Many complain that we should have more choices on the ballot. I see many choices. It is up to us as to what we do with them. I say we actually have seven different choices when we go from primary to general election. The primary breaks up the Democratic and Republican parties into divisions within giving us the seven choices. In a general federal election, our choices can be Democrat, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, or Green. Independent is not a party but is listed as such and is a choice. These are five different choices, although we know that if there is a Green candidate, it takes away from the Democratic candidate, and if we have a Libertarian candidate it takes away from the Republican candidate.
The Democratic Party believes in a women’s right to choose. Democrats believe in marriage for all. They believe in the separation of church and state as stated in the Constitution. They believe in regulations that keep corporations from taking advantage of the consumer in many ways, from pollution to scam advertising. They believe in free education. They believe that healthcare is a right not a privilege. They believe in asylum for immigrants and a fair course for citizenship. They believe in science and the truth. They believe we must give back to Mother Earth for all our abuse and solve the climate crisis. They believe in helping all states in the time of emergencies. Democrats believe in the bubble-up economy. This is when the worker is doing well and unions survive. They believe in gun control as well as the 2nd Amendment. They believe in a military but not aggression; they believe in diplomacy more than war. They believe in a police force without assault rifles. The Democrats started Social Security and continue to protect it. They initiated Medicare and Medicaid. There are three different left-leaning choices in the primary; Green Party, Corporate Democrat, or Progressive.
The Green Party claims they believe in everything that Democrats believe, but they put the environment first. My problem with the Green Party is that it doesn’t live up to it’s name. They haven’t done anything for the environment for a long time, and the only time they seem to have a candidate is when the Republicans want to the take votes away from the Democratic candidate.
The Corporate Democrat believes in the policies of the Democrats, but they like the corporate donations that help them get elected. Unfortunately, this gets in the way of what is best for their constituents. This is Sinema and Manchin.
What sets apart the Progressive Democrat is that they do not take money from corporations. They have to look to their constituents for donations. Once we get dirty money out of politics by changing the Supreme Court regarding, Citizens United, then we can set up better methods for campaigns. Progressives are the most ethical of all politicians. They follow the beliefs of the Democrats but realize the lobbyist control is overwhelming and that changes the politicians’ purpose to represent the people instead of the sponsor.
As mentioned earlier, under the Democratic Party, we have Corporate, Progressive and the Green Party. Those who identify with these will vote for a Democrat especially if there is no Green Party candidate. The Progressives are working to change the Corporate Democrats to Progressives. The Corporate Democrats, such as senators Manchin and Sinema, are not the only ones. As Democrats, it is our duty to check out our candidates and vote for the best ones. We make this choice in the primary. The Green Party rarely has a candidate and running is frowned on by Democrats, because a Green Party candidate will take votes away from the Democratic candidate often giving the election to the Republican. Republicans fear Progressives, because they want to take power away from billionaires and give it to the people. They try to claim Democrats are Communists. They say big government will take away our freedom, when the only freedom taken away is freedom from corporations to take advantage and pollute.
The Republican Party believes in a strong military and a strong police force. They believe in small government and want to privatize everything including Social Security, and President George W. Bush tried to do that when he was in office. Republicans created Citizens United, so that anyone should be able to contribute to an election without transparency. Because they push low taxes for everyone and no taxes for the rich, they need Citizens United to compete in elections.
Under the Republican Party, there are conservatives or the GOP (some would say this is the neo-liberal group), the trumpers, the Libertarians. All three follow the trickle-down economy. This has been around since Reagan introduced i,t and both Democrats and Republicans embraced it. Democrats have realized the trickle-down economy doesn’t work. The money stays at the top causing a great divide between the rich and poor. Republicans continue to support this economy that favors the rich and demonizes the poor. The Republicans also push small government which means eliminating regulations. They believe in deregulation so that corporations can thrive without any repercussions for pollution or poison. They want Christian values to thrive. This is ignoring the separation of church and state as laid out in the Constitution. Republicans like to have a very strong military. They want to stop immigration. They have not passed a bill that helps their constituents since Nixon.
Even though the trumpers are not all racist, the White supremacists are trumpers. trumpers believe only Trump. As he spews his lies on the election, they follow. It appears to be setting up a Fascist regime: Trump is their leader. They will privatize everything. They believe in small government. They are dominating the Republicans and the right-wing propaganda supports this. That is why it is growing. You have three major networks that are right-wing, OAN, NewsMax, and Fox as well as 1,500 right-wing talk show hosts who spew the lies of tRump and do not care about the truth. Or if they do, it is very biased. Since they offer nothing to the people, their whole agenda is about making the Democrats look like Communists and to take down, public schools and the post office. tRump’s presidency has destroyed many facets of federal departments. He didn’t destroy the EPA, but he butchered it, as he did with many departments except the military and the police. Q-anon is moving into the tRumpers and taking over. They believe lying conspiracies. They are hateful and express that they are ready for violence.
The old GOP still believes in democracy. They do see through many of the lies of the trumpers but continue to justify small government and trickle-down economy and low taxes. They support much of what the trumpers do but not the lies of the election that are bringing down democracy. They are ridiculed and harassed by trumpers as RINOs (Republicans In Name Only).
The Libertarian supports small government and trickle-down economy. These two policies are well-funded by billionaires and corporations. They favor deregulation, because it helps to take down the government in favor of profits for the corporations. They make sure they do not have to pay taxes. The Libertarian voter has been conned to believe this is freedom. They want to get rid of the war on drugs. Let all transgender and gays marry who they want. They are OK with immigrants seeking asylum unlike their other Republican counterparts. They do not believe in war. So they side with the Democrats on the social issues but not the economic issues. The party is highly supported by the billionaires. The Koch brothers superpac have been funding it since it started. A lot of money is spent to convince the intellectual Republican that this is the smart decision when it believes in basically no government. They differ from the Republicans in social and military issues and are insulted to be called Republican. They normally vote with the Republicans in Congress and at the polls but are more open to voting for a Democrat than the Republicans. With Citizens United still around, the billionaires can spend all the money they want on controlling the narrative. They would rather do this than pay their fair share of taxes. They advocate for low taxes for everyone and no taxes for the billionaire class.
The best way to pick your candidate is to see what element of your party they align with. Do some research and see if their beliefs align with yours. The primary has much importance here. Being an Independent enables you to pick and choose your policies, but it also can be wishy washy. As a politician, it can be a benefit but as a voter you are left out of the primaries. This eliminates some of your choices. As pointed out, there are different types of Democrats, and there are different types of Republicans. With the primary, I add up seven different choices.