Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Independent

After November 6, my 20-year boycott of (most) Democrats will be over. I felt it was dishonest of me to claim to be an Independent during that time, so I am registered with the town as a Republican. I like the idea of being an Independent more than the reality, perhaps. My wife is an Independent.  Reporters love to interview her during the first-in-the-nation primary.

I will likely switch my registration.  There is an added advantage, if I choose to avail myself of it.  I'm betting many Republicans will this time around - Democrats reportedly already do this a lot, though maybe that's just rumor. If I take a Democratic primary ballot, I can vote for who I think would be most beneficial for Republicans to run against. I have never done that. There is some appeal.

I think of that every time a new report comes up that Hillary's running.  That would be awesome. If you read journalists trying to puzzle out why Republican registrations are way down and Democratic ones way up in NH going into 2020, you might pause before leaping to conclusions.

Update:  Sam L's comment reminds me to declare again that negative voting has a long and valued tradition in America and is nothing to be ashamed of.

4 comments:

Sam L. said...

I would enjoy the opportunity to vote against Hillary again.

RichardJohnson said...

I vote for the least bad candidate.

Christopher B said...

Be careful in your assumption of who it would be best to run against. Ask Hillary how that worked out. I would favor the discord and confusion objective, and vote for the second or third place candidate to keep them in the race especially since NH is so early.

Donna B. said...

I used to be registered as a Democrat because of local politics. I wanted a say in who was going to be the Democrat candidate there because they were almost guaranteed to win the local elections.

I'm now registered as an independent, because I've moved and don't quite understand the local politics yet. For the first time in my life, I'm considering voting a straight party ticket.