How could anyone feel "at home" with either of the two political parties over the last several decades? Given even a small amount of independent thought, it is inevitable that an individual will disagree with at least some of a party's platform.
I think the better path for most is to stop treating political party affiliation as a mark of meaningful identity, vote for the least-bad candidates, and get involved in local efforts to improve our communities.
I agree that people shouldn’t attach their identity to a party, but I also think it’s human nature to do it. But I also think parties are inevitable to get things done in our republic. It’s necessary to coordinate so many offices and veto points that parties are inevitable. It’s what our Founders who hated parties discovered when they created them.
Agreed that parties are necessary for our version of the political machine to work. But the idea of being politically homeless means that at some point, a person believed that a party was their home. Which is crazy in general, and even moreso over the last decade plus as we lose actual cultural identifiers and get sucked further and further into our phones. Wearing a MAGA hat has little/nothing to do with supporting Republican policies, the majority of which run against the interests of the middle and lower classes. It is an identity statement. The left has the same version of identity politics ("In this house we believe..."). Which is a long way of saying it is good to recognize that most thoughtful voters should consider themselves politically homeless. Once you are there, you pick the least bad candidates and then take responsibility for creating change.
I think in 1980 when the battle lines were clear and people knew what they were supporting, picking a team to get those ideas advanced made some sense. I completely agree that to do so today is crazy and everyone should be on team homeless. The only thing standing in the way is emotional attachments to brands that no longer mean what they once did, if they stand for anything.
How could anyone feel "at home" with either of the two political parties over the last several decades? Given even a small amount of independent thought, it is inevitable that an individual will disagree with at least some of a party's platform.
I think the better path for most is to stop treating political party affiliation as a mark of meaningful identity, vote for the least-bad candidates, and get involved in local efforts to improve our communities.
I agree that people shouldn’t attach their identity to a party, but I also think it’s human nature to do it. But I also think parties are inevitable to get things done in our republic. It’s necessary to coordinate so many offices and veto points that parties are inevitable. It’s what our Founders who hated parties discovered when they created them.
Agreed that parties are necessary for our version of the political machine to work. But the idea of being politically homeless means that at some point, a person believed that a party was their home. Which is crazy in general, and even moreso over the last decade plus as we lose actual cultural identifiers and get sucked further and further into our phones. Wearing a MAGA hat has little/nothing to do with supporting Republican policies, the majority of which run against the interests of the middle and lower classes. It is an identity statement. The left has the same version of identity politics ("In this house we believe..."). Which is a long way of saying it is good to recognize that most thoughtful voters should consider themselves politically homeless. Once you are there, you pick the least bad candidates and then take responsibility for creating change.
I think in 1980 when the battle lines were clear and people knew what they were supporting, picking a team to get those ideas advanced made some sense. I completely agree that to do so today is crazy and everyone should be on team homeless. The only thing standing in the way is emotional attachments to brands that no longer mean what they once did, if they stand for anything.