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The Independent Voter
by David E. Meadows , 2005

ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED AT MILITARY.COM, March 21, 2007

We have a third party in the United States that voted overwhelmingly in the recent election that gave the Democrats an opportunity to run Congress for a while.

That third party is the independent voter. Independents are for the most part moderates. They are the heart of our country. Neither pegged to the right as most perceive Republicans to be nor pegged to the left as Democrats are perceived.

The recent election was about putting moderates into office. Look at Sestak’s victory over Curt Weldon in Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District. Weldon was a right-wing candidate who lost to a first-time runner who just happened to have recently retired as a Vice Admiral. Shows two things. The American voter votes for moderation when given the opportunity. The American voter wants someone who is honest; who they can trust; and who has integrity. Okay-okay; so, it’s more than two things. Oh, and it shows they have great respect for the character traits associated with someone who has sacrificed his or her life to our nation by wearing the uniform of a military member.

The Republicans are going to have a rough time in the upcoming election unless Iraq is fixed. They are hurt daily by recent revelations such as the abuse of the Patriot Act; the political firings of Federal Prosecutors; and, the perjury conviction of Scooter Libby. Nothing moderate in any of those things.

The winner of the upcoming Presidential election will not be the one who slams his or her fist down on the proverbial table demanding a pull-out of the troops.

Duh! Who doesn’t want them to come home? Anyone who has been to war wants the troops to come home. But, moderate Americans also know that as much as they mistrust the administration that caused this war, they know to leave Iraq without a stable government means the war will reach our own shores sooner. They just lack confidence in this administration in leading that victory.

We have had our taste of left-wing liberalism in the White House and now we are experiencing the right-wing neo-cons. Both should scare the pants off everyone in America.

Under Jimmy Carter the military was the bankroll of administrative policies. We had runaway inflation. His foreign policies and liberal policies supported the overthrow of the Shah and gave it to the Ayatollahs. Then, he and America were humiliated by the Iran he forged. The same Iran we have today.

Under George W. Bush, we have seen an administration that rose magnificently after 9/11, took out Afghanistan, and gave focus to the American people. Then, it went awry with its invasion of Iraq and attempt to stifle individual rights within America; even as it has been unable to stop rampant illegal immigration.

The American independent voter is neither left-wing nor right-wing. They love their country as members of both parties do. They go to work everyday, work moderate jobs, and bring home average pay. They go to church, but are smart enough not to believe every word emanating from the pulpit. They raise families with goals of improving their children’s lives. They want to trust their government. They want a government that is honest and fair, living up to the ideals that have made America great, and they want security at home.

Local politics used to be more important to the average American than State. State politics were more important than Federal and few paid attention to what was going on in the rest of the world.

Since 9/11 the moderate voter has become more familiar with the Global politics of the world. The Iraqi War has shown vividly to them the dangers of losing it and has revealed the dangers to freedom within our own nation.

This is not to say the independent voter is completely unbiased toward one party or the other. Most independents lean toward one of the two major parties. The evidence of them failing to join one or the other major parties show neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have a platform that enthuses the average American voter enough to join. Leaning is not the same as joining.

Right now, both parties are concentrating on ramping up their base, raising money, and putting spins on their stories that will keep the liberal base of the Democrats and the religious right of the Republicans happy.

The winner of the next Presidential election will not be someone perceived to be a left-wing Democrat or a right-wing Republican. It will be the candidate who is able to convince the vast majority of independent American voters that he or she is truly a moderate ‘middle-of-the-road’ American. The American people want someone they can trust. Someone with honesty and integrity.

Most American voters doubt finding someone with those attributes within the beltway of America and as they have discovered, just being a governor does not make you a good President.

David E. Meadows / SixthFleet.Com David E. Meadows Washington D.C. E-Mail readermail@SixthFleet.Com