Broken two路party system fuels switch to Independent
Like many good people disgusted with the current state of polities, where Democrats tilt too far to the left and Republicans tilt too far to the right, I made a decision this week to seek the middle ground by switching my voter registration to Independent.
As a lifelong Democrat, this was not a decision made lightly. But as someone with firsthand knowledge of how fractured the system has become — on the national, state and even local levels — I decided to join those who believe they’ve been abandoned by the major political parties.
On one side, we have a party that’s gone too liberal, to the point of having avowed socialists in its ranks who want to spend big to give out something for nothing. On the other side, we have a party that’s gone too conservative, to the point of favoring big corporations at each and every turn while screwing over the working person.
I don’t like Nancy Pelosi any more than I like Mitch McConnell. They each have a “winner-take-all” mentality and the word “compromise” isn’t in their dictionary. As someone who sits in the middle between these two extremes, their approaches sicken me, because it means nothing gets done for the common good anymore.
I battled this “party-first” mentality many times during my time in Harrisburg as a state representative, to the point of being punished by my own party for refusing to carry out the governor’s agenda. That type of pressure is exerted on the Republican side, as well. Over the course of a decade, I witnessed moderates like me, from both parties, become fewer and fewer in number.
For years now, those of us who wished to work with the other side of the aisle in the spirit of cooperation have risked consternation and alienation from members of our own parties. In the current climate, it is increasingly difficult, if not downright impossible to vote your values and conscience from a middle-of-the-road position without incurring some sort of wrath from the radical fringes.
That’s why, after much soul-searching and deliberation, I decided to become Independent. It was the best alternative.
The party I grew up in has been taken over by the far left, which promotes an agenda that is too anti-gun, pro-abortion and pro-illegal immigration for my tastes. The other party is too anti-labor, pro-rich people and pro-big corporation to earn my support.
As a card-carrying union member who knows what it’s like to work in a coal mine and who believes in fair wages and organized labor, but who doesn’t favor government regulations that strangle businesses and who opposes trade policies that outsource our good-paying jobs, the only real choice was to try to rebuild our political middle as an Independent.
Fayette County is not immune from the political dynamic that plagues Washington, D.C., and Harrisburg. Both parties are fragmented and are too often unwilling to cooperate for the betterment of the community. The ugly side of politics has taken over, with winning at all costs the chief goal, and we see the results: declining population, lack of real economic opportunity, high rates of crime and poverty-related social problems, and a drug addiction problem of epic scale.
I’ve come to the conclusion that the best way to rebuild Fayette County is to move to the middle ground, where most people either are or would like to be. If you feel as I do, I hope to see you camped out in the middle ground, too.
Timothy S. Mahoney resides in South Union Township and is a former Fayette County jury commissioner and state representative.