Nov 3 - Independents’ Day?

[Hunting Wife]

Agree with this, provided they’re actually independent vs “party-adjacent.” 5 earnest Independents would serve to keep both parties quite a bit less crazy if they wanted to get anything done.

But what is “party-adjacent”? On virtually every issue there are really only a limited number of positions to take. Every position is going to align with some party. I see a lot of people going through a lot of mental gymnastics to use one position on one issue with even a slight overlap to slap either a D or an R on folks running as independent. That seems dumb.

Bodnar is pro 2A, therefore he’s a Republican.

Neither here nor there, the suite of positions he has on issues is much more closely aligned with how I feel about things than either party. I’m excited to be able to vote for someone I actually want this time, rather than who would be “least bad”. I wish more people would shake off the third party stigma that both major parties are highly invested in keeping in place, and give them both the bird in the voting booth.

 

[Treeshark]

Every position is going to align with some party.

As an example: if a candidate aligns with a particular party on 90%+ of the issues, I would classify that as someone who is party adjacent.

 

[Treeshark]

Bodnar is pro 2A, therefore he’s a Republican.

Or a Democrat who hunts, saw an opportunity, and took it

I don’t know enough about him to have an opinion, my commentary was meant more broadly that true Independents are beneficial for Congress as a whole (and that not every Independent is equally valuable in this regard).

 

[Gulf of America]

As an example: if a candidate aligns with a particular party on 90%+ of the issues, I would classify that as someone who is party adjacent.

What is actual party alignment on issues anymore though? Other than 2A and abortion, it seems pretty murky to me. Government owning shares in private companies? Woulda said democrat a few years ago, but it's only happening under republican trifecta. Payments to people to ease economic hardship, same story. Fighting against unreasonable search and seizure, woulda said probably R a couple years ago but now it's a rally cry of the left. I think "party alignment" is whatever the cult leader says. It's easier to figure out on the R side because they have a leader, the dem message is incoherent because they don't.

 

[Treeshark]

It's easier to figure out on the R side because they have a leader, the dem message is incoherent because they don't.

That’s an interesting observation, I tend to agree.

The way it seems to go now is one party will adopt an issue, at which point the opposing parties default position automatically becomes the opposite.

Strange things, too…for example, how did the WNBA become a hill that both parties are so willing to defend? Strange times, and evidence that a little independent disruption to the current norm is just what this country needs right now.