by Brad Collard
Depending on which side of the political spectrum you are on, I am probably considered either a Right-Wing Conservative or a Left-Wing Liberal. I love my country, and politically I live in the center.
In reality, I tend to be a social liberal and a fiscal conservative. I am in the middle. I don’t believe in extremes. Like most Americans, the left nor the right defines who I am .
In Texas I am pigeon holed into either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party based on the Primary I choose to participate in. In Texas, roughly 12.4% of the people vote in the Republican Primary and 12.8% vote in the Democratic Primary. Almost a full seventy-five percent of eligible voters fail to show up either in early, mail-in or in person voting during the March primaries.
You may find that you want to vote for person A in the Republican Primary and person C in the Democrat Primary, but you are only allowed to vote in one Primary.
So you make a choice to vote in one, the other, or decide to wait it out until the General Election.
It is no wonder, because of the two-party system in the United States, that our nation is increasingly polarized. The people who generally win their Primaries and go on to win the General, will always govern to the base of their party.
It seems more painfully obvious to me that people in the middle do not count but only for a short amount of time during the General when politicians are trying to get just enough of us so they don’t alienate their base.
People who feel strongly on certain issues are more likely to vote in Primaries and the elected official is playing to them because it is their next election. Let’s face it, the system is geared to produce extremes. In order to get elected in the General Election, you must win the Primary. If you want to ward off Primary challengers, govern for the left of your liberal party, or for the right of your conservative party.
This is the reason for my blog. Traditional GOP primary voters will claim I’m a bleeding heart liberal, and the Democratic primary voters will claim I’m an ultra right-wing fascist. The truth, I am a Center Patriot. I believe in Democracy, respecting our veterans, caring for the poor and sick, giving people a hand up instead of a hand-out (this includes corporations), and paying for what is important to our country based on our country’s values.
This blog is not meant to be liberal or conservative, it is meant to be very much American. Respectful discussions are always welcome. Name-calling and non-constructive discussions will be removed. It is time to rebuild our Democracy.
CenterPatriot.com 