Most of the electorate is set. They vote 95% plus for one side or the other. Many may call themselves independent, but they're really not.
I call myself an Independent Progressive, but in reality, I align now with the Democrats. If ever there is a Republican more progressive than the Democrat, I'll seriously give them a look-see. But in today's bitterly divided politics, I'm more likely to see a unicorn in my backyard.
Many other Independents are actually conservatives who, for whatever reason, shun formally attaching themself to the Republican label. A lot of Trumpeteers are Trump first, party and country second. Nevertheless, they will always vote Republican.
Yet, there are a small number of independents, enough that most of our closer elections are determined by them. You know, the type of person that voted for Obama and then somehow rollercoastered to Trump (that's just one example).
Yes, there may be a few independents that genuinely research and think critically each election. But the majority are simply people who pay little attention to politics and go by their gut each election.
So, what are these true independents thinking this year?
Meet Mortimer Snerd. Mortimer, please take the rest of this column.
Hi. Morty here. What an election year this is!
Anyhoo...
Yeah, I think climate change is real, more or less. And we probably should be doing more about it.
That Rowing Wade thing overturned? Yeah, that's pretty bad. Maybe abortion ain't the best, but no exceptions? C'mon! That ain't right. A pregnant 10-year-old that's been raped having to go out of state to get an abortion? Ridiculous. The whole Supreme Court thing has gone wacko. What's next? Gay marriage? Interracial marriage? I hear they may even restrict contraceptives!
And it would be nice if the minimum wage were to go up. Of course, I get paid more than that, but I don't know how others survive on $7.25 an hour. It's been stuck there a long time. And maybe raising it will goose everybody's wages some.
Look, yeah, parents need to be involved in their children's education, but Good God! Slavery was real and evil, and the country hasn't been perfect, and we need to teach about the truth, warts and all.
And can we stop talking about the last damn election? Whining about it just makes you look like a poor loser. Overall, I like democracy, and some of the voter suppression efforts of the Republicans make me nervous. And the Covid response? What a mess. Y'all should have just worn a mask and taken the vaccine. I lost some people close to me, and it makes me mad that some of you could not take it seriously.
And, geez Louise, gun violence is wrecking this country. So what's wrong with a couple of common sense measures? How about some background checks? And weapons that are the equivalent of machine guns? You don't need a gun that shoots hundreds of rounds a minute to hunt deer or even self-defense.
And, yeah, we should be supporting Ukraine. We got to draw the line on this Putin dude, or we're gonna wind up with half of Europe swallowed. Does nobody remember how appeasing Hitler worked? Not so hot.
And taxing the rich more is not the worst idea in the world. I hear that some billionaires pay less proportionally than their janitors, and that doesn't seem right. No one wants to see the rich persecuted for being rich. But, good golly, can't they just pay their fair share?
And our healthcare system is a mess. How do people afford the drugs they need, like insulin? It would be good to cover more people less expensively. Even Obamacare turned out to be not so bad. So, maybe some form of universal healthcare would be...
WAIT! WHAT?!? I HAVE TO PAY HOW MUCH FOR GAS? AND MY GROCERIES ARE GOING UP?
That does it.
I'm voting Republican.
Back to me again.
Yep. That's right. I fear some independent voters will chuck all their other concerns out the window and vote based on gas and grocery prices. And, in the back of some of their minds, they must know that a President has little control over oil market prices or the worldwide inflation that's occurring due to pandemic recovery, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and corporate exploitation.
It doesn't matter.
The gut does what the gut does.
The future of democracy be damned.
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