Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Independents Arise !!!

Or wake up, anyhow. Tis the season of your discontent, it's almost time for you to get to pick the candidate you dislike the least. You know, one of the two picked by other people who didn't have you in mind when they marked their ballot in the Primary. ( I know, there are actually more than 2, sort of) I'm sure you find it rude and arrogant of the major Parties to leave you out. I know the Democrats actually discussed at length letting you in, decided that:
A) sabotage voting entered in the decision
B) it's really simple to put a "D" after your name if you want to play
C) if you can't be bothered (or are disinclined) to be Party affiliated, why should you help select

Rude? Scarcely in this society is it rude to not include people who think you suck so badly that their name can't have your party designation on their voter registration. Arrogant? We work pretty hard to elect people and to have some effect on their policies, you think we suck. I think the arrogance is on the other side.

Yes, the Democratic Party has disappointed me at various times, so, I try to get them to not disappoint me. I work with them and on them. I think that's fair, they know I'm doing what I'm doing and they know it's not against them. I am active, I give a rat's patoot about the Party. I make sure that I have some kind of effect, even if it's as small as a mark on an election ballot. I don't recommend my level of activism, that's some I do. But I do have a recommendation.

Register with a Party, I know some of you can't stomach Democrats, well, the Republicans would seriously benefit from your input. I know Democratic politics would benefit from the inclusion of people high minded enough to be offended by "politics as usual." The Democrats have a lot of room for varied opinions on policy - they let me play, hell, 4000 some of them voted for me in the 2nd Congressional District Primary. (that's about 3,940 more than I know - I live in and work in a Republican dominated area) There is no good reason in a 2 Party system to have the selection of candidates left to people who don't know what you want or why you want it. I'll even make this disclaimer - my candidacy would've benefited from your voting - and I voted against your inclusion at DPO. So why am I inviting you? I'm not inviting "I's" to vote in the Primaries, I'm inviting "I's" to be Democrats, to come on in and have an effect. There's no way in hell to get away from "politics as usual" if you don't have a say from the outset.

All the things that offend you about Party politics are addressable. But only if YOU address them. It only looks so damn hopeless because so many of you are out there not addressing the problems you perceive. Sure big business and big money have a disproportionate effect on election financing, well, you aren't contributing, are you? There is no Democratic machine, if there ever was one, it ain't now, so you are only fighting against inertia and lack of information if you want to play. Maybe you haven't noticed just how serious the political problems are now, I assert that they are an outcome of 2 electorate features, low voter turn out and large numbers of unaffiliated voters.

Be a part of change ... or ... hang onto your "moral superiority" and watch other people do things.

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