Am I Republican, Democrat, Independent, or what?

Question

I voted twice for Arnold Schwarzenegger for Governor and Kerry for Pres. I am Pro Choice and death penalty but anti illegal immigration. My daughter goes to parochial school but I am strong for the separation of church and state and can’t stand the religious right; anti Iraq war, but I strongly support our troops (military in my immediate family). In the past decade I have been registered Democrat, Republican, back to Democrat, and then Independent (which sucks because we can’t vote in the Dem/Rep. primary)

My mother gives me a hard time because she says I am “conservative,” and my father-in-law teases me because I am too “liberal.” When did the parties start defining our beliefs? If we join a party, is it all decided for us because it’s their party platform? You never hear politicians criticize their own group which leads to decay. I know I will get #$%$^ from both sides of the issue. Am I the only one out there looking for a party that won’t tell me what I should believe?

Answer 1

Like me, Karla, you are a political moderate in a polarized world. You have this problem: you like to THINK instead of buying into the dogma of one party or the other. You and you alone are taking responsibility for your personal beliefs. You have refused to hand your conscience over to some talking head.

My advice: do as I do. Register as a member of the political party that gives you better choices in the local elections. Then keep voting your conscience.

Answer 2

Stop and think a little deeper about what you believe and you'll get the answer. The big issues are obvious.
Abortion - Do people have a right to kill other people that have not done anything to harm anyone? Republican NO Democrat YES (Abortion is killing a human that has not done anything to anyone. The person inside the mother has separate DNA and if it's not a human person then what is it?)
Government - Do you believe in Socialism where more taxes need to be taken to support a larger government? Do you believe the larger government makes better decisions about you and your family than you can make for yourself? Do you believe everyone should work at whatever level they deem fit and send their money to the government and let them determine the proper way to divide up the money? If so, Democrat. If you feel you make better decisions for yourself and your family than someone in Washington then Republican.
Death Penalty - Killing an innocent life is completely different than killing someone that has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt to have planned and successfully executed a murder. This is a diffilcult decision and neither party has a true set standard for this though I think a higher percentage of Republicans are in favor of the Death Penalty than Democrats though with that said Governor Clinton allowed a mentally retarded kid to die by the death penalty and I think most Republicans certainly opposed that.
Crime - This is much clearer than the Death Penalty. The Republican party has always been significantly stricter in enforcing the laws of our nation. If you believe we are a nation of laws and there are consequences to your actions then you are a Republican. Immigration laws are a component of this.
Voting - The Democrat party has tried for years and been successful to allow people convicted of Felonys to vote. The Republican party has opposed this.
Iraq War - Both parties were strongly in favor of attacking Iraq. Read any of the comments about Iraq while Clinton was President. Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Rockefeller, etc. and they were always in favor of military action against Iraq and Clinton bombed Iraq several times. The only difference is Politics the Republicans are in favor of doing what is right for American no matter who is president and the Democrats vary their opinion and words based on the current political polls. Decide what you think is right.
School choice - Do you have a right to decide what education your daughter receives? If so, why aren't you allowed to choose where your tax money, mostly through property taxes, goes? Republicans favor a voucher system allowing parents to choose what school their children can attend. Democrats oppose this.
I assume you live in California. Read your state and national party platforms and decide which one you relate to the most or feel free to stay Independent. That's the beauty on supporting a party that believes in freedom and doesn't want to follow a socialist agenda. When the government becomes larger and makes more people dependent upon the government freedom disappears.

Answer 3

You are a Democrat with some conservative leanings. No harm in that. From the teasing you get you are more likely right in the middle and leaning just slightly right or left depending on the issues. I recommend you stay a Democrat and in the general elections if you feel a candidate of another party should win vote for them.

Answer 4

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Conservative. I read each of your positions in different issues, and they break down this way...

You are Conservative on: Death Penalty, Anti-Illegal Aliens, Catholic School attendance. (3)

You are liberal on: Kerry, abortion, anti-religious right, Sep. of Church and State, Anti-War. (5)

Voting for Arnold is tricky because he is socially liberal and fiscally conservative, so he is a mixed bag.

You are a liberal with a few conservative views.

Answer 5

The only benefit to joining a party is to vote in the primary, thus there is little to gain from registering with either party. You are like most Americans (60%) and are Independent.

Answer 6

Most people aren't ideologues...blindly agreeing with every aspect of their party platform.

I'd suggest you rank the issues, and line them up with the candidate who represents those issues best.

If I had to pick which you are most closely aligned with based on the vignette, I'd say democrat...because Arnold is more a moderate than a conservative. There are democrats from the south that are more conservative than he is.

Answer 7

Parties only define the beliefs of those who are too weak to stand by their own convictions. I, myself, am conservative, but I do not toe the line on every issue that the republicans do. For example, my wife and I are christians but believe in a woman's right for being pro-choice.

Answer 8

Republican and Democrat are political parties. You can join whichever you choose or you can choose to be independent. None of this depends on you ideology or how you vote.

Answer 9

Why should true Christians shun politics when they could do much, seemingly, to better the world? The answer is, as the Bible shows, that true Christians do not advocate or preach democracy, socialism, communism or any other form of human government as a remedy for the world’s woes.

What Christians preach is a heavenly government, the kingdom of God. And that kingdom is not part of this world.

Said Jesus: “My kingdom is no part of this world. If my kingdom were part of this world, my attendants would have fought that I should not be delivered up to the Jews. But, as it is, my kingdom is not from this source.” (John 18:36)

God’s kingdom is no mere social reform. It is the government that will rule the universe.

To make way for the universal rule of God’s kingdom, the Bible shows, the political governments of this world must be destroyed. Not from men will come this destruction, but from God. Declared the prophet Daniel: “In the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty thereof be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.”

Daniel 2:44 tell us:
"And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite".

Do not involve yourself with political matters. Steer clear of these sort of questions and meaningless worldly debates.

Answer 10

Both parties are rotten to the core and have changed their beliefs so many times no one really knows what they stand for. They just serve their rich corporate masters.

Time for reform or revolution.