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Citizen Voices is a blog about election politics, written by people like you. Six San Diegans give their personal take on the issues, candidates and propositions.
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A funny thing happened on the way to the polling booth in San Diego County. People got lost. I don’t mean they couldn’t find their polling place, although that happened a lot, too. They couldn’t find their political party.
Sure, most everyone had registered to vote under the patriotic flag of their choice, but many I talked to were feeling disenfranchised by their party and wondering where they really belonged.
People are describing themselves as a mixture of parties these days, saying something like “I’m fiscally conservative, but socially liberal.” So does that describe an elephant or a donkey or some new creature? What do you get when you mix blue states and red states? You get purple. It seems a new purple voter is emerging. A lot of people I talked with on election day expressed frustration with their party and wanted to know how to change their official voter registration card. America is clamoring for change and voters are beginning with whom they want to align themselves.
Some Republicans, for example, claim that John McCain is really a Democrat in disguise. Has the party left the voters or is it the other way around?
During my training as a poll worker we were told how San Diegans break down by registered political party: 40% Republican, 34% Democratic, and 26% “other or no party.”
I met quite a few of those “others” on Super Tuesday. What was particularly interesting were the conversations I had with people registered as “Independent.” When I handed Independents their designated ballot they would sheepishly return from the booth with a confused look on their face and ask “Who are these people on my ballot?” I had to explain to them that they were the candidates for the American Independent Party, the California affiliate of the Constitution party, the party they had actually registered with. The voters were shocked and had so registered mistakenly believing that they had registered as an “independent.”
Wikipedia says the definition of an independent voter is controversial and fraught with problems. The earliest concept of the independent was one whose political choices, by definition, was based on issues and candidates (since the voter did not have a party affiliation). But early studies of voting behavior conclusively demonstrated that self-identified independent voters were less interested in specific elections than partisan voters, poorly informed about issues and candidates, and less active politically.
In fact, a contrary view emerged: The independent usually voted on the basis of deeply ingrained beliefs, attitudes and loyalties, and was more like the strongly partisan voter than any other voter.
A recent study by the Public Policy Institute of California reveals a large increase in Latino independent voters, according to Spanish-language La Opinión. Is San Diego turning purple? Just for fun, I thought we could do a little poll among KPBS blog readers to find out what color you are. There are only three short questions. I’ll give you the results next week.
-Trina Boice is an author and mother of four who lives in Carlsbad.
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Assuming you’re right (and I think you are) about the problems Californians have identifying with the two major parties, do you think the correction is toward a non-partisan process, like San Diego tries to do with local offices, or a more vibrant multi-party system (red, blue, green, pink, etc)?
Chuck from Escondido, CAFebruary 21, 2008 at 10:50 am
Good question! I’d love to hear what everyone thinks about that. A rainbow would be nice, if each color really did have a fair shot at the candidacy. Right now the candidates of only the 2 largest parties are considered viable by most. Do they really represent the majority of Americans? Would too many colors make everything more complicated? Are the other parties just fringe groups representing a few non-conformists or will it simply take more time for the others to build momentum and actually have a seat at the table?
Trina from CarlsbadFebruary 21, 2008 at 11:19 am
McCain is no Democrat.. I’m guessing somewhere in the strategy rooms someone wants to lure Democrats that don’t want to vote for a black man or a woman to their candidate.. Sure.. he’s beats another 4 with Bush.. but anything would do that.
A Multi-party system would be great.. but it ain’t happenin.. the last few presidential elections have shown that a vote for a “third” party is basically a vote not had by a Democrat thus.. a vote for the Republican…
Make your voting statements for a third party before the election.. by all means!! But when it’s time to pull the lever, I suggest picking one of the two that will do least harm to your ideals..
The Green Party shot themselves in the foot by letting “W” get another 4.. Nader should have told his supporters to vote Dem…
Only 333 days left until someone new is sworn in…
Oh.. and I guess I’m an “other” for your pole.. I do have a party.. Yes they support many of my views.. No they haven’t shifted course.. they just aren’t a perfect fit…
Maybe that’s it… the Republican and Democratic parties fit like old clothes.. they aren’t perfect.. but we feel comfortable in them… the other parties fit like new clothes.. the look good on the surface.. but they bug us with the creases and tags..
Dave from OceansideFebruary 21, 2008 at 11:38 am
Trina
Excellent blog. It covers many issues I dealt with as an officer for my voting precinct and also as a poll worker. Your points aren’t new issues, but they are coming into media attention more frequently this year. I personally feel like both the Democratic and Republican parties make themselves “sound” too much the same - when really their charters and standards are quite different.
I totally agree with the statement that on voting day, you need to vote for the “person” you think will do the least amount of damage to the country. Since Romney dropped out, I’m really not thrilled with the choices left.
Danyelle Ferguson from KansasFebruary 21, 2008 at 8:13 pm
I don’t think your survey results will be meaningful. Your second question misses what I think is turning people purple: in an effort to get people out to vote, both parties are playing to their edges. This leaves centrists choosing a party because they dislike the other more.
Keith from La JollaFebruary 24, 2008 at 8:15 am