General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Attention Liberals & Independants [View all]FakeNoose
(32,599 posts)Actually for most of my life because I grew up in the midwest in a proudly Republican-voting family. I thought Eisenhower was a pretty good president and I believed for quite some time that eventually there might be a Republican candidate that I'd want to vote for. But you know what? There never was one that I ever voted for, ever. Since I became old enough to vote in 1972 I've never voted for a Republican for President, and I don't believe I ever voted for a GOP senator or representative. (I did vote for Nelson Rockefeller for NY Governor and I probably would have voted for him for President if he'd had the chance to run.)
OK so my point is, I finally joined the Democratic Party in 2008 when I realized that I'll probably never vote Republican, ever in my lifetime. But I really wanted to support Hillary in the primary, and I could only do that if I became a party member. Being independent (not affiliated with either party) doesn't change how you vote, and it doesn't change how your vote counts. You can be a registered Democrat and still vote for Trump, if that's who you want to vote for. But being independent does mean that you can't vote in the primary to select the best candidates for each office, in most states.
When I came to that realization it was a no-brainer for me, and I joined the Democratic Party without a qualm.