Two Party Indictment - Don't Most of Us Fall on Both Sides of the Aisle?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

The last two elections, I have been very undecided on which candidate and thus which party I have supported, generally casting my votes more for individual choices and to avoid gridlock than to support either political party.

I am at the point now where I have a very hard time calling myself Democrat or Republican despite the way I registered because I have serious fundamental and ideological differences with both parties.

Surely I am not alone and I feel this is an indictment against the two party system. However when I try and talk about this with friends, most of whom are dyed in the wool for one party or another, I find my thoughts ring hollow with both crowds.

Generally speaking I find myself to be pretty fiscally conservative but very moderate to liberal on social issues.

I understand that most would say that I am now an independent, but given that there is zero chance of any candidate being elected not of the two party system, this seems less than comforting.

2

I can’t honestly say that I fall on “both sides of the aisle”. Most of my positions agree with those of the Democrats. I can’t honestly agree with the no-taxes pledge of the Republicans, or many other of their points.
And I caution against assuming the caricatures of both parties painted by their opponents – I don’t agree with either caroon liberals or cartoon conservatives, or cartoon Democrats or Republicans.

3

I am a republican, except that I’m not pro-life, I think taxes should be raised, I don’t care who marries who, I think universal health care is a good thing, and pot should be legalized and taxed. If we could do all that with a smaller government I’d be a happy camper.

4

Kinda. There are many things I disagree with the Democrats on, but very few things I agree with the Republicans on. It makes voting easy.

5

You sound like a Democrat.

6

I certainly don’t fall on both sides of the aisle. There are one or two specific issues on which I disagree with the Democrats, and I’m probably a little to the left of the party mainstream, but it’s hard for me to come up with an issue on which my position reflects that of the Republicans rather than the Democrats.

7

I would be curious where people put me given my stance on the following:

I detest the forced values of the religious right but believe in religious freedom.

I could not care any less about a definition of what marriage is and it sickens me to see all the money, effort wasted to fight it.

I support a woman’s right to chose despite my personal/family stance which is very pro life.

I say legalize and tax the hell out of pot even though I would never personally use because the “war on drugs” is a tax drain and over crowds our prisons. It is also hypocrisy of the highest order to fight legalization when alcohol does far more damage to our society but is deemed legal (and tobacco to that as well).

I believe in the laissez faire doctrine with some caveats/reservations. For instance wall street corruption cannot go unchecked, but an individual has to have personal accountability in matters such as home mortgages.

I support school voucher programs and holding schools to standards for funding.

I support more states rights.

I believe in a strong military but believe we should not be the “World Police”. I also have softened a lot on the idea of “forced democracy” around the world.

I support welfare reform only in terms of more personal accountability. In other words, systems should provide MORE but have limitations, checks and restrictions.

Privatization of SSN should never happen because it would eventually burden the system to levels never before seen (see personal accountability)

I believe privatizing healthcare is also a very bad idea for the ideas mentioned above and that I believe insurance companies are about as corrupt and uncaring a business as one can find.

I am more open to national health care than ever before, but still have many reservations (see more states rights).

I believe in continuing to fund green technology advancement despite the misses and failures (like Solyndra) that are unavoidable.

8

My strategy has always been to ignore parties and vote for candidates. Partly based on where they stand on The Issues, but also based on things like wisdom and thoughtfulness and competence. And I don’t necessarily want a candidate who agrees with me on everything; I’d rather have a candidate who, because he’s smarter or better informed or more experienced, has a better chance of being right than I do, especially about issues where we disagree over means rather than ends.

On the national level, I’ve always voted for Democrats, but I wouldn’t rule out voting for a Republican in the future. On the local/state level, I’ve voted for both teams.

Now, when it comes to the National League vs. the American League, on the other hand…

9

I still pretty much identify myself as a republican. But on most social issues I just don’t care unless it effects me directly. And I’m non-religious. So yes I straddle the aisle.

10

Hijack: If pot is taxed too high you end up with a black market again and have not solved the problem. Let’s agree to keep all taxes reasonable.

11

I am a Republican and I agree with UncleRojelio. I am socially quite liberal but a fiscal conservative, and I vote with my pocketbook not my heart. The social issues that the Republicans hang their hat on are not issues that I generally support and I think that holds the party back from addressing the real, practical future of the country. Things like same sex marriage are self-evidently the right thing to do. I fail to understand the importance the party puts toward fighting such rational progress.

Where the Democrats lose me is that the party seems hell bent on embracing the European model of big, ever present government. You give us a lot more taxes and we will take care of more of your needs. Hop in that handbasket if you want, I ain’t going with you.

And the demonization of people with money just makes me go WTF. Those making $250,000 a year are not rich as I measure it. My wife and I work very hard, nights, weekends, 10 and 12 hour shifts and while we are not in the 1% club we are probably in the 1.5 or 2%. And I know that once the Dems succeed in the apparent class warfare against the 1%, they are coming after me next.

Then there is the nanny state silliness that Bloomberg pulls in NY and is prevailant in Calif that just makes me point and laugh. Getting government involved in little issues is never going to get my support.

My local state senator is a much loved, fiscally conservative, pro-business Democrat.

Once I see one on the national level I will be a Democrat again, as I was in my younger days.

12

I’m a definite straddler. I’m pro-choice, pro-gay marriage/LGBT rights, believe that religious beliefs and strictures should affect only those who choose to follow them, and think pot should be legal (though, as for alcohol, I support very strong penalties for people who cause harm to others while under its influence). I also believe in small government, a strong focus on personal responsibility, a strong military (but only to defend against threats), and heavy penalties for violent crimes. I’m not against taxes but I’m against many of the things they’re used for. I don’t have a lot of faith in the ability of humans on both sides of the fence to play fair when they have an opportunity to make personal gain, so I think some checks and balances are necessary to keep everybody honest.

I guess you could call me a classical liberal, or maybe a libertarian.

13

I’ll join y’all in the middle.
I registered independent a long time ago.

14

You’ll have to take my word for it when I say I’m a Democrat because I tend to agree with Democratic positions, not the other way around. But if by “fall on both sides of the aisle” you mean “don’t agree with either party 100%,” that’s probably true of almost everyone.

But I do agree that two parties isn’t enough.

15

This sums it up for me as well. There are no deal breakers on the Democratic side even though I disagree with some specific policies; there are many deal breakers on the Republican side.

16

While I understand that most people do not go lock step with their party on every issue, what I am referring to is something much closer to 50/50 which leaves me (and I believe many others) feeling like neither party really represents us.

17

I think that the Republicans have some ideas/platforms that I could get behind, if they were toned down. However, the Republican platform has many of my dealbreakers. The Democratic party has ideas/platforms that I either agree wholeheartedly with, or that are not that disagreeable to me. So, I’d say that on most issues, the Democrats are about 90% likely to have a stance that I agree with, while the Republicans are only about 15% likely. Yes, I know there’s an overlap.

18

I’ve never voted for a Republican and I find their whole platform pretty much totally abhorrent.

19

I’m a liberal on social issues and a Josephian on fiscal matters. What’s a Josephian? Remember Joseph in the bible? He believed (in modern terms) in surpluses during the fat years and deficits during the lean. Just like Bill Clinton. Bush believed in deficits at all times and so did Reagan. Incidentally, the much maligned Keynes was also a Josephian. Just read him and see. And Adam Smith favored government regulation to save free markets.

20

I agree with this especially.

The problem is, in order to address our problems, we need to raise taxes on everybody - not “the rich”, everybody - AND cut spending on middle class entitlements. And neither party wants to do that.

Regards,
Shodan