The mud slinging, the name calling, the generalization, the stereotyping & petty bullshit name calling of BOTH Republicans & Democrats makes me sick.

It cuts down on junk mail too.

dumb_blonde:

The mud slinging, the name calling, the generalization, the stereotyping & petty bullshit name calling of BOTH Republicans & Democrats makes me sick.

I agree. I am seriously considering changing my affiliation. I am totally disenchanted by the three remaining candidates this two party system has produced.

It really irks me that

a) all three of the candidates surfaced from a worthless congress

b) one of the races has devolved into a racial/religious debate. (I'm not black and this problem has me so thoroughly vexed that unless it gets resolved quickly I am thinking of casting a cross-party vote just out of spite). None of these candidates has the guts to say, "Hey, race and religion are off the table- ever heard of EEO?"

c) This two party system has so thoroughly locked the wheels of progress that we are all suffering.

d) These three candidates are, RIGHT NOW, in positions to at least ATTEMPT to make an impact on the economy, the war in Iraq, border security etc. Instead of taking action, showing their leadership abillity and making an impact, they are running around telling us what they MIGHT do IF they get elected. In the mean time they're getting paid to legislate and are out there campaigning. Hillary has been at it for nearly 18 months now.

Oh lord I could go on forever.

DB - I got a hold of the April issue of Horticulture. Thanks for letting me know about it. I didn't know how easily Tilias hybridize- slutty trees that they are! I'm still trying to figure out if I have room for one in the back corner of the yard. We'll have to see how it all measures out once we get a swingset in a couple years.

I was registered Independent. For many of the reasons you and other posters describe.

I wanted to participate in the primary, and you MUST be affiliated to vote in any primary in my state. So I switched.

Now I've got to re-register Indy. Next primary, switch again, then switch back. I've been writing to my reps to try and get the regs changed in my state, but...it's doubtful.

My voter registry is nearby and the people are nice and understanding, thankfully.

Me too. Registered unenrolled here.

People get too hung up on categorizing people. I don't know all Republicans or Democrats, so I don't know who is or isn't a good person. All I know is whether I like or dislike people in my own life, and those results usually have NOTHING to do with politics!

...are you guys saying that you are required to state a party affiliation before you're allowed to go to the ballot box?

Sorry, but that strikes me as kind of...undemocratic. Whose bloody business is it which candidate I vote for? What the hell happened to the secret ballot, which is the only REAL way to hold a democratic election?

I'm afraid that if we become citizens and someone asks me what party I support, I'll have to tell them to go whistle for it. I have a long history of voting for my candidate, and party really doesn't come into that.

Some states require party registration to vote in the state primaries (e.g. only registered Democrats can vote in the Democrat primary). This is not required for general elections.

I like the sound of "go whistle for it".

Try to find one that it's max size will fit where you want it, the family is so large, I'll bet there is one to fit your needs.

The elms trees here do the same thing, they seed like crazy. One tree can produce several 100s of volunteers in one season.

I love that magazine & there is another one Garden gate that is really, really good.

then how do you know who to hate?

the world functions far more smoothly if we all pick a side and get on with hating everyone who doesn't believe exactly like us.

its when people listen to each other and make compromises that ideological purity is threatened.

the compromisers are worse than the guys in the "wrong" political party.

kill them all and let god sort them out - that's what the islamic terrorists say.

Yeah, but we get to hate both sides. Twice the hate, half the voting - that's my sort of math.

That way I get to mock them all and have no crisis of conscience at all. Trust me, it makes the whole labyrinthine process FAR more bearable if you can harangue the lot of them!

Oh how I wish you would learn that "if you are not part of the solution - you are part of the problem."

I know this is true because I saw it on a t-shirt and I really don't think they'd go to all that trouble to make t-shirts with lies on them, do you?