posted
If there's another election as historical as this I would register as a Democrat again. I'm thinking about registering as an independent because I want to distinguish myself from the people who label themselves as belonging to one party or the other. I am a liberal but I would be registering as an independent so I could make a statement. I probably won't care as much as I did during the primaries in the future about who the candidates are that are running for President. Should I do it?
Posts: 50 | Registered: Dec 2008
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posted
I'm starting to think that I should do it. I don't think that I really care that much about local elections... and when another historic election like this came along I could easily register as a Democrat again or a Republican if I felt that a Republican was really good.
Posts: 50 | Registered: Dec 2008
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posted
Does it really matter what you register as? How much of an impact does what you're registered as affect your vote?
I'm a registered independent simply because I consider that like saying "other". I don't want to feel obligated to any one party because of what I'm registered as.
Posts: 3486 | Registered: Sep 2002
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Registering as an independent may prevent you from voting in party primaries. It depends on the state though.
Posts: 1327 | Registered: Aug 2007
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I know that... but... would I really care about voting in the primaries in the future if I thought that the candidates sucked? It might not actually be that bad to be an independent.
Posts: 50 | Registered: Dec 2008
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I'm registered with a party so I can stay involved in politics beyond voting. If you register with a party and attend conventions, you can become a delegate or a leader of your local party. Then you can help influence what your candidates are and the party agenda is. If you register as an independent you can't do this.
But since you said that you don't care about local politics (A pity, in my opinion. More happens on the local political level that directly affects your life than national.), I don't think that the registration matters as much.
But I do have a question, what statement are you trying to send? Just because I'm registered with a party doesn't mean I straight-ticket with them. You still get to choose the candidate based on their merits.
ETA: Of course, I don't mean to try to coerce you into joining a party. Afterall, you can always change your coat any time you want. I just thought I'd give you a fairly reasonable argument for the other side. If you want to be an independent, that's fine. One of the quirks of the US is you can choose who you want to be. =P
Posts: 1831 | Registered: Jan 2003
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I register with the Democrats because you have to be registered with a party to caucus with that party here, and it is infinitely likely that the meaningful primaries with the preferable candidates will continue to be dominated here by the westy dems.
If you didn't have to be registered to caucus, I wouldn't register as anything.
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
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I forgot to disaffiliate after the 2004 primary election and didn't realize it until I was handed a ballot and not asked my choice in the 2008 primaries like my mother was. Fortunately, I was voting in the democratic primary again. Though I was in college in the intervening four years, my unknowing party affiliation really didn't come up- I don't think I got ever got any junk mail and Hillary Clinton was calling everyone I think. So you would be making a very small statement with only personal significance, unless you live and work among people who casually ask your party affiliation, not just your opinion.
Posts: 1757 | Registered: Oct 2004
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I'm registered as an unaffiliated voter. In CA we can choose any one primary and vote in it. No junk mail is nice.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Nighthawk: Does it really matter what you register as? How much of an impact does what you're registered as affect your vote?
I'm a registered independent simply because I consider that like saying "other". I don't want to feel obligated to any one party because of what I'm registered as.
It depends on your state. Some states will only let you vote in the primaries for the the party you are registered for, but if you're a registered independent, you get to choose. Beyond that, I have no idea what impact it has.
Posts: 1214 | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Colonel Graff: Should I do it?
Only you can answer that question, really, but it sounds reasonable to me. A plague on both their houses!
I can't say that wanting to distinguish yourself from people who are members of parties strikes me as much of a motivation, but I suppose it's no worse than joining a party because you like the company...
Posts: 884 | Registered: Mar 2005
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It's funny, to me anyway, that since I registered as an independent in the 90's that I have yet to vote for a Republican.
Although a couple of times I have been able to vote for other independents I still usually vote for Democrats.
Posts: 496 | Registered: Apr 2005
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South Carolina doesn't have the option to register as an Independent. When I registered here for the first time several years ago, I believe I had to choose between Republican and Democrat. However, the current voter registration application has no party affiliation listed at all.
Posts: 1214 | Registered: Aug 2005
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You don't have to register in Michigan. When you vote in a primary you ask for either a Republican or Democratic ballot, and when you vote in a general, all the ballots are the same.
I like it that way.
I still have the option to work for a local or statewide party if I want to participate in that part of the process, but I'm not forced to pledge my undying obedience to one party or the other. Thank God for that.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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Its worth finding out what the rules are in your state before you register to vote and rules may vary by party.
One other thing to think about. Political parties often qualify for some public funding. In Utah, the amount of money the parties get is proportional the number of people who have registered. I doubt this makes a hair of a difference for the republicans and democrats but its a major source of funding for the little third parties.
So if there is some third party whose politicsyou like, registering for that party can give them a little financial boost. If there is some small part you want to support or you just want to promote more diversity in US politics but don't want to "throw your vote away" to do it, registering for one of the smaller parties is an alternative.
You don't need to worry about getting on a mailing list or being hounded because you register third party (or even democrat or republican). When I was working with the Utah Green Party, we weren't allowed to know who registered as green. We weren't given names and certainly not addresses, just a total number.
Posts: 12591 | Registered: Jan 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Colonel Graff: I know that... but... would I really care about voting in the primaries in the future if I thought that the candidates sucked? It might not actually be that bad to be an independent.
If you don't care about voting in the primaries because all of the candidates suck, I don't see why you'd care about voting in the general elections either. You might as well just not register to vote.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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