I am not known to be a major fan of the Scottish Rock group Stealers Wheel but upon watching this election season I found the above lyrics to be very apropos for us independents. I speak for a good portion of American society when I am very tired of both major political parties. We have two political parties that want to cater to their base political elements that are the loudest rather than shaking a commonsense approach to governing that independents would prefer.
The Democrats
The clowns to my left have given up on any commonsense policy by routinely catering to their most fringe elements. They have given up on any rationale policy on the border because it seems they want to allow millions of undocumented individuals into this country. I have no idea where Kamala Harris stands on any of this as her policy flip-flops depending on the day of the week. I suspect her true beliefs are to allow even more in with free healthcare, fully loaded credit cards, and meal vouchers.
If only more Democrats could take their cues from John Fetterman who is a progressive (though he disavows the label now) but like the average American sees catering to a fringe group of immigration extremists is not in the interest of the American public. However, most Democrats are too scared to call each other out on policies that they know to be outrageous. They prefer to put the interests of the party over the interests of the public. Even if I do not agree with Fetterman on every issue I have a lot of respect that he is not scared to go against the powers of his party and is one of the independents in his group.
I cannot in good conscience pull the lever for Kamala Harris when I believe she is just a more radical version of Joe Biden. From unchecked immigration to price controls in the grocery store reminiscent of the Soviet Union, these are policy failures that do not make sense. Where are the middle-of-the-road Democrats such as Bill Clinton or even Barack Obama (his 1st term)? As much as Republicans loved to hate on Bill Clinton in the 90s, he would be a moderate Republican in today’s age.
The Democrat party has turned into a caricature of its worst impulses and most obnoxious clowns. Why are AOC, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib the faces of the Democrat party when they should be Jared Golden, Henry Cuellar, Josh Gottheimer, and Josh Shapiro? A moderate common-sense Democratic party I believe is the party that can appeal to the majority of American independents.
Kamala Harris provided a great benefit to the Republican party by bypassing Josh Shapiro as her running mate and instead going with Tim Walz. This is a perfect example of her catering to the anti-Israel flank of the Democrat party and instead picking the less charismatic figure from a state of lesser importance. Shapiro would have handed her Pennsylvania and a greater chance of attaining the presidency. The democratic establishment and the media are trying to remake the image of Harris and Walz as being that of moderate democrats but I do not buy any of this and neither does most of the “middle”.
The Republicans
And here we arrive at the jokers to the right of me. If the Republicans put up a candidate that was even semi-likable they would be served this election on a silver platter. Instead, we get a rehashing of Donald Trump’s pet peeves of the last four years. The American independents are tired of hearing about a supposed stolen election, we want to know what you will do for us now. Nor do we need to hear insults about Harris and Walz we’ve been here and done that for the past eight years. Can the Republicans just get back to common-sense policies without all the baggage that Trump brings.
Just like we’re tired of seeing Ilhan Omar and AOC on our televisions we’re also tired of seeing loudmouth Marjorie Taylor Greene and Frankenstein head Matt Gaetz. The Republican party needs to send MTG back to her fitness studio where she came from and send the son of Frankenstein back to the Florida swamp. All these politicians attempt to do is create a name for themselves while not giving a damn about the American people.
In terms of policies, the Republicans need to distance themselves from those who wish to outlaw abortion. It’s a losing issue in poll after poll and nowhere can this be better seen than in the red wave that never was in 2022. Overturning Roe v. Wade a few months before the midterm elections was one of the dumbest things Republicans could have done no matter where you stand on the issue. All it did was breathe life into the Democratic base and bring them out to vote while alienating a lot of independents like myself into staying home.
I’m not sure if I want to vote for a Republican party that will refuse to protect a woman’s right to choose. I am not advocating for the extreme positions of some Democrats but for a common-sense middle-ground up to a certain agreed-upon time. You may argue but I’m pro-life no matter what. That may all be very well and good but it’s a completely losing issue so if you want the other 90% of your platform to be enacted it’s best to move beyond any complete abortion ban.
Also, while the media has greatly sensationalized certain things regarding January 6th, it is difficult to vote for someone who cannot resign themselves to the fact they lost an election. I won’t say that Trump definitively fomented an insurrection but I will say he comes off as looking like a childish sore loser. Yes, the Democrats have Stacy Abrams of which I would say the same about her but she is not running for president. There was no actual shred of evidence that showed the election was rigged despite months of Trump casting doubt on the election results.
Trump was clearly trying to undermine the integrity of our elections and this makes it very difficult for independents to vote for him even if I was to agree with more of his agenda than Harris/Walz. The better argument Trump should have made was that the election was indeed rigged but not by the states but by Facebook, Google, the intelligence establishment, and the media. This would have been a far more effective argument. While his election-rigging claims may have resonated with his base it turned off independents.
Takeaways
I find it hard to vote for either candidate in this election and many independents feel the same way. You have Kamala Harris who was so unpopular that in 2016 even though she was the anointed candidate she failed to make it to Iowa. Then you have Donald Trump who is so unlikeable he lost to an infirm Joe Biden and bleeds support from the middle independents.
I am not sure if I will be able to vote for anyone in the Presidential race. Who are my third-party options? Jill Stein, that’s a big helllll nooooo. RFK Jr maybe but he’s out now anyway so that’s irrelevant. Cornel West? No chance. Chase Oliver the libertarian? I’m not a libertarian but I’d have to read about him more.
Why do we seem to get stuck with the worst possible choices every four years? Is it that in an extremely polarized atmosphere, the primary process gives way to cater to the most extreme elements in both parties’ wings? Joe Biden was supposed to be a moderate candidate though he did not govern like one.
Regardless, come this November Independents will have a difficult decision. Do us independents suck it up and vote for Trump because regardless of his personality flaws we think his platform is slightly better. Or do we vote for Harris because at least she’s not Trump? Independents will have some important decisions to make and will be the ones that will likely swing this election come November. With clowns to the left of me and Jokers to the right, we truly are stuck in the middle.
Are you one of the independents or are you a tried and true Democrat/Republican. Do you think your parties should cater more towards independents? Let us know in the comments below.
Also, check out our article critiquing Trump’s VP Pick here.
