Being independent allows issues to be at the forefront

Rina Factor/ Contributing Writer 

In today’s political atmosphere, Americans are divided across party lines. President Donald Trump is often described as divisive.

After his election, the party lines became even more deeply defined. It seems as if now more than ever before it is Democrat versus Republican.

Republicans are “evil,” and Democrats are “woke” — meaning they are socially conscious.

Independents lie across these lines. They are not loyal to any party.

Independents vote according to issues and candidates regardless of what party they belong to.

They can vote in general elections, but in order to vote in closed primaries, they must be registered in either the Republican or Democratic party.

Closed presidential primaries are held in the state of Florida, which excludes independent voters.

The closed primaries are a disadvantage in that you cannot vote for your presidential nominee, although you can still vote in the general elections.

When voting for who we think will best represent our country, there are many factors at hand.

It seems as if politics are defined as black and white, negative and positive.

But what happened to the gray areas?

Issues are complex. Today people often take a single video on Instagram or Facebook at face value
and come to a judgment without looking into the video’s context, source or angle of vision.

In order to be a good liberal, it seems that you have to agree one hundred percent with every liberal
sentiment otherwise you are not a “true liberal.”

However, when I register to vote it will be as an independent.

Because as an independent  I can vote for a candidate that I believe will impact our country for the better.

Whether I want to vote for a more conservative Democrat or a more liberal Republican, I can do so
after carefully examining what actions they will take in regards to issues that are important to me as a citizen of the U.S. and as a global citizen as well.

Voting as an independent is a remedy to this divisiveness that prevails in today’s politics.

It is a statement that one political party is not always right or that the other is always wrong.

The independent agenda is not to simply vote their party in, it is to vote for someone who will take
actions to make the country a better place.

DISCLAIMER:

The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.

Photo by Samuel Branch on Unsplash.