Tag: independents

Moderates And Their Extremism

College of Political Knowledge

2026 Election Series #2

(And the series continues)

With less than a month before we go to the polls and vote for our preferences I would like to talk about what some call the largest voting block in the nation….the moderates, centrists or independents.

The term ‘moderate’ is one that I despise….it is as misleading as the term ‘independent’ (more on that in a later post)….

Let’s look at what being a ‘moderate ‘ means….

A moderate in politics is a person who holds centrist views, avoids extreme or radical positions, and prefers practical problem-solving over strict ideology.  (How many actually stand at the center?)

The supposed core beliefs….

  • The Center Ground: Moderates sit in the middle of the left-right political spectrum. They often combine ideas from both liberal and conservative viewpoints.
  • Pragmatism: They judge issues on a case-by-case basis rather than following a rigid political playbook.
  • Preference for Compromise: They view political cooperation and bipartisanship as essential for good governance.
  • Cautious Change: They support gradual reform rather than sweeping, sudden, or revolutionary changes to society

There you have what politicians and political pundits want you to believe are where most Americans stand….I do not believe that in the least and the last few elections prove it.

These are what the media calls ‘swing voters’….personally I do not believe this at all.

Nowadays “Moderates’ embrace a radical view….

We’ve been hearing a lot of panicky warnings lately after Democratic primary voters chose socialists and other leftists instead of “moderates” in several major elections. The alarm bells got louder this month after Michigan’s progressive Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed defeated Rep. Haley Stevens – who was, the New York Times reported, “the moderate establishment-backed candidate.”

The soothing “moderate” label routinely goes to candidates like Stevens who’ve supported continual arming of Israel. She “benefited from about $62 million in advertising spending from half a dozen outside groups,” the Times noted. “Over half of that sum came from the super PAC arm of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the country’s most influential pro-Israel group.”

What’s so “moderate” about supporting genocide?

Politicians are also routinely dubbed “moderate” when they’re running interference for extreme income inequality and deadly healthcare inequities – helping to block popular policy options like tax hikes on the rich and Medicare for All, which is supported by three-quarters of Democrats.

The Democratic base is fed up with a system that gives inordinate power to the wealthy and to large corporations. In the real world, the so-called “moderates” are aligned with a status quo that continues to inflict widespread suffering and preventable death at home and abroad.

To hear timeworn party strategists like James Carville and Paul Begala tell it, leftwing candidates are duping the Democratic electorate. As this month began, Carville threatened to leave the party. Begala made headlines by declaring, “I don’t like the socialists. I can’t stand them.”

https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/moderates-support-extreme-injustice/

Moderates want the status quo to remain….all the corruption, the lies, the total lack of empathy for the people…..change is not in their playbook….and without change this country will never move forward….we will remain at the mercy of corporations and their agents like pundits.

What crap!  If anyone is duping the electorate it is these corporate stooges that want the cash to continue to flow.

Some voters are finally seeing what we have been telling them for a generation….moderates are not working for them but rather for themselves and their wallets.

I just wish that the American voter would spend more time looking and researching their candidates and make better decisions on their trip to the polls….but apparently time on Instagram is far more important than improving their lives.

Let the debate begin.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Moderates, Centrists And Independents

College of Political Knowledge

2026 Election Series #1

To some these are different techniques in approaching government….but to me they are very similar.

AS the 2026 mid-term elections draws near there will be lots said in the MSM about these people…personally I think it is all so much bullshit but that is just me.

I will be write posts on all three of these so-called voters, some of it will be re-posts from days gone by that I wrote whenever I see these terms used.

Have I mentioned I think all that coverage is bullshit?

We know for a fact that Donny’s brand of MAGA will be on the ballot and many seem to think that will be enough to make people vote for Dems….I do not believe that….I do not care what the polls say….their predictions could be just so much farting into the wind.

But let’s look at the so-called political beasts….

While the terms centrist, moderate, and independent are often used interchangeably to describe voters and politicians who sit between the two major political parties, they actually refer to distinct concepts.
The primary difference lies in the fact that independents are defined by their lack of official party affiliation, moderates are defined by the non-extreme temperaments or positions they hold relative to their chosen party, and centrists are defined by their specific ideological stance of blending left- and right-wing policy solutions.
 Direct Comparison

Feature Centrists ⚖️ Moderates 🤝 Independents 🚫
Core Definition An ideological stance that deliberately mixes policies from both the left and the right. A political temperament that avoids ideological extremism and favors incremental change. A party status meaning the person is officially unaffiliated with any political party.
Party Affiliation May be independent or hold membership in a major party. Usually registered members of major parties (e.g., “Moderate Democrats”). Strictly unregistered with major parties; rejects party labels.
Primary Goal Finding synthesized, effective policy solutions regardless of political origin. Achieving stability, compromise, and bipartisan consensus between opposing sides. Evaluating candidates individually based on issues rather than party loyalty.
Ideological Consistency Often highly opinionated with a consistent, balanced mix of views. Generally sits closer to the political center of gravity but leans toward their home party. Highly diverse; can range from radical libertarians to center-of-the-road voters.
1. Centrists: The Ideologues of the Middle

Centrism is a proactive political outlook rather than just a passive avoidance of the extremes. Centrists believe that neither the far-left nor the far-right has a monopoly on good governance.

  • The Policy Mix: A centrist might strongly support a robust social safety net (traditionally a left-wing view) while simultaneously advocating for strict fiscal conservatism or strong border enforcement (traditionally right-wing views).

  • Examples: Organized political groups like the Forward Party or the Problem Solvers Caucus in Congress focus heavily on structural, centrist reforms like open primaries and ranked-choice voting.

2. Moderates: The Pragmatists and Conciliators
Moderation describes the intensity of a person’s political beliefs. A moderate typically operates within a major political party but acts as a check against the party’s more radical or progressive wings.

  • The Approach: Moderates prioritize governance, stability, and consensus over ideological purity. They are the legislators most willing to cross party lines to negotiate deals.

  • Examples: Groups like the New Democrat Coalition or the Republican Governance Group are coalitions of moderate lawmakers who work to pull their respective parties back toward practical legislation. Recently, moderate Democrats launched initiatives like the “Promise to America” to explicitly reaffirm capitalist, non-socialist platforms.
3. Independents: The Unaffiliated Bloc

Being an independent is a statement about institutional alignment, not necessarily about a person’s exact political views. Gallup polling data consistently shows that independents make up a massive portion of the electorate, often matching or outpacing registered Democrats and Republicans.

  • The Spectrum: It is a common misconception that all independents are middle-of-the-road voters. While many describe themselves as moderates, a significant percentage actually hold solidly conservative or liberal beliefs but choose to remain outside the two-party system due to partisan frustration.

  • Behavior: They are typically swing voters who judge candidates case-by-case, or they are voters who feel completely unrepresented by modern political platforms.

There you have the ‘differences’ in the political terms….but to my way of thinking they are the same animal with minor differences….these are canned definitions.

The confusing one is ‘independents’….they look at all candidates without a party affiliation….but in reality they are just disenfranchised voters and will settle on one or the other of the political parties.

Then there is the dream of bi-partisanship….these days it is nothing more than a pipe dream and a not so funny joke.

These so-called voters are still supporting the corporate greed and corruption that both parties breed…..the voters hang onto the lie that either party can change the greed and corruption in politics.

Any thing to add?

Stay tuned for I will look deeper into each of these so-called voters and make my analysis known.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Let’s Try This Stupidity Again

Back in the early days of the 2008 election a couple of guys wanted to build a new independent party (dammit!  I cannot recall what is was called)….their idea was to nominate a Dem and a Repub for a new independent ticket….it was a bomb and at best it was a political scam…..and now almost 20 years later another ‘well meaning’ billionaire has a ‘new’ idea.

Floridians aren’t getting John Morgan on the ballot—but he’s dangling six figures to rebrand their politics. The 70-year-old billionaire ended statewide speculation on Monday by announcing that he would not run for governor, reports Politico. However, Morgan does plan to launch a new state political party and will pay $100,000 to whoever comes up with its name. The contest rules will be laid out in the coming days. One that’s clear: Morgan can afford the reward: Forbes pegs his worth at $1.5 billion.

Morgan, who built the Morgan & Morgan injury law empire, has poured millions into successful ballot measures to raise Florida’s minimum wage and legalize marijuana, earning him the nickname “Pot Daddy.” The former Democrat, who is now registered as an Independent, previously flirted with gubernatorial runs in 2018 and 2024. In his Monday video, Morgan argued that “what ails us is the two-party system,” adding, “Most of us agree on most things, but if you put the D up and the R up, nothing ever gets done.”

Do not be fooled!  This is just another political scam by a billionaire that is hedging his vote in case Donny is shown the door.

Got It!  (Damn!  That took a lot of thinking on my poor brain)

This 2008 attempt was called Unit08

The political reform movement was founded as a non-profit organization by several political figures: Democrats Hamilton Jordan, Gerald Rafshoon, and Republican consultants Doug Bailey and Jim Jonas and the former two-term independent Maine Governor Angus King. Unity08 attempted to leverage online technology, such as secure voting, to allow American voters to determine the most crucial issues facing the country, discuss them with potential nominees, and participate in an online convention to nominate a bipartisan presidential ticket. In an interview that aired on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer in May 2006, Unity08’s founders said that the group was formed in response to the polarization between the Republican and Democratic political parties. The group also cited a poll it commissioned from Princeton Survey Research and claimed that 82 percent of Americans think that the two major political parties are unable to address the country’s problems and that 73 percent of Americans are in favor of alternatives to the two parties.

The group’s status as a non-profit organization came into question when they asked the Federal Election Commission whether the group could defer registering as a political action committee until after its candidates for the 2008 presidential election were named. A draft released by the commission in July 2006 concluded that “Unity08 must register as a policy committee and therefore is subject to the reporting requirements and limitations and prohibitions.”  In October 2006, the commission voted on the matter and declared that the group must register as a political action committee.

It stated goals were….

Unity08 had four major goals:

  • Enable Americans to rank America’s most crucial issues.
  • Empower Americans to draft or evaluate Unity08 candidates and actively engage them in debate about the crucial issues.
  • Empower Americans to nominate a bipartisan Unity ticket via an online convention and secure voting process.
  • Elect the Unity08 presidential ticket to national office.

The Unity08 presidential ticket was to consist of two candidates that come from different political parties. This bipartisan team was to propose a bipartisan cabinet in an effort to end paralysis in government. Co-founder Doug Bailey explained “What we are trying to do is to create a forum for people who are in the middle who have been left out of politics.”

Here is what ‘liberal’ bloggers thought (that would be me)

Liberal bloggers also expressed frustration with Unity08 because they contend that the group promoted “establishment” centrist or center-right politicians in the molds of Joe Lieberman and Michael Bloomberg while at the same time doing little to promote the progressive values it would seemingly represent. Chris Bowers of the political blog MyDD called the group’s supporters “rich, center-right, ‘non-partisan‘ donors who trash progressives and never criticize conservatives in power,” and claimed that the movement has no grassroots support.  Other bloggers also criticized the heavy representation of lobbyists among the organization’s officers.

It failed….why?  Lack of funds for most people saw it for what it was a political scam.

Please do not fall prey to this overt bullshit by a some billionaire to hedge his vote.

I will vote for a third party but it will not be anyone of this caliber.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Independents?

2026 is an election year and of course there is much talk about the possibility of a Blue Wave and the hope for a change in direction for this country.

Sorry to be a downer here but….dream on!

Reports are coming out the that the young are not satisfied with the GOP or the Dems and are identifying themselves as independents….

More Americans than ever are stepping away from the two-party labels. A new Gallup survey finds that 45% of US adults identified as political independents in 2025, the highest share in more than three decades of telephone polling and up from 43% in recent peak years. Just 27% of adults called themselves Democrats and 27% Republicans. The shift is driven largely by younger Americans: Majorities of Gen Z and millennials, and more than four in 10 Gen Xers, now claim the independent label, compared with about a third or less of baby boomers and older adults. A big factor in recent swings is tied to unhappiness with whatever party is in power, which the AP notes may bode well for Democrats in the midterms.

  • All these independents, however, are not precisely in the political middle. When asked which party they lean toward, 20% of all adults were independents who favored Democrats, 15% leaned Republican, and 10% did not lean either way.
  • Combining party identifiers and leaners, Democrats held a 47% to 42% edge over Republicans in 2025, reversing a three-year period of GOP advantage and returning to a pattern last seen in President Trump’s first term. The Democratic edge widened over the course of the year, from parity with Republicans in early 2025 to an eight-point lead by year’s end.
  • On ideology, conservatives still outnumber liberals. Thirty-five percent of Americans described themselves as conservative or very conservative, 28% as liberal or very liberal, and 33% as moderate. However, the conservative lead over liberals—seven points—is the smallest margin going back to 1992. The biggest ideological shift has come inside the Democratic Party, where 59% now identify as liberal, up from 25% in 1994.

https://apnews.com/article/poll-independents-moderates-republicans-democrats-trump-ba353eb6807fd854f5b6e6de52d152fa

Glad to see that people are getting dissatisfied with the two corrupt parties….but with that said do you see any change?

I hate the term ‘independent’ for it is not accurate….these people will still vote for one of the two parties that are destroying this country.

They will not look for a true alternative so they are not independent voters they are just lazy twats.

This next election will be the chance for some real change or at least the beginnings….but will the voter actually want change or just a repeat of stupid voting habits?

Now would be a good time to voice your opinion.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Open Letter To ‘Independents’

College Of Political Knowledge

2024 Election Series

2024  vote is closer than most Americans think….

The news seems to be focused on what is humorously termed the ‘independents’ as the deciding voters for the next few elections…..

Independents reign as the voting bloc for political candidates to deal with this election year, new data show. Gallup has found that 43% of US adults identified as independent in its survey, while 27% of respondents said they’re Democrats or Republicans. That’s a low for Democrats, Axios reports. There have been blips, but independents generally started to outnumber the ranks of the two parties in 1991. “The increase in the percentage of independents has come more at the expense of Democrats than Republicans, which might be expected since Democrats were previously the largest political group,” Gallup’s post says.

To begin with I am not comfortable with the term ‘independent’…..simply because these self-described voters will vote either GOP or Dems….that is not an ‘independent’ in my book.

They are still part of the problem for it is the D or the R that they are voting for….is not in any way an independent voter.

I am an old fart so as an old person I apparently have a different definition for the term.

My thought is if you are an independent then you probably avoid politics like the plague….but that is just me…..

Independents often are portrayed as political free agents with the potential to alleviate the nation’s rigid partisan divisions. Yet the reality is that most independents are not all that “independent” politically. And the small share of Americans who are truly independent – less than 10% of the public has no partisan leaning – stand out for their low level of interest in politics.

Among the public overall, 38% describe themselves as independents, while 31% are Democrats and 26% call themselves Republicans, according to Pew Research Center surveys conducted in 2018. These shares have changed only modestly in recent years, but the proportion of independents is higher than it was from 2000-2008, when no more than about a third of the public identified as independents.

An overwhelming majority of independents (81%) continue to “lean” toward either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. Among the public overall, 17% are Democratic-leaning independents, while 13% lean toward the Republican Party. Just 7% of Americans decline to lean toward a party, a share that has changed little in recent years. This is a long-standing dynamic that has been the subject of past analyses, both by Pew Research Center and others.

Political Independents: Who They Are, What They Think

But are these voters truly independent?

Not really.

On the one hand, more Americans identifying as independent probably doesn’t seem like a bad thing. Independents are often portrayed as more open-minded and less dogmatic in their political views. And in a nation whose founders feared factional politics, the value of political independence is also an attractive one to many Americans.

The problem is that few independents are actually independent. Roughly 3 in 4 independents still lean toward one of the two major political parties, and studies show that these voters aren’t all that different from the voters in the party they lean toward. Independents who lean toward a party also tend to back that party at almost the same rate as openly partisan voters.

“Independents tend not to look all that different from partisans,” said Samara Klar, a political scientist at the University of Arizona and co-author of the book “Independent Politics.” “But they do tend to be more averse to identifying themselves as a partisan when there is a negative stigma associated with partisanship. So, it’s really the arguments, the hostility, the negativity that seems to be driving this behavior.”

Few Americans Who Identify As Independent Are Actually Independent. That’s Really Bad For Politics.

Or these voters could be ‘undecided’ voters…..another term I do not agree with…..

All in all a true independent has principles beyond party then more political parties would be in the mix….as it is they are not….most vote either ‘R’ or ‘D’…..and the nation suffers.

Is there any debate?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Could RFK,Jr Be A Trump Spoiler?

Recently I wrote a post about 2 independents in the 2024 election, West and RFK,Jr, and most of the comments were about spoilers that would hand the election to Trump for they would take away from Biden’s small lead….

I replied that since RFK is an anti-vaxxer among other silliness that he might draw votes away from Trump….and now the news is in…..

When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced last week that he was dropping out of the Democratic race to run for president as an independent, some analysts said his run could be more of a problem for President Biden than former President Trump. The latest NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll, however, suggests that Kennedy could take enough votes away from Trump to ensure a Biden victory. The poll put Biden at 49% and Trump at 46% in a hypothetical head-to-head. But when pollsters put Kennedy in the mix, Biden’s lead grew to 7 points, with the president at 44%, Trump at 37%, and Kennedy at 16%.

Pollsters found that independent voters split almost evenly among the three candidates, while Kennedy’s inclusion caused Biden’s support to dip by 5% among Democrats and Trump’s by 10% among Republicans. “Although it’s always tricky to assess the impact of a third-party candidate, right now Kennedy alters the equation in Biden’s favor,” says Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. “What this does speak to, however, is that about one in six voters are looking for another option, especially independents.” Multiple other polls have found that Kennedy has a higher approval rating among Republicans than Democrats, Axios reports.

If this occurs then both parties will have something to whine about when the voter exercises their freedom of choice.

Will independents really make a difference?

I hope everyone has a great weekend….and as always….be well and be safe.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Here Come The ‘Independents’

College of Political Knowledge

2024 Election Series

It is that time again….yet another election for the leader of the free world….or so we are told.

Time for ‘independents’ to shine.

I am talking about true independents not those people that delude themselves that they are independent because the vote for one party or the other….that is not an independent in my book.

Yes it is early but we have two candidates that have forsaken the two party system to go it as a true independent…..these are RFK, jr and Cornell West

Let’s start with RFK, Jr…..originally he was going to run against Biden in the Democratic primaries but has since changed his mind….

Longtime environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Monday he will run for president as an independent and drop his Democratic primary bid, reports the AP. The move adds another wrinkle to a 2024 race heading toward a likely rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Kennedy, a member of one of the most famous Democratic families in politics, was running a longshot primary bid and has better favorability ratings among Republicans than Democrats. It’s unclear whether GOP support would translate to a general election when Kennedy would also be running against Trump. Both Biden and Trump allies have at times questioned whether Kennedy would be a spoiler against their candidate.

Biden’s allies so far have dismissed Kennedy’s primary campaign as unserious. Asked for comment on his potential independent run ahead of the announcement, a Democratic National Committee spokesman responded with an eye roll emoji. Monday’s announcement comes less than a week after the progressive activist Cornel West abandoned his Green Party bid in favor of an independent White House run. Meanwhile, the centrist group No Labels is actively securing ballot access for a yet-to-be-named candidate. Kennedy has spent weeks accusing the DNC of “rigging” the party’s primary against him and threatening that he might need to consider alternatives.

Awaiting Kennedy’s remarks Monday, hundreds of supporters gathered at Philadelphia’s Independence Mall, an apt location for the expected launch. Campaign signs teased a potential new slogan: “Declare your independence.” Among Kennedy’s fans in the crowd were several voters who said they don’t identify as Democratic or Republican and view Kennedy as a truth teller and a breath of fresh air. “He tells it how it is,” said Julia Hill, a 23-year-old student from New Jersey. “He doesn’t sound like a politician.”

I personally like his stand on the environment and antiwar stuff but he is an anti-vaxxer and his views on abortion are not in line with my thinking….so I can rule him out for my vote.

Next is Cornell West….

This candidate has the Dems worried…..

If asked to name candidates who pose the biggest threat to President Biden’s reelection, a lot of people would surely pick Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis. But Cornel West? As it turns out, more top Democrats are getting seriously worried about the prominent Black academic and civil rights activist, reports Mark Leibovich at the Atlantic. It’s all about his potential to be a spoiler. West is running on the Green Party ticket, and Democrats worry he might pull Democratic voters away from Biden, particularly young, progressive voters. Sound familiar? It’s exactly what Democrats say Green Party candidate Jill Stein did to Hillary Clinton in 2016. And as Leibovich points out, Stein is actually West’s campaign manager.

West, for his part, downplays his spoiler potential. He tells the Atlantic that people who vote for him probably wouldn’t vote for Biden anyway—they would just stay home. However, Newsweek points to recent polls that suggest a different story. For example, poll tracker RacetotheWH has Biden leading Trump 44.1 to 42.2 in a one-on-one matchup. Add West to the mix and it’s a different story: Trump has 43, Biden 42, and West 4, according to a poll from Echelon Insights. “We should be concerned,” says Austin Davis, Democratic lieutenant governor in the swing state of Pennsylvania, speaking for Biden supporters.

West has decided to leave the Green Party and go it as an independent.

Cornel West has settled on the third party affiliation of his four-month-old presidential candidacy. The scholar’s campaign announced Thursday that he’s leaving the Green Party to runs as an independent, the Hill reports. “People are hungry for change,” West posted on X, adding that he wants to be president to “end the iron grip of the ruling class and ensure true democracy.” The only reason for the switch given by his campaign was a reference to West wanting to focus on the people, rather than on “the intricacies of internal party dynamics,” per Politico.

West began his campaign with the People’s Party, then moved to the Green Party, which is more mainstream and has a history of third-party candidacies. The progressive’s alliance with Sen. Bernie Sanders has won some support among Democrats, while others warn West could ensure a Republican victory by taking votes from President Biden. West now faces the task of placing his name on state ballots without the support of the Green Party’s infrastructure. He’ll have to collect about 550,000 signatures nationally, said his campaign manager, Peter Daou.

These announced independent have both Biden and Trump camps worried.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced he’s running for president as an independent. Cornel West made the same choice last week. While the politics are murky, the fresh frenzy of outsider candidates threatens to weaken both major parties as Democratic President Biden and Republican former President Donald Trump tighten their grip on their party’s presidential nomination. The parties’ concern isn’t so much that independent or third-party candidates would actually win the presidency, but that they could siphon support from the ultimate Democratic and Republican nominees, the AP reports. Democratic officials, especially, see the outsiders as a dangerous wildcard that harkens to 2016, when Green Party nominee Jill Stein may have enabled Trump’s razor-thin victory by winning a small portion of the vote.

Those associated with third-party efforts make no apologies. “The American people have been hungry for options. So, get ready,” Stein said in an interview. “What we’re seeing is a voter rebellion.” The rise of outsider candidates is a reminder of the volatility that hangs over the 2024 presidential election. Both of the major parties’ likely nominees are extraordinarily unpopular. Biden and Trump are running as the nation grapples with dangerous political divisions, economic anxiety, and a deep desire for a new generation of leadership in Washington. Much more activity is expected soon. Stein said the Green Party will likely make an announcement about its plans this month. No Labels expects to make a decision about its presidential nominee in the spring.

The efforts face obstacles. Simply qualifying for the ballot in every state will be a gargantuan task for outsider candidates without the benefit of existing political networks. Jim Messina, who managed President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign and is now a Biden ally, didn’t play down the possibility that the new candidates could weaken Biden’s coalition. “The threat of a third party needs to be planned for seriously,” Messina said. Noting that no independent or third-party candidate has ever won even a single electoral vote—never mind the 270 needed to claim the presidency—he said Biden’s team still need to be aggressive in warning voters about the threat that long-shot outsider candidates present. “You need to tell people that a vote for a candidate without a path to 270 means they’re lighting their ballot on fire,” Messina said.

Of course these insiders will bad mouth any candidate but theirs….they cannot conceive a world where the parties are not in control and will say and do anything to keep it that way.

Right now my look is for West at least he stands for more issue as I do.

But that can change as the election grows near.

(Any comments about the whole ‘spoiler’ thing will be covered in a later post in this series.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Seriously? 2020?

As things shake out in DC all eyes turn to the possibilities for the 2018 election.  We all are aware of the antics in Foggy Bottom….all the games….all the jockeying for position…..all the theater…with all that going on there are still some people that are looking to the 2020 elections for the “change” we are a;ways in search of…..

Not for the first time….there is a stir in the backrooms about a possible 3rd party ticket….an independent ticket…..

And suddenly, there’s a hot rumor about a presidential ticket for 2020—featuring a Democrat and a Republican, no less. The potential pairing is GOP Gov. John Kasich of Ohio and Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado, reports Mike Allen at Axios. The two (nicknamed “the Johns”) have been making the rounds of late talking about health care, and things are going so well that they’re reportedly toying with the idea of an independent bid in 2020, with Kasich as the presidential contender. Coverage:

  • Nothing formal:CNN has a source familiar with the discussions who confirms all of the above, while stressing that it’s all informal at this point. “The idea of a joint ticket has been discussed, but not at an organizational or planning level.”
  • Expanding platform: Both Axios and CNN say that while the two have been focusing on health care for now, they’ll be expanding their platform in the near future. Job creation and immigration will be two main topics, with a particular focus on helping those losing jobs to automation. A podcast or perhaps a cable show also may be in the works.
  • Health care: The pair plan to release their ideas for stabilizing the nation’s insurance markets next month, and they aim to get other governors to sign on, reports NPR. They wrote about the broad strokes and the need for a bipartisan approach in the Washington Post in June. One specific idea: They don’t like the ObamaCare rule requiring businesses with 50 or more employees to provide insurance; the number should be higher, they say, as it currently hurts small businesses.
  • Worry for Democrats: At the National Review, Jim Geraghty argues that it would be bad news for Democrats if such a ticket comes to be. (He’s skeptical it will.) “If you’re a vehement Trump foe, you want the anti-Trump vote split in as few ways as possible,” and Kasich-Hickenlooper could steal needed electoral votes from Democrats (including a total of 27 in the governors’ home states).
  • Not quite a denial: Hickenlooper was asked about the possibility of a joint ticket in early August and said, “I don’t think Kasich would ever do that,” per Politico. But he didn’t exactly rule it out: “You never know. You never say. … I do like the idea of working with him in some context at some point.”
  • 503 days: On Thursday, Hickenlooper said on MSNBC that he wouldn’t even think about a presidential run until his gubernatorial term ends, per the Hill. And he knew that he had precisely 503 days left.

A couple of thoughts……too damn early to be thinking that far ahead.  Who knows what direction this country will travel 7+ years from now.  Second, who the Hell is Hickenlooper?  If you are not a political junkie then this name means absolutely NOTHING to you.

This is a stupid report that deserves to be shelved until 2020 looms closer.

The Color Purple

The voter not the movie

For past few elections we have had all the analyses on the voter…..we have red and blue voters and then we have, according to the pundits, purple voters….meaning that they could go either way in their voting habits….I guess we could call them the independents.

For the last couple of general elections this has been a point that the MSM likes to drive the conversation……and in most cases they have been wrong on so many levels.

This last election with the election of Trump may be crapping all over this “trend” that the media likes to drive…..

President Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton was among the narrowest in history, and the country is deeply split on his job performance so far. But if you feel like you hardly know anyone who disagrees with you about Trump, you’re not alone: Chances are the election was a landslide in your backyard.

More than 61 percent of voters cast ballots in counties that gave either Clinton or Trump at least 60 percent of the major-party vote last November. That’s up from 50 percent of voters who lived in such counties in 2012 and 39 percent in 1992 — an accelerating trend that confirms that America’s political fabric, geographically, is tearing apart.

Source: Purple America Has All But Disappeared | FiveThirtyEight

To me, these voters are not independent for they hug the two party system…never a thought for alternatives…..to me they are centrists….period.

Do tell….is this a new “trend” starting or is it a temporary thing that could right itself with the next election?

Independents, The Lie That Just Keeps Giving

Opinion from the frustrated mind of Chuq

The election is just around the corner….so do you support Trump?  Maybe Clinton?  Does that make you an independent?  Nope.  A “populist”?  More accurate than independent….

Source:42% of Americans Ditch Two-Party System, Say Government is Biggest Problem – The Anti-Media

Here in the US we have this magical group…..a group that can make marvelous things happen……(a pipe dream of the media’s invention)…..they are the “independents”.

It is an election….this time it is for 2016…..and there will be poll after poll after poll after……it is endless……and the media will once again set off selling that there are a large group that does not approve of either party and they will be labelled as “independent”……and that is a snow job!

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The independents that will make the difference in this election as they have in the past (according to the MSM) are not independents.  These people are more like a centrist than independent.  Even “undecided” would be more accurate.

What makes me say such a thing?

If they were truly independent then they would be looking for political answers outside the prevalent 2 parties that control the American election process.  In other words third parties would be more popular in our process…..in case you have missed it….they are NOT!

To call oneself an independent would imply that the person is open to different ideas for solving problems….that would be a lie also.  Most “independents” have set ideas in their head and NO amount of rational argument will ever change those closed minds.

Most of the so-called independents are nothing more than disgruntled Repubs or Dems…….and when it comes time to vote they will inevitable cast their vote for the Dems or the GOP…..what part of that is independent?

These people are fooling themselves to seem to be more pragmatic….but in reality they are nothing more than a Repub or a Dem…..plain and simple.

Last national election I attempted to raise this subject, 27 June 2011 post…….

Source: Centrist Vs Independent | In Saner Thought

To me those that claim to be independent are people that are not happy with their party of choice…..most are one issue voters who grasp at a single situation to define their political ideology or join the echo chamber of the daily headlines.

The only alternative these people ever consider is which party best describes their issues……once again…….always within the 2 party system…..they seldom ever consider a true alternative.  For all their bitching and moaning and they cannot get past one party or the other……the sound of a fury that signifies nothing!

Why the popularity of the term “independent”?  The media!

The media has the American voter believing they are independent if they go against their party line……it is a con job!

And then there are those that strut around proud to be an “independent”….yet when someone disagrees with them they are bleeding hearts or deniers or ….well you get the idea…..what part of that is independent thinking…..sounds more like the batcrap crazies they quote…..not an independent.  These are the same bottom feeders that troll the scum of the news and look for stories that can feed their hatred and bigotry…..makes no difference that most of these stories are out of context or just plain made up…..but as long as it feeds their brain it is truth and NO amount of logic or rationale will change that for them.

There are few TRUE independents in American politics…..just people that lie to themselves to convince themselves that they are truly the change the country needs…..in reality they are the same as they ever were……just are gullible toads and afraid to admit it.

INDEPENDENT…..MY ASS!

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