It's your party and I'll cry if I want to.

[AtlasShrieked]

Are you an un-enrolled voter who belongs to no political party? Why? I ask because I am seriously thinking of leaving my party and I have been thinking deeply about what that entails and what I will do without a party.

Is it possible to not be frustrated and angry and left with a feeling of powerlessness---of not belonging to the system---as I view most un-enrolled citizens being?

 

[doeton]

Is it possible to not be frustrated and angry and left with a feeling of powerlessness---of not belonging to the system---as I view most un-enrolled citizens being?

dude just drink the kool-aid

you'll feel a lot better.

 

[AtlasShrieked]

dude just drink the kool-aid

you'll feel a lot better.

isn't all that sugar bad for a sun god like me?

 

[doeton]

of course...but you'll forget about all that once you have a taste.

 

[editec]

Well I am really not aware of what benefits you derive from the party affiliation you currently have, so it's hard to imagine what you'll be giving up.

But as an unenrolled registered voter, I get exactly the same thing I got when I was enrolled in a party.

Zippolla.

 

[Anguille]

Are you an un-enrolled voter who belongs to no political party? Why? I ask because I am seriously thinking of leaving my party and I have been thinking deeply about what that entails and what I will do without a party.

Is it possible to not be frustrated and angry and left with a feeling of powerlessness---of not belonging to the system---as I view most un-enrolled citizens being?

I wouldn't belong to any party that would have me as a member.

 

[AtlasShrieked]

Well I am really not aware of what benefits you derive from the party affiliation you currently have, so it's hard to imagine what you'll be giving up.

But as an unenrolled registered voter, I get exactly the same thing I got when I was enrolled in a party.

Zippolla.

I guess you miss the point. Only party members have input how the party functions which has a huge effect on who gets the party nomination. You most likely get now what you got then because now you put nothing into it just as you did then.

just signing up for a party membership and doing nothing constructive and then complaining about the end result is enough to drive anyone into apathy or idiocy.

 

[AtlasShrieked]

I wouldn't belong to any party that would have me as a member.

silly.

I do not belong to most groups because of a sentiment that groucho was expressing, but...

an election of the people that will lead us in governing is a special exception.

you cannot complain with any validity or credibility if you are always on the outside contributing absolutely nothing to the process.

 

[Anguille]

silly.

I do not belong to most groups because of a sentiment that groucho was expressing, but...

an election of the people that will lead us in governing is a special exception.

you cannot complain with any validity or credibility if you are always on the outside contributing absolutely nothing to the process.

You don't have to be an insider to contribute to the process. Try it and see.

 

[Ravi]

The Progressive Party is always looking for new members.

 

[AtlasShrieked]

The Progressive Party is always looking for new members.

What?

 

[AtlasShrieked]

You don't have to be an insider to contribute to the process. Try it and see.

The party process. You have no say in party politics if you do not belong. Parties run the candidates. Parties have charters and rules and officers and committees.

People like you live in the dark. You imagine you have a say and then complain when you don't.

People like you are deluded and until you wake up in sufficient numbers all change will benefit the parties.

Do you think Obama will not try and benefit the party? Jesus, his main backers are party hacks...like he is.

Wake the f*ck up.

 

[Anguille]

.

I see you are back on your high horse.

 

[AtlasShrieked]

I see you are back on your high horse.

I never got off it.

but...

you cannot argue with the truth of what I said here. Party politics is very regulated. Most people do not have the patience, stamina, insight, dedication and more to enter into the system and get anything done. It takes working with those who have something in common with you, yet may have opinions you do not share or even opinions you find anathema.

but...


You agree to abide by the rules that set the rules for defining the will of the majority of the group you join. party politics is messy but is not the blame of the parties...it is the blame of no one. Messy is what you get when more than one person enters into a conversation.

 

[hjmick]

Atlas, my response to your questions in the MoveOn.org thread:

so you are always against both candidates and it's just a case of you voting the lesser of two evils?

No, I am not always against both parties. In truth I am a registered Republican, though I do not toe the party line. My registration is more of a function of primary voting and the fact that, until recently, they represented my beliefs in areas I consider most important. This has changed in recent years and, with the absence of a viable third party, I have been left with choices that I find less than desirable. As a result, there have been times where I find myself indeed choosing the candidate I consider to be the lesser of two evils. Sometimes it's a Republican, sometimes it's a Democrat. I've even voted for Libertarian candidates, though in those cases I really did think they were the better choice. I try not vote using the "lesser of two evils" criteria, but sometimes that's all we're left with.

it's a party system. parties run primaries so maybe you should start your own party? lol

If only it were that easy. I crave a viable third or even fourth party in this country. I think most of us do.

why do relatively intelligent people misunderstand the process so?

if your rigid definition of 'for' and 'against' standard of a good system

I understand the process, and I do not adhere to the "for" or "against" standard. My vote, as I stated, crosses party lines. My first choice is always for who I think is the better candidate for me.

we are given a choice in the primaries and we get to choose who most closely we agree with. if there is no perfect fit, so what? we still should have a party we identify with?

Unfortunately, not always does the better candidate get the nod. Too often it is the better looking candidate or the one with the most money.

we vote in primaries in order to have a run off in the general.

I am thinking of leaving my party and am giving this subject some serious, very serious thought.

maybe you could explain yourself in this thread?

The chorus I hear often is that I didn't leave my party, my party left me. This is very much how I feel. Unfortunately the alternative is, for me, not an option. Again, as I stated earlier, the only reason I maintain my registration in the Republican party is to vote in the primaries. I consider myself a Conservative Independent Libertarian. I have yet to see that party.

 

[Anguille]

I never got off it.

but...

you cannot argue with the truth of what I said here. Party politics is very regulated. Most people do not have the patience, stamina, insight, dedication and more to enter into the system and get anything done. It takes working with those who have something in common with you, yet may have opinions you do not share or even opinions you find anathema.

but...


You agree to abide by the rules that set the rules for defining the will of the majority of the group you join. party politics is messy but is not the blame of the parties...it is the blame of no one. Messy is what you get when more than one person enters into a conversation.

Good post. No I can't argue. You know the Democrats from the inside better than I. Even in grassroots stuff it is as you say.

What's with your avatars? They get younger and younger, just like Merlin. Is that really your baby pic??

 

[AtlasShrieked]

Good post. No I can't argue. You know the Democrats from the inside better than I. Even in grassroots stuff it is as you say.

What's with your avatars? They get younger and younger, just like Merlin. Is that really your baby pic??

yes

or maybe it's my brother.

mom's memory was never really what it should've been.

raising sons took it's toll

 

[AtlasShrieked]

Good post. No I can't argue. You know the Democrats from the inside better than I. Even in grassroots stuff it is as you say.

What's with your avatars? They get younger and younger, just like Merlin. Is that really your baby pic??

and it's not the Democratic party I am speaking about, it is the party system.

anyone can join and they do.

the scary thing to me is Dean and now Obama are the mentors of the newbies.

the party has been changed. is change better?

I know it's...different, but that is not why I want to leave....difference. The party has changed since I've been in it.

I seek to become more principled than the party currently allows