THE INDEPENDENT VOTER MYTH

THE INDEPENDENT VOTER MYTH

By:  Mike Foil

 

I’m afraid we have done it again.  The Left has been allowed to define the “independent voter” group and the Republicans have bought it; hook, line and sinker.  For some reason, it is commonly accepted that the “independent voter” is to be found somewhere between the Republican and Democrat platforms.

Every two years, during the campaigns, we see Republicans running as conservatives during the primary elections and then moving to the left for the general election.  Their explanation is always that they have to run more “moderate” or “to the center” in order to get the votes of the “independent voters”. 

The Democrats are constantly reminding the Republicans (out of the goodness of their hearts) that they better abandon the “right wing” policies or they will never win the much needed independent voter group. 

So, where is that middle gap between the parties?  The Democrat Party has gone to the far left and the Republican Party has gone to the left, filling in the space vacated by the Democrats.  Sure, not all Democrats are far left, but their party is.  Not all Republicans are middle-of-the road, or moderates, but their party is.

The Democrat Party is controlled by hard-core Liberal/Socialists.  The Republican Party is controlled by soft-core Liberals.  There is not a big gap between the parties.  It is a myth that the “independent voter” will be won by the Republicans acting like the right wing of the Democrat Party. 

By using the term, “independent voter”, I am not just referring to those registered as “Independents”; but to many of the voters who align themselves with neither, major party.  The last time the Republicans ran an honest conservative, who was able to articulate the conservative platform, was Ronald Reagan.  If you remember, he won by a landslide.  We have not had a major victory like that since then and we continue to repeat the same process of nominating one moderate after another.  The Republican Party leadership keeps telling us the same thing the Democrats tell us, that a conservative cannot win a presidential election.  Since history tells us otherwise, maybe the two voices which act in unison have the same agenda.

When I hear people like Sean Hannity leave the Republican Party and register as a Conservative and Mark Levin saying that he is tempted to leave the Republican Party if they blow this election and become an Independent, I realize that the non-Republican and non-Democrat voters are more than likely found to the right of the Republican Party than to the left. 

The hard-core socialists have a party.  The soft-core socialists have a party.  It is the voter who is traditionally conservative that has no home.  I believe that Republicans would fare much better in general elections by standing up as strong and proud conservatives. 

Not every Latino, not every woman, not every black and not every gay has a personal agenda that aligns with Socialism.  These “target” groups are made up of individual, free-thinking people.  Many of them come from traditional backgrounds and are looking for opportunity and freedom, not dependency. 

The “independent voter”, at least those who are engaged and care about the future of this country and their families, is more likely to be found to the right of the Republicans.  Those who are not interested are not the group who will be voting in any large numbers to begin with.