Centrist-Only Forum?

[Kirran]

There isn't just two views, and even within these two there are disagreements so why can't centrists have their own forums?

I don't identify as centrist but I vote yes, given there's enough demand for it. Maybe a trial run and if no one uses it then close it?

By that rule we'd abolish half the DIRs!

 

[Sunstone]

It will be a mess because "centrist" is such a nebulous term. I myself am largely centrist in the sense that my views eight or nine times out of ten align with the majority of Americans on key issue after key issue, in poll after poll, but the Fox-right labels me as "far left", and a socialist to boot! So it's going to be a mess to define centrist, but then that's why they pay us staph* the big bucks. So go ahead.





*Staff! Get it? Hahahaha! I kill myself!

 

[David1967]

What the heck is a centrist?

Someone who doesn't vote?

A 'centrist', AKA 'moderate' is someone who leans left on some issues, right on others ,but doesn't really fit comfortably in either. And BTW, I vote in every election.

 

[columbus]

I am against political DIRs in general.
I understand why Jewish people want a Jew only forum, etc etc.
But not political worldview as Religion forum.
Tom

 

[David1967]

I am against political DIRs in general.
I understand why Jewish people want a Jew only forum, etc etc.
But not political worldview as Religion forum.
Tom

You actually make a good point. With the nature of many of the topics, its easy to forget that the focus of the site is supposed to be "Religious" and not politics.

 

[sealchan]

I wouldn’t mind an Independent political forum since there are more of them than Dems and Rebubs but they could be liberal leaning or conservative leaning or even both so that’s a tough thing to decide who is who.

Yes I registered as an Independent the first time I register to vote as soon as I was age-eligible. I could tell immediately that I didn't want to align myself with either party.

 

[columbus]

Yes I registered as an Independent the first time I register to vote as soon as I was age-eligible. I could tell immediately that I didn't want to align myself with either party.

In my state you must register in a party in order to vote in the primary.
Registering feels too much like selling my soul, so I have never voted in a primary.
Tom

 

[Subduction Zone]

In my state you must register in a party in order to vote in the primary.
Registering feels too much like selling my soul, so I have never voted in a primary.
Tom

Washington state has open primaries. One can vote for whichever candidate they wish. One can vote for a Democratic house candidate and a Republican senate candidate. There is no need to register for a party, in fact I don't even know if one can. The down side is that the parties need to try to keep their members reined in a bit. If ten Democrats ran for a seat and only two Republicans then the odds are that one would see two Republicans facing off against each other in the finals. The two on the final ballot are the top two from the primaries, regardless of political party.

 

[David1967]

It will be a mess because "centrist" is such a nebulous term. I myself am largely centrist in the sense that my views eight or nine times out of ten align with the majority of Americans on key issue after key issue, in poll after poll, but the Fox-right labels me as "far left", and a socialist to boot! So it's going to be a mess to define centrist, but then that's why they pay us staph* the big bucks. So go ahead.





*Staff! Get it? Hahahaha! I kill myself!

It would be interesting to see what discussions would spring up there. I say, why not give it a try?

 

[sealchan]

In my state you must register in a party in order to vote in the primary.
Registering feels too much like selling my soul, so I have never voted in a primary.
Tom

No matter...if you do get to register for Independent you don't get to vote in the primary anyway.

I have sometimes wanted it to be the case that Independents could have a counter-vote for one person from any party in a primary election just so we could avoid any unnecessary nonsense in the general election.

 

[ADigitalArtist]

I sent identify as liberal left but in the US the establishment 'left' party is slightly right of center by many European standards. So I'm left of the left but centrist depending on who you're talking to.

 

[Subduction Zone]

No matter...if you do get to register for Independent you don't get to vote in the primary anyway.

I have sometimes wanted it to be the case that Independents could have a counter-vote for one person from any party in a primary election just so we could avoid any unnecessary nonsense in the general election.

You could always rally for a change. In our state we also have voter initiatives. Those are laws that can be put on the books by popular vote. I know that not every state has them. Parties are a bit loathe to lose power and they do not like the idea of a top two primary. I am pretty sure that our system was a voter initiative. If one passes in our state, and it is not shot down by legal battles, it is a state law for a least two years (I do believe a super majority can overturn them in the state houses). After that they can be changed or even removed by the legislature, but they rarely do so since they are a clear example of the voter's choice.

 

[David1967]

No matter...if you do get to register for Independent you don't get to vote in the primary anyway.

That is the way it is here in Oklahoma. I have friends who have switched parties so they can vote for a friend who is from another party. Its funny that the majority of people in Oklahoma are registered Democrats, but the state hasn't voted for a Democrat Presidential candidate since Carter. (Barrack Obama didn't win a single county in OK). And our state government is solidly Republican.

 

[sealchan]

That is the way it is here in Oklahoma. I have friends who have switched parties so they can vote for a friend who is from another party. Its funny that the majority of people in Oklahoma are registered Democrats, but the state hasn't voted for a Democrat Presidential candidate since Carter. (Barrack Obama didn't win a single county in OK). And our state government is solidly Republican.

Yes and that, to me, seems to be a problem with open primaries. People from opposing parties could "sabotage" the preferences of that party by voting for the candidate that they think is most likely to loose against the party candidate they want. That doesn't sound representative or fair.

That is why I think it might be more fair to allow one vote per position across all parties.

 

[Jainarayan]

*Staff! Get it? Hahahaha! I kill myself!

That was worthy of me.

 

[Subduction Zone]

Yes and that, to me, seems to be a problem with open primaries. People from opposing parties could "sabotage" the preferences of that party by voting for the candidate that they think is most likely to loose against the party candidate they want. That doesn't sound representative or fair.

That is why I think it might be more fair to allow one vote per position across all parties.

That does not seem to be a problem here. There are a couple of reasons. First it is a top two primary. One gets one vote to choose from all of the candidates. If a member from your own party does not get enough votes there could be two members of the opposing party. Voting for a member of the opposing party ends up being a two vote shift from your own candidate. It is simply too risky to do as in an organized attempt.

 

[Milton Platt]

We have conservative-only and liberal-only forum sections, but those of us who identify as neither and hold a mixture of conservative and liberal views don't have a centrist-only forum.

So, would you be interested in a centrist sub-forum or not?

Yeah, maybe. I mean, I think I qualify?????