The Lesser of Two Evils is Still Evil- The Imperative of the Independent

It’s been a long road to post-Presidential Debate 2012. A hard and grueling road filled with a scathing, dirty, and bloody tone—first internally in the Republican Party and then between the Democratic and Republican candidates for the Oval Office. The last month has been especially tumultuous with the public ready to tear apart every noun and adjective spewing from the major candidates mouths; splitting hairs, twisting contexts, and fact checking to the hundredth degree of incredible scrutiny. With the vetting complete and everything left to the stumps and pundits, the majority of the electorate has little left to do but reflect on the rhetoric and grandstanding and make their choice in the polls.

As such, I’ve taken quiet pause to consider everything that has been transpiring in the public arena in the name of taking the reigns of our nation and attempting to pull us into the stratosphere (or drag us through the mire). I’ve always been accused of being Democrat at the dinner table by my sires, peers, and elders and continually I’ve had to correct them that I am a registered Independent who happens to be mostly liberal. I’ve been a registered Independent since I specified in the lobby of the NAC building at City College of New York six months after I turned 18. It’s a particular piece of my political viewpoint that I wear like a badge—whereas I know I am sacrificing my primary vote I also am spared the presumed allegiance and inevitable sensation of betrayal in crossing party lines. This election is my 10^th overall and third presidential election in which I have been eligible to vote—and though I make sure to do my civic duty annually there is an especial priority to a Presidential year, so I make the extra effort to be doubly politically aware by the time the polls open. In this cycle I’ve fallen into some particular traps and lines of thinking that have caused me to recently take a step back and reevaluate my positions.