My State Assemblyman is Republican. Reading his positions is a summary of How Right can the Right Wing Get? and how the Bible (not the Constitution) should run this country but this one really stood out to me.
Ummm . . . wow. Just wow.
And of course he is running unopposed in the primary, partly because serving in the Legislature is a part-time job and how many people can take a few months off to serve in Denver*.
Gov. Hickenlooper is term-limited so the governor’s office is up for grabs. The Republicans have started their campaigns. Walker Stapleton, who loves showing off his family, as Treasurer did commercials against Prop 69 (single-payer health system) and is now talking about how bad health-care costs are. And he wants us to know he’s Colorado’s version of Trump. But Greg Lopez says Stapleton’s problem is he’s not enough like Trump so we should elect him. Haven’t heard from Doug Robinson but looking at his website he has no clear plan for any of Colorado’s problems (except that we need more charter schools) and pay public sector to fix our roads (but we have no money for that because of TABOR). Hard to tell Victor Mitchell’s views on the issues since he puts political ads on his website to tell us what he thinks. I think he wants to solve the health-care problem by having people get primary care from a truck. He’s an expert on education since he’s taught in college and he wants 75% of our college graduates to have a degree in a STEM field. How will he do it? By spending ALL of the state money that goes to higher education be spent on STEM programs.
I’m really thinking that if this is the state of the Republican Party in Colorado that I should change my registration to Libertarian.
*I am tempted but I cannot afford to take a leave from my teaching job if I win.
Please forgive me if I misread your post and made an erroneous assumption. Do I understand correctly that you are currently registered as a republican?
If so, what’s the problem? I understand that the tone may not sit well with you, but all of the things you mention are fairly ‘mainstream’ conservative positions, and have been for at least the last 20 years. If you don’t agree, why not simply register and vote Democrat?
Because even though each side has extremists it has now gotten to the point in my state that all we (Republicans) have now are extremists and scumballs running for office. I’m looking at my ballot and there is literally no moderate Republicans at any level even running. Look at our Senator Cory Gardner. My biggest regret if I leave the party is that I can’t vote against him twice (once in the primary, once in the general).
Because I feel that at their core there is a dishonesty spending tax dollars and presenting it as THEY care about the people. It’s easy to be generous with other people’s money. There are other reasons too but I don’t want to hijack my own thread and some of my beliefs about the Democrat Party are quite inflammatory.
Besides I could never support a party that gets Maxine Waters re-elected every two years.
My voting strategy is to vote in a way that makes the world move in the direction I want. Perhaps you should consider looking at each candidate and their positions, more than you look at the party they represent.
As for that position being extreme, consider that our president appointed Betsy DeVos. We have a junior DeVos running education here in North Carolina (and by “junior” I mean he wears a beanie with a propeller, or at least should), so that position strikes me as very mainstream conservative.
Wait, are you somehow under the impression that tax dollars are “other people’s money”? That’s our money, of We the People, that we are deciding to spend efficiently and, hopefully, compassionately.
I would like to see Libertarians, Constitutionalists, and other conservatives who are inclined to sign up with minority parties to support instant-runoff elections (as Maine just adopted).
•You could vote for a libertarian in the general election; if no one gets 50+% of the vote in a multi-way race, the candidate with the least # of votes has their voters’ choices dropped to their second choice, so you could vote for a libertarian without having to worry that you’d be “throwing your vote away” or helping the Democrats by not voting Republican.
• It gives some oxygen to smaller parties; with more people willing to consider voting for a party other than DEM or REP, they’d stand a chance to win a race here and a race there when they can field a good candidate
• It gives both conservatives and liberals (and others for that matter) a means of registering dissatisfaction or dismay with the direction that a major party that would normally get their support is currently taking.
Thanks for the clarification. I expect we will diverge quite a bit in terms of personal political views, so there’s no need to go into the details. However, I am curious where you feel your party has diverged in terms of policy from when you first joined.
Otherwise, as much as it might advantage ‘my’ side in this discussion, I’d still have to contend that under the current electoral model, a vote for a third party is a wasted vote. Voting is not an exercise in feeling good, it’s a strategic decision, and should always be aimed at getting the city/county/state/country closer to your vision of what you’d like to see enacted as policy.
You’re only required to register for a political party in order to vote in that political parties primary election to decide it’s candidate for the general election. You aren’t required to register as a party member in order to vote in a general election.
In this particular case, you object to voting for a candidate that is running unopposed in the primary election. While I’m sure he would appreciate your vote in the primary, his/her selection is a foregone conclusion.
Can I assume the Libertarian Party has choice of multiple candidates for the same office, and need your help selecting their candidate in the primary?
Of course, you are free to vote for any political parties candidates in the general election. Just as your friends, family, and neighbors are. If you find your elected leaders are (insert political party name here), you have your fellow constituents to thank.
I’ve read enough of Saint Cad’s posts over the years to know that this is the thing. He generally supports Democratic stated policies, but he “knows” in his heart of hearts that Democrats are dishonest and want to go far beyond their stated goals and straight into the realm of pure evil.
For this reason he is constantly looking for a nice honest Republican who supports Democratic policies like single payer health care, etc.
Thus he is continually disappointed.
Here’s his thread on Colorado Proposition 69 wherein he is surprised that tax increases to pay for single payer health care in Colorado faced an uphill battle.
Y’know, if you don’t declare a party you get a D and an R ballot for the primary. You only get to submit one, though.
Given Trump’s overall presentation and the support he receives from his party, I am frankly astounded that anyone would willingly and officially associate themselves with a political party. Registered Ds are just on a convenient list of undesirables; registered Rs are on a similar list when the dust settles from the upcoming civil war. That last bit was hyperbole. Maybe. But I’m still not declaring for a party.
