I am a registered Democrat, but I really consider myself an independent. I have, in the past, been registered as a Republican (blasphemy, I know, but I wanted to vote in the NJ Gubernatorial primary a decade or so back because they had a more interesting field of candidates.).
I try to keep an open mind and I try to pick the best person for the job regardless of party. Since the Republicans have turned to the Dark Side, I can no longer consider any of them.
After the whole Geraldine Ferraro mess, I wrote the following letter to send to my Senators (Lautenberg and Menendez) and my Congressional Rep. (Steve Rothman). I thought I'd share it here.
I am afraid. I am very afraid, and it has nothing to do with terrorists hiding under my bed. I am afraid for my country and I am afraid of absolute power that corrupts absolutely.
The most important duty that stands before all Americans today is getting rid of the power hungry cabal that has taken over our country's government. To do that we must, we absolutely must put a Democrat in the White House. I say this not as a Democrat, but as an independent and as a patriot. If there were any other way to purge this country of the poison that has infected the executive branch - another party that could do the job, I would gladly consider it. But there is no other. Right now the Democratic Party is our only hope. And, I'm sad to say that the blind ambition of Hillary Clinton is killing any chance we have of holding on to that hope.
Because of her vote for the War Authorization, she was never my first choice, but in looking over the field of candidates six months or so back, I felt I could have voted for her, or any of the other candidates who had thrown their hats into the ring. I no longer feel that way. Come November, if her name is at the top of the Democratic slate, I will have an extremely difficult choice before me. I simply cannot vote for 100 more years of war. I cannot vote to continue George Bush's abominable policies and unitary executive power grab. I cannot.
But how can I, in all good conscience, vote to reward bad behavior? How can I, in all good conscience, vote to validate Hillary Clinton's, or any candidate's, win-at-all-costs methods? This is my dilemma.
I keep repeating to myself the mantra - Supreme Court, Supreme Court - but I don't know if even that powerful image will be able to get me to push that button or make that check mark (should we be smart enough to switch to paper ballots.) I simply don't know how I can force myself to do this.
Barack Obama was not my first choice, nor was he my second. From the field of available candidates, I chose to tilt at a windmill for awhile, and I chose Dennis Kucinich, because he has the courage to stand up for many of the principles I believe in.
When he was forced out of the race, prematurely in my opinion, I considered Chris Dodd for his courageous defense of the Constitution and his stand on the FISA situation. I also considered Governor Richardson for his extensive experience, but I chose John Edwards because I saw that he had learned much in the last four years, and because his stand on the issues, I care about, was not far from Dennis Kucinich's.
After Edwards dropped out, that left only Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. I began to take a closer look at Senator Obama and I liked what I heard and saw. At first I was concerned that he lacked experience, but sometimes experience means set in the old ways of doing things - and that's not a good thing.
The more I listened to him and the more I learned about him, the more I became convinced that we had, in him, one of those once in a generation people who could truly lead. And if there is one thing this country needs right now is a leader, a good strong leader. So on Super Tuesday, I cast my vote for Barack Obama.
At that time, though I chose Senator Obama and I had some issues with Hillary Clinton - namely her close ties to Corporate America, her original stand on NAFTA and her vote on the war Authorization and the Kyl-Lieberman bill - I had not a single doubt in my mind that I could vote for her in November. In fact, I encouraged fellow Obama supporters to give up their "I can't vote for her" stand and I urged them to remember that their country can not survive four to eight more years of Republican rule.
I felt that way up until just before the March 4th primaries, when her campaign took on very ugly tones. I know it is just politics and I know that the idea is to win. But at what cost?
In what should be our finest hour. In what should have been a cakewalk and a landslide, the Democratic Party is allowing the greatest opportunity to set things right sink into an abyss. The Democratic Party is allowing the Clinton campaign to throw it under the bus and the country along with it.
I no longer believe that Hillary Clinton holds the best interests of the party dear. In fact, I am no longer sure that she has the best interests of the country in mind. I think she has become like the proverbial horse with blinders on. She wants to be President and that's all she can see. I think that she has thrown all of her principles out the door while she has been throwing the kitchen sink at her opponent. I don't think it really has anything to do with Barack Obama. He is merely an obstacle in her path.
I am pleading with the leaders of the Democratic Party to talk some sense into her. Get her to see the damage she is doing here. I have no problem with her continuing to strive for the nomination. I have no problem if she wants to continue on until the convention. But what I do have a problem with is either candidate providing the Republicans with ammunition to sink our eventual nominee. They have enough, we don't have to give to them wrapped in a red ribbon and served on a silver tray.
I ask the leaders of the Democratic Party to ask both candidates to turn their sights to John McCain. He is the one they should be fighting, not each other. I can't think of a better way to show the remaining voters who will be the better candidate to beat McCain in November, than by doing it now. Let's see which candidate brings the best McCain Mash Up to the table.
America is clearly tired of politics as usual and political game playing, so please convince our candidates of that, and then let's move forward toward November without adding more bumps in our road than necessary.