# I have left the Democratic Party. **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 6, 2019, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140 "2019-06-06T20:39:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140/61 "2019-06-07T01:48:56Z")
Sidebar please: what does the courthouse have to do with partisan affiliation? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140/62 "2019-06-07T02:30:20Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Sidebar please: what does the courthouse have to do with partisan affiliation? > > 😕 He said he was going down to change his voter registration information. I don’t find it odd that you can do that at the courthouse Eta: oh, you might not realize that in many states you register as a party member. Some primaries are party members’ votes only. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140/63 "2019-06-07T02:44:48Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Went down to the courthouse yesterday, intending to change my affiliation to Green Party. The registrar, who I know slightly, told me that I would have to register as “Other” and specify Green, but that it would be self-defeating, since the Green Party has little to no representation in this state. > > The options were Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Mountain, Unaffiliated and Other. I chose unaffiliated, for the time being. I’ll find out about the Mountain Party; I had already decided not to be a libertarian. If Mountain does not appeal to me, I’ll stay unaffiliated. > > It’s a weird feeling, like the first time I flew. Or, for that matter, like the first time I voted. Thirty-one years ago, I cast my first vote, in the Illinois primary, for my senator, Paul Simon. A Democrat. But the party has changed since he was a pillar of it, and I no longer want to claim it. What does your declared affiliation translate to in practical voting matters? Obviously declared Ds can vote R or Green or whatever and declared Rs can vote D or Libertarian or whatever. And declared whatevers can vote D or R. Does just impact what primary you vote in, or in your head does this commit you to voting for that party in the general? If you believe the D is the less poor choice than Trump and know that your declared party candidate has no chance, how will you vote? How did you vote last cycle? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140/64 "2019-06-07T03:18:01Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > but if you feel the need to pick a silly fight, go right ahead. That’s his M.O. It’s all he does here. Best to just ignore. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140/65 "2019-06-07T04:11:59Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > **QuickSilver** , it’s just backing up on me, the way the Dems are so hell-bent on impeaching Trump, they’re not accomplishing anything. Whoever gets the nomination next year will be running solely to beat Trump, not because they want the job for its own sake… Pelosi isnt, actually and few Dem candidates have said that’s what they wanna do. Biden, Sanders, Beto all are in it for the office. But what’s wrong with getting rid of trump? ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140/66 "2019-06-07T05:10:34Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I’m not shocked by debates on impeachment – I’m not even sure what the best path forward is. I’m shocked by the sentiment that anyone doesn’t get why Democrats are so strongly opposed to Trump. Then let this thread be a lesson to you and others who cling to the notion that Trump should be impeached for no other reason than to stake moral high ground. The OP doesn’t necessarily like Trump, but he wants Democrats to talk about the issues that he considers to be relevant to him (whatever they are). Democrats are really and truly believe that impeachment, right now, in and of itself, is going to make their party more popular and republicans less just aren’t living in the real world. I’ll repeat what I said in the Nancy Pelosi Appreciation Thread: the Democrats may have taken the House, but they did it be winning a fair number of centrist and right-leaning districts – districts that were created by Republicans, for Republicans. The centrists and right-leaning voters didn’t go away; they still exist. They gave Democrats a chance, and they either ‘get it’ or they don’t. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140/67 "2019-06-07T05:40:26Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > [Eric Levitz disagrees](http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/05/2020-election-democrat-nightmare-trump-loses-senate-race.html). I’m with Levitz on this. > > As Levitz points out, winning the Presidency without winning the Senate (or winning the Senate but leaving the filibuster in place) could easily wind up with 2022 looking like 2010 and 1994. A Republican could win the Presidency in 2024, or maybe the Dem holds on in the White House, but still can’t get anything through Congress. Then it’s 2028, a Republican wins the Presidency, and the planet is screwed. > > But in this scenario, we beat Trump, which was the most important thing, period. I don’t see how any of that makes it not a priority to beat Trump. That still sounds better than having Trump in the White House, and letting the Republicans remain the pro-Trump party. A Republican is going to win the Presidency again. It’s how it works. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140/68 "2019-06-07T06:15:49Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > **QuickSilver** , it’s just backing up on me, the way the Dems are so hell-bent on impeaching Trump, they’re not accomplishing anything. Whoever gets the nomination next year will be running solely to beat Trump, not because they want the job for its own sake. This post doesn’t make any sense to me. There is not a single candidate who is running exclusively on being “not Trump.” That wouldn’t work: they have to differentiate themselves. I don’t even follow this stuff much, but I keep hearing about different ideas each one keeps putting up Also, why would we want someone who wants the office for its own sake? That’s a bad thing. That would mean they were just greedy power grabbers. We want people who want the job because they can do good. We want people who want the job to help our country. We don’t want someone who “just wants to be president.” And, finally, getting rid of Trump IS accomplishing something. No, it’s not the only thing to accomplish, but, again, no one is running on just that. Focusing on impeachment is doing their constitutional duty, since Trump has committed impeachable offenses. Trump is actively harming our country as we speak, so people who want to fight him are doing a good thing. It’s bizarre to have a problem with fighting the bad guy. What do you want, for them to agree with Trump, and let him get away with his power grab? Make the President actually above the law? Let collusion with a foreign enemy be normal? As for your OP: what good do you think this actually does? Either you still vote against Trump when the time comes, which means voting Democrat, or you don’t, and you help Trump win, like the Greens did last time. Your party affiliation only matters in one respect: in some states it allows you to vote in the primaries. Other than that, why care about it at all? I call myself a Democrat, but I’ve only registered once in my life, and as a Republican. I found out that primaries are open in my state. So why would I bother officially joining any party? I definitely would never join a party that can’t win. What you were told about the Greens is true about every party country-wide other than the Democrats and the Republicans. Next to them, they have no showing, and no political power. I honestly don’t know what’s left to do to keep pushing the idea of rational voting, instead of all this idealistic crap. Idealism is good for coming up with ideas on how to improve things. But you can’t use it to decide who to vote for. You will always, ALWAYS wind up voting for the lesser of evils. Everyone will be bad in some way. You always pick the one who is the least bad. Either you get that, and I’m happy, or you don’t, and I’m unhappy. If you feel better signing up to be a part of something, it largely doesn’t matter. Only how you vote. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140/69 "2019-06-07T08:21:45Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Then let this thread be a lesson to you and others who cling to the notion that Trump should be impeached for no other reason than to stake moral high ground. The OP doesn’t necessarily like Trump, but he wants Democrats to talk about the issues that he considers to be relevant to him (whatever they are). Democrats are really and truly believe that impeachment, right now, in and of itself, is going to make their party more popular and republicans less just aren’t living in the real world. > > I’ll repeat what I said in the Nancy Pelosi Appreciation Thread: the Democrats may have taken the House, but they did it be winning a fair number of centrist and right-leaning districts – districts that were created by Republicans, for Republicans. The centrists and right-leaning voters didn’t go away; they still exist. They gave Democrats a chance, and they either ‘get it’ or they don’t. You can’t tell someone anything if they’re not listening. Even upthread, there was discussion of all the things the Democratic House has been trying to accomplish, only to be stymied by Mitch McConnell and his Republican Senator sycophants. If all you’re hearing about is IMPEACHMENT and nothing of the plethora of policies being advocated by current candidates, it’s not the Democratic Party’s fault. But please, continue to tsk tsk. It works wonders for convincing people that you’re correct. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140/70 "2019-06-07T09:01:22Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > No, I didn’t. I honestly thought he meant Congress had passed things. I wanted to know what Congress had passed. But it turns out Congress didn’t pass anything. Not sure why congratulations are necessary. Did the fact I said “Democratic Congress” lead you to consider that maybe I was talking about the part of Congress controlled by Democrats? 😉 Also: [Congress (disambiguation) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_(disambiguation)) “United States House of Representatives, its lower chamber, also called “Congress”” ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140/71 "2019-06-07T11:37:31Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > You can’t tell someone anything if they’re not listening. Even upthread, there was discussion of all the things the Democratic House has been trying to accomplish, only to be stymied by Mitch McConnell and his Republican Senator sycophants. If all you’re hearing about is IMPEACHMENT and nothing of the plethora of policies being advocated by current candidates, it’s not the Democratic Party’s fault. > > But please, continue to tsk tsk. It works wonders for convincing people that you’re correct. For the record, no offense to the OP personally, but I think the original post comes across as usual confused, cynical voter whinyness. Not a fan of it. I agree that he/she and other voters like him/her ought to be more curious and read up on what Democrats are trying to achieve. They really do have a platform of good ideas, OP, and I hope you check it out. My point is that it’s also very apparent that the Mueller investigation has dominated headlines and pretty much drowned out what a lot of the Democrats have been trying to talk about in terms of the issues, which is one reason why you don’t see Bernie Sanders calling out Trump on twitter and promising impeachment. He’d much rather make noise about the issues. He’s a lot more interested in making news fighting for social justice, and calling out Wal-Mart at their shareholder meetings. I don’t always agree with Sanders but he ‘gets’ that part at least. He understands that while, yes, it’s important to bring oversight to the presidency and to check Trump’s power, the most important thing is to talk, talk, talk about issues that the voters are interested in. Unless and until we are fairly certain that the country is ready to remove Trump from office, I have a bad feeling that starting the impeachment process (right now anyway) will backfire spectacularly. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140/72 "2019-06-07T13:13:10Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Did the fact I said “Democratic Congress” lead you to consider that maybe I was talking about the part of Congress controlled by Democrats? 😉 > > Also: [Congress (disambiguation) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_(disambiguation)) > > “United States House of Representatives, its lower chamber, also called “Congress”” Screwed up the link above: [Congress (disambiguation) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_(disambiguation))) ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140/73 "2019-06-07T13:59:56Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Screwed up the link above: > > [Congress (disambiguation) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_(disambiguation))) Hey, I thought you meant that Congress (both houses) passed items. I wanted to know what they were. Not a gotcha or anything, just I hadn’t heard of anything actually being done in Congress, and I thought I missed something. Sometimes, a question is an actual request for knowledge. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140/74 "2019-06-07T14:20:07Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Hey, I thought you meant that Congress (both houses) passed items. I wanted to know what they were. Not a gotcha or anything, just I hadn’t heard of anything actually being done in Congress, and I thought I missed something. > > Sometimes, a question is an actual request for knowledge. 🙂 No problem. But if it’s just a request for knowledge, then I recommend knocking off stuff like “pretty weak, man”. I was trying to answer your question. ---
**Author:** ![UnwittingAmericans](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d9b06d/32.png) [@UnwittingAmericans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwittingAmericans)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140/75 "2019-06-07T14:20:37Z")
Congratulations. I think this quote from the late Karl Lagerfeld is apropos: “Sweatpants are a sign of defeat. You lost control of your life, so you bought some sweatpants.” ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140/76 "2019-06-07T14:21:14Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Hey, I thought you meant that Congress (both houses) passed items. I wanted to know what they were. Not a gotcha or anything, just I hadn’t heard of anything actually being done in Congress, and I thought I missed something. > > Sometimes, a question is an actual request for knowledge. 🙂 I am another that knew what he was talking about. It was pretty clear. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140/77 "2019-06-07T14:25:38Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > No problem. > > But if it’s just a request for knowledge, then I recommend knocking off stuff like “pretty weak, man”. I was trying to answer your question. Perhaps he merely meant that you should apply your knowledge with greater force, to ensure that it gets into the minds of those trying to resist it? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140/78 "2019-06-07T15:03:28Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > … there was discussion of all the things the Democratic House has been trying to accomplish, only to be stymied by Mitch McConnell and his Republican Senator sycophants. … No question that you are correct and yet it is still the case that because those attempts have been unable to go anywhere they come off as not really doing anything. Talk of impeachment by the House (if done also of course to be stymied in the Senate that no way will convict) also comes off as not really doing anything but adds in more flavor of posturing and detracts from the other items that have at least been attempted. Removing Trump from office is not the goal, it is one part of the path to achieving the goal of getting our country on a better path. Forgetting the bigger picture, failing to constantly communicate a message of what that better path is and instead messaging that the goal is no more Trump, paints the Ds as nothing but partisan hacks as much as the Senate sycophants are. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140/79 "2019-06-07T15:29:49Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > There is nothing more important than getting rid of Trump. Nothing. We can debate whether impeaching him is the best method, and we\* are\* debating that. But criticizing the Dems for making that a priority seems a bit bizarre to me. Bingo, nothing will be able to get done without the removal of Trump. Trump will continue sending us backwards until that is done. You don’t worry about painting the fence when your house is on fire. sheeesssss. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140/80 "2019-06-07T15:50:32Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Did the fact I said “Democratic Congress” lead you to consider that maybe I was talking about the part of Congress controlled by Democrats? 😉 > > Also: [Congress (disambiguation) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_(disambiguation)) > > “United States House of Representatives, its lower chamber, also called “Congress”” Article 1 Section 1 of the Constitution takes precedence over Wikipedia. > [@](#): > > “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” Congress is both chambers together. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-left-the-democratic-party/835140.md?page=5)