I've pulled the stats on my own district and seen the polls. I know that a significant fraction of the American electorate is registered as "Independent". I know that some of you did this to protest the status quo of the establishment. I appreciate that you registered to vote, and I certainly hope you do, because only 50% of my district turned out to vote in 2008. I know you like to think of yourself as an independent thinker. I think it might be unwise to register as such.
In 2008, we faced an election between a back-bench, tax-and-spend nobody who crawled out of the woodwork and a mush-mouthed relic of a bygone era (no offense to Commander McCain). That is because of how the primary system works. Primaries exclude independents, and as a consequence few of them show up to the primary. Just because you are registered in a party does not mean you cannot pick and choose candidates yourself.
Unless you intend to actually vote for the Libertarian, Green, Independent American, or other third party, being registered as an Independent robs you of your franchise. If you eventually vote for the DEM or GOP candidate, as an Independent, you didn't even get to pick from the primary candidates the one you like most. You get stuck with what the people who register as party members, who are mostly members of the establishment's GOBNet and prefer the status quo, picked, who is usually someone you don't like as much as others.
The GOP presidential field is full of interesting characters. The problem is that if you intend to vote against Barack Obama next November, unless you register as a GOPer and vote in the primary, you will get saddled with whomever the establishment of country club RINOs puts up. Odds are at this point that Romney will be their guy, he having highest name recognition and funds raised thus far, and Romney thinks we should cooperate with Obama and praise him for his accomplishments and passed Romneycare. How different are they really?
During the 2008 election, a lot of people were upset their guy didn't get nominated. McCain was my absolute last choice from the GOP. This slieu of Independent registrations might be at least partially responsible for why so many of us are "voting against the other guy" instead of voting for the guy we like the most. In a previous post, I talked about how important it is to get behind the right candidate.
Get behind the candidate who best understands and supports the principles of the Revolution and Convention. I'm not talking about the person whom you like the most or who 'has the best chance to win' or who sounds good, looks good on TV, or with whom you agree most. Find the candidate who is most like the Founders and back him with everything you have. Maybe that's not you, and maybe your choices aren't between Jefferson, Washington, and Adams, but if they're a lot better than a Statist or an Obamist, then they're much better than we have today. Upgrade whenever you can. Hold your ground when you get there.
That's not just because it's important as we choose a president in 2012, but also because there are many Senate seats up this time that were protected in 2010 and because every Congressman is up, including, especially in Nevada, some seats without incumbents as they scramble to take the Senate seat Ensign vacated earlier this year.
If you are an independent, consider registering into a major party. What this will do is allow you to affect in a positive way the real choices available in November 2012. Especially if you intend to choose a major party candidate, this will allow you to help pick in the primary the candidate you like most going forward and maybe allow you to vote FOR someone for a change in November.
There is a danger that some independents may skew the election. They do precisely that in the early primaries in New Hampshire. That's why in 2008 it came down to Romney v. McCain for the GOP, because they are hardly the kind most members of the GOP (and now Tea Party) pick if given preference. Right now, good people who 'hold themselves aloof' from the establishment allow other people to manipulate the election because they leave the primaries up to establishment status quo mentality which prefers that things remain as they are in perpetuity.
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