independents

A Different View: Watching the Debate with Local Republicans

Monday, September 29th, 2008

photo by Tricia Romano

While millions of Americans tuned in to watch senators John McCain and Barack Obama face off in their first presidential debate, I headed to a neat little apartment in Marina Del Rey to see how the local Republicans reacted to the debate.

It probably wasn’t your typical Republican debate watch party. For one, the host, Carol Schleicher, is more of an independent than a hard-line Republican and she insisted that she never votes the party ticket. Rather, she and her husband, Richard Schleicher, had only recently registered Republican after years voting as an independent. She said she didn’t grow up thinking about which party to join. “That’s poppycock,” she told me after the party, adding that she had always thought it was silly to take sides. But Schleicher’s husband has a son in the military who has been in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and she said that has at least had an influence on their views of foreign policy and national security.

But the party was also somewhat atypical because it was a first for Schleicher and for many of her guests, and because she had opened her doors to visitors of all political persuasions.

“I don’t know many Republicans. I just threw this party figuring they’d come out of the wood works,” she said.

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Up close: Why Ron Paul?

Tuesday, February 5th, 2008

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“I’ve always hated the small government mentality— that whole, not being concerned for the welfare of the citizen, but then I heard about Ron Paul,” Max Isaacs said.

Born in South Korea, 19-year-old Max was adopted by an American couple as a five-month-old. He grew up in Goshen, New York, and attended New Paltz for one semester before transferring to Purchase College. It was during his fall semester at Paltz that his ideals— or at least the way they manifested themselves— changed.

“I was at a meeting for Sensible Drug Policy and I started talking to this student. We both hated bureaucracy. We also agreed that the only way to reform government is to limit it. It’s reached an unsustainable point,” he began. “This country’s a billion dollars in debt because of a war we shouldn’t even be fighting, the dollar’s weak, our social security plan’s not working and we owe China so much money,” he continued. “We need to reevaluate our approach to government.”

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That swing (vote)

Sunday, February 3rd, 2008

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If you’re a registered independent in California, leaning left in this 2008 Presidential election, but feeling left out of the super-hyped Super Tuesday festivities, this post is for you. Come to the polls Tuesday because… you can vote! In 2004, Democrats changed the rules to allow independents to participate in their party’s presidential primary. That’s good news for the state’s fastest growing group of registered voters. Independents get to partake in the Clinton/Obama rumble. (But you can’t weigh in on McCain/Romney/Huckabee because the Republican party allows only their own party to vote for their candidates.)

Of course, this leaves a lot of us playing the guessing game because no one really knows which Democratic candidate you independents will support. But with the political scene charged up to an intensity I’ve never witnessed before in my short politically active life, enjoy being courted to no end.

This is how to play. First, make sure you are registered as an independent. In other words, if you checked “decline to state” on your registration form, you’re good to go— you’re officially an independent. Next, when you get to the polling station, you have to ASK for a Democratic ballot. Fail to do this and you’re automatically handed a nonpartisan ballot. Now here’s the hard part: choose the best candidate. That’s it. Make history, you independent, you.