the lifetime Federal judges appointed by Bush across the country. And in Texas? Splitting the vote gave us 4 more years of Perry, who's responsible for too long a list of terrible things for the State of Texas to put here. I don't have the time, and it would simply be too depressing. Food for thought. D&D. Replicant Voter.
I am switching parties also, I am voting for a good candidate who is on the republican ballot (hopefully); that would be Ron Paul who is disliked by both political parties 1. He will balance the budget, get us out of debt, return jobs to the US 2. Get us out of the iraq without damaging our national security or destroying that nation 3. He will be honest and listen to people instead of rich special interest groups and he would be the best president we have had in over 120 yrs.
If Ron Paul had any chance of being elected president, then your three points might have merit. Since he doesn't, they don't. Also, without a broad range of support in Congress, he would accomplish none of the above if elected since we choose a president instead of a monarch. The "disliked by both political parties" stand is death to a president. It's also death if you are running in the primary of one of the major political parties.
I'll be skipping the primaries and voting AGAINST every incumbent on the ballad in 08, regardless of party affiliation. Still don't know what I'm going to do about the President, however. I've been SUPER turned off by politics in general (thanks to the blogs, talk radio, and 24 hour news channels) over the last 4 years. Just WAY too divisive. It's getting to where I don't even care anymore and I think that's sad.
i strongly disagree. i dont understand how having only 2 parties in a democracy is a good thing. in saying choose one that is better or the lesser of two evils is fine and all. but that one evil may not be too much worse then the other. i cant get into it too much right now. but ill try to come back to this thread later and make my point a little more clear.
