Renouncing Political Party Membership Sends Clearest Message
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If someone you cared about asked you for money and support, then acted recklessly, immaturely, even criminally with your money and support, how would you respond?
If it was your teenager, what would you do?
If it was an alcoholic or drug-abusing sibling, what would you do?
If it was your political party, what would you do?
I imagine most people would initially answer differently if their family members behaved this way than when their political parties behave this way. Why is it we can apply tough love on the people we care about, but we cannot apply tough love to the country we care about?
We now have the situation of not being able to trust either major political party. This lack of trust is evidenced by the extremely low approval ratings for our Congress. It is ironic that Republicans were viewed as corrupt, Democrats were voted the majority to change things, and the Democratic party is now seen as equally corrupt. Democrats promised much more transparency in their dealings, and yet less than 10% of congressmen/congresswomen will admit what earmarks (pork) they put in the budget. Idaho’s representatives are just as corrupt; none of them have admitted their earmarks.
I heard that the conservative radio talk show host Glenn Beck was asked by a frustrated voter what they could do to influence things, and he suggested canceling your political party membership! He suggested that no matter what party you belong to, request your name be removed from their membership rolls, and that they not contact your for “support”.
I thought that was an excellent suggestion. Not being a registered party member certainly does not preclude you from voting for party nominees. However, you can signal your disgust with how the parties behave themselves (and lie and steal and operate in corrupt manners) by ending your party support.
Political leaders will still raise all the corporate campaign donations like always, so they do not really need individual voter support. The only reason they ask for individual donations is to rally people to their side and claim they have peoples’ support.
There is a psychological theory suggesting people do not like to be seen as inconsistent. Giving money to a political party and/or candidate sets you up to psychologically minimize their later misdeeds. The theory is that you think you are smart, and you invested in someone, so that person could not be as bad as everyone is saying. Do you see where your own money and/or time contribution could handicap your own judgment later?
This idea of canceling party memberships led me to ask, what benefits do you get from being a registered Republican or a registered Democrat? I googled around and could not find a single benefit of being a registered party member!
Can anyone identify a single personal benefit to registering with any political party?
Please let us know when you cancel your political party membership, how you did it, and what their response was.
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Comments
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0 
0 Quoting Joe’s statement “We NOW have the situation of not being able to trust either political party”
Are you kidding me? WHEN was the last time the American people have been able to trust either political party, let alone the government as a whole? Of the 50 years I’ve been on this planet, I can’t remember ANY time when I’ve been able to trust them. Our government lies to us about everything, and you think this is something new?
Cancelling your party membership isn’t likely to help, because like you said, they get the majority of the monies from corporate sponsers anyway.
All we can really do is vote for the lesser of the two evils.
Politics always has been and always will be a corrupt business. Anyone who thinks otherwise, has their head in the sand.
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0 0 As it is now, the parties can claim they have people support.
Having a membership enables them to not only hit you up for donations, but also to mass-mail you the party line propaganda.
Enough people quitting their political party, telling their party that they are disgusted with the party actions, it would start getting their attention.
This is different than those silly ‘don’t buy gas for a day’ things, because this is a more permanent thing.
With Idaho considering forcing voters to register in a party in order to vote in a primary, this might be an excellent time for many people to quit their parties.
Staying on as a political party member communicates that you still support the party and every evil thing they do.
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0 0 Might be a good idea for Idaho residents, but it wouldn’t work as a national campaign. I live in California, and I’m more concerned with who my party nominates in the primaries, especially next year. I need to retain my membership since they make you jump through major hoops to vote in a primary as a non-affiliated voter here.
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0 0 Imagine being a party worker, and a person calls to cancel their membership in the party. This person’s parents were loyal party members, their extended family are loyal, and this person has been a dependable party member for 20 years.
Yet imagine if some of these types of loyal party members called and canceled their party membership, citing the disgusting behavior of party representatives as the reason.
Dropping out of the party does not mean you won’t vote for their candidates at election time, it just means you cannot give membership number or financial support to them until they clean up their act.
The previous comment was that anyone who thinks the system can ever change has their head stuck in the sand?
How would you describe the people who say nothing will ever work whether we try to change things or not?
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0 0 In response to #3, well first I think a lot of us have lived in other states with primaries. Consequently, we’ve had to think about this issue in different ways.
Look at the 1st District in Idaho. How did Sali get elected? By so many Democrats, Independents and others voting for him instead of his Democratic or Republican opponents. The thinking being that with Sali as the Republican candidate, the Democratic candidate stood a far better chance of election.
History now shows us how well that thinking worked (1st District and Sali). Is anyone really proud to have him in Washington? Maybe, but from those with whom I’ve spoken, that election didn’t go quite the way so many had hoped it would.
I realize eastern ID is not in the 1st District, but the concept is the same. And it is one reason to think about what party affiliation can or cannot allow you to do.
I don’t agree about the “propaganda” from one party if someone is registered. I throw ALL of the political stuff away left at my front door thinking how much it cost to create it the glossy pamphlets, pictures etc.
My point is “propaganda,” if that is the word you want to use, is equally distributed. I haven’t gotten too much from the Labor Party or Political Parties that are lesser known. However, as far as the Dems and GOPs, it seems about even how much material were just left at my front door or elsewhere in my front yard last year.
So I reject the notion that just because someone is listed on a party list that they will be solicited for funds anymore by one party more than another. EVERY pamphlet or flyer left at my house instructed me how to contribute to someone’s campaign (or their party).
Maybe it’s just my zip code, but I get mail requesting donations from almost everyone running for office that would “represent me,” or the state in which I live. The dominant parties appear to spend equal $ in what lands in my mailbox and goes directly to my trash.
Gee, now I know why there is so much emphasis to recycle the “wasted paper.” 2008 will have more mailings than many of us will know what to do with, except recycle the paper.
I do understand the feeling of betrayal by all politicians; nonetheless, I have to agree with what Slim said earlier.
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0 0 Re: post 5,
WHEN in history, has politics and/or politicians EVER been upfront and straight with the people their governing?
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0 0 No offense, but I get the feeling the cynics to this idea are not registered members of a political party, no?
I’m just as cynical about government as the other statements here, and those cynical statements are an entirely worthy discussion themselves.
However, just for this narrow suggestion, are there any registered political party members who have an opinion on Glenn Beck’s suggestion?
Why or why would you not renounce your party registration?
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0 0 I’m confused (not a difficult state for me to reach).
Glenn Beck claims to not be a Republican, and claimed to suggest canceling your political party membership as a method of protesting their not doing what constituents want them to do?
Yet this weekend, Glenn Beck is speaking at Frank Vandersloot’s Riverbend Ranch for the official annual Republican BBQ?
Is Glenn Beck really a closet Republican? Is he a Republican in moderate’s clothing? Does he say these things just to try pandering to the middle political spectrum? Is he a hypocrite? Is he a liar? Is he a sellout?
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0 0 Why do we have to label him at all? Can’t he have a different point of view on a number of different issues? I mean really….what’s wrong with that? Isn’t that how everybody is these days? There really is no conservative or liberal or straight up Democrat, etc. etc. in this day and age. So why continue to label people? Who cares if the man is speaking at Franky V’s ranch? I’m sure he’s getting paid handsomely for it. That’s probably all that it boils down to. Plus the fact that Glenn grew up here. So cut the man some slack.
Cheese and rice!
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0 0 Sure he can have whatever viewpoints he wants. He has a large radio listening audience and influences many folks’ viewpoints. I’m just wondering if he is talking one way and walking another. I imagine his listening audience would be interested in knowing that.
He is the one who tries to clearly distance himself from the Republican label, then he speaks at a clearly Republican event.
If he’s looking for a speaking venue because he is from here, why not speak to a high school, college, etc?
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0 0 I have a hard time believing that Glenn Beck would flip/flop for this event at the ranch. He seems very up front with his views.
Last week I heard him address on his radio show about being at the White House. Beck was told by the white house staff that the President didn’t agree with him on several issues. Beck told his radio listeners that he was aware that the President didn’t always like what he was saying. It still didn’t change his views, he was courteous but still felt the way he did.
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0 0 Someone asked if he does these type of events for Democrats and Libertarians? Anyone familiar with Glenn Beck know about that?
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0 0 Am I the only one who sees a budding Rush Limbaugh in Glenn Beck…his gestures, his inflections, his wording, his expressions? Give him a years supply of Oxicontin and you could have an absolute clone of Rush.
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0 0 Glenn Beck is not from here, didn’t grow up here as has been stated several times in this discussion. He grew up outside of Seattle. If you listen to Glenn regularly you will find that he is pretty straight forward. Opinionated, yes but I have found that he is rarely contradictory in his views and statements. He seems like a very genuine person and is firm in his convictions. As Glenn has stated numerous times he is a conservative in his views and obviously leans to the right. He is very fair too. Just a couple weeks ago Robert Kennedy Jr. said some unkind things about Glenn and Glenn had him on his TV show to discuss their differences.
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0 0 I thought I read yesterday that he was from here, and so I re-checked yesterday’s PR. You’re right, his tie to our area is that his daughter goes to BYU.
He sounds popular and I’ve heard is a wise person. It just seems contradictory that he advocated renouncing your political party affiliation (the basis for this article), and a short time later he is lending his speech/celebrity status to the Republican political party.
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0 0 Someone got upset with my comments about Glenn Beck. They said they heard from someone who went there that he slammed Republicans as well as Democrats. I did not attend, but if so I say bravo; they all need to be ashamed of themselves. Hence the point of this article (inspired by a Glenn Beck comment).
So I replied to this person I don’t know Glenn Beck, never even seen his picture, I don’t know his life; all I know is the three things that don’t add up: 1) says he’s not republican 2) advises people to cancel their political party membership if they are truly disgusted with the behaviors, and 3) attends a republican fundraiser, one of the biggest in Idaho all year. I just don’t understand why someone who claims to disagree with established political parties would help the Republicans raise money.
So I googled for a minute to see if he published his speech tours or speaking engagements. I didn’t find any list, so it would be helpful if someone can point out Democrat or Libertarian or other political groups he has spoken at.
A few things I did find in googling, though, raised my eyebrows at the idea our local republicans invited Glenn Beck!
I am reminded now that Glenn Beck is the guy who asked a newly elected muslim congressman if he was a terrorist, and to prove he wasn’t. Glenn Beck also called Hillary Clinton a ‘bitch’, and Rosie O’Donnell a ‘fat witch. he also asked a magazine editor (out of the blue) if she would come to his office so he could photograph her nude. I’m surprised he was invited, I would not think our local values would match up to those actions. Look disagreement is one thing, and I don’t agree with Hillary or Rosie, but stooping to name calling to make your point is not the trait of an intelligent person.
I’m looking at his website now, and he has a mock pornographic magazine cover image that depicts journalist Helen Thomas topless.
Wow, that was the classiest act they could pull in?
I wish I had left it at accusing him of being a possible hypocrite, and had not googled him. Now I think much less of him and our locals for paying him to come in and give us his wisdom.
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0 0 Joe, don’t judge a book by its cover. You should give Glenn a listen once in a while. Most of the things that you pulled up are snippets taken out of context. As for his speech he started out by saying that he wasn’t sure why he had been invited. He told the person that contacted him that they really didn’t want him to speak because he had a thing or two to say about Republicans.
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0 0 I attended the Republican barbecue where Glenn Beck was the featured speaker. In fact, I attended because he was the featured speaker. Never been to a Republican barbecue before and probably never will again. To the question about whether he’s a closet Republican - - - he’s a conservative American who blasts the Republican party AND the Democratic party equally. Says they’re both bankrupt of ideas, and can only point fingers and play the blame game. Surprising as it may be to most of the regulars on this site, he received a roaring standing ovation from the crowd as he said those things about the Republican party. He
was not paid anything to appear here. He was in Salt Lake City speaking to someone about adoption issues. When they offered to fly him in on Vandersloot’s aircraft and provide motel rooms for his party (his family was here with him), he agreed to come here as a favor to a lady in Rexburg who is working with his daughter who attends BYU-I. He’s a stand-up guy who calls it like he sees it with our political scene. I wish there were more people like him in the public eye who would call these politicians on their corrupt behavior on both sides of the spectrum, (D) or (R). I’d also recommend you give him a listen once in a while — it’s pretty easy to take things out of context. He’s on CNN at 7:00 p.m. local time.
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0 0 You can agree or disagree with his political views, but I don’t see many ways how “[Hillary Clinton]she is the stereotypical bitch” can be taken out of context. Maybe F-150 can enlighten me.
Perhaps Dick Cheney saying “F*ck yourself” to Senator Pat Leahy on the Senate floor in 2004 was also taken out of context…
—The exact quote from his 3/15/07 radio program: “Hillary Clinton cannot be elected president because…there’s something about her vocal range.” He went on to say, “There’s something about her voice that just drives me — it’s not what she says, it’s how she says it,” adding, “She is like the stereotypical — excuse the expression, but this is the way to — she’s the stereotypical bitch, you know what I mean?”
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0 0 I encourage you to spend 4 minutes at youtube and view the 4 videos depicting his antics I described. The time he asked the congressman to prove he was not a terrorist got lots of negative press for him being seen as a redneck bigot. Him asking the female editor if she would stop by his office so he could take her nude photographs was not out of context, it was obvious he tried to make a bad joke, and the editor just stared at him uncomfortably for a few seconds until Glenn realized what a fool he had made of himself.
I don’t imagine name calling can be taken out of context very much. If you call someone a name, it matters not the context, you are still stooping to name calling. There is no excuse for name calling. I’m surprised to hear anyone defend it.
Again, just seems strange for him to say one thing and do another, but given his other antics I’m beginning to get the picture on this guy.
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0 0 Everyone needs to stop with the “holier than thou” attitude on this site!! Jeez! We have ALL committed the same acts that Glenn Beck has, only he was on the air when it happened and we weren’t. We have ALL resorted to name calling throughout our life at one time or another. We have ALL said something before thinking about it, but of course it was too late to take it back. We have ALL stuck our foots in our mouths and said something that wasn’t the most intelligent thing we could have thought of.
I just can’t believe all the hipocrisy on this site! Like you people are soooooo perfect! Unbelievable~!
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0 0 So true Auntie…..so true.
The point of the article was Beck saying that if you don’t like what your party is doing drop out. That is a principled stand.
So what if he speaks at the Republican BBQ. For Joe to “accept” Beck he would have had to speak at a Democratic or Libertarian event too? Come on, the real agenda here is that Joe has it out for Beck and many other conservatives.
Don’t pull punches. That is what this is about. Nail Beck to the cross. Joe wants to paint him as an hypocrite. If you listened to Beck you would know that one of the reasons he is so pipular is that he doesn’t take himself too seriously and has a good time on the air while providing informative information. He doesn’t take a stand based on the political blowing wind and people appreciate that.
People can speak to whatever group they want to. The Democrats can go speak at the Daily Kos convention. O’Reilly has fits with this. Big deal. Beck speaks at the Republican BBQ…big deal.
Auntie was right…unbelieveable. Stop pretending to be furious out of principle and admit that ya’ll are just looking to skewer guys like Beck because his views differ from yours. That would be a breath of fresh aire from persons that pretend to be objective on this site. Joe wants us to watch Sicko to get some perspective. From the sounds of the threads maybe some people should listen to Beck to get a grasp on where he is coming from?
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0 0 What are these reports about a Republican bilking a million bucks in campaign donations?
Should have renounced your party membership…
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0 0 Joe, what are you referring to? You must have eyes/ears that I don’t have, I can’t find anything breaking about someone bilking their campaign fund of millions of dollars.
Do you have a link, or a website?
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0 0 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/15/AR2008031502047.html?referrer=digg
The latest blow came with the revelation that the former treasurer (Chris Ward) of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) had allegedly diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars — and possibly as much as $1 million — from the organization’s depleted coffers to his own bank accounts.
The Republican Party called in the FBI to investigate, citing probable fraud.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/03/allegations-of.html
http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics/story/530748.html
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/14/america/14repubs.php
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/13/gop.probe/
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,337717,00.html
I’m surprised we haven’t heard much more about this.
Record deficits and national debt, cutting taxes and granting billion dollar oil tax breaks during wartime (unprecedented), failure to manage the economy, and now we discover they cannot keep their own house in order?
I guess the Republican party has now completely lost their “fiscal responsibility” brand. Anyone going to renounce their party membership yet?
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0 0 Hey, thanks! Tons of stuff. Looks like the karma from the swift-boating crappola finally caught up with Ward.
Amazing, every time we see this sort of thing, how there aren’t sufficient controls in place to keep it from occurring.
I renounced my Republican Party membership about 28 years ago, and joined the Democrats. I’m about to tell them to get a clue, too, because they don’t seem to be any better these days.
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0 0 What we need to do is worry more about getting rid of the electoral college and getting back to a more “democratic state” with a popular vote in this country. We’re so worried about showing the world how great a democratic government can be, yet we don’t practice what we preach when it comes down how we elect (or rather don’t elect) who we want to run this country.
just my 2cents….which is actually 4cents
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0 0 Ouch, CR67, I think you have hit one of my sore spots. I really want a majority vote, a popular vote, the will of the people.
The Electoral College is cronyism, it’s political power vested in a few who don’t even have to vote the same as the people they supposedly represent, etc.
Give us back our one person, one vote. THEN I think some changes would begin to happen politically.
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0 0 I find it interesting to note that Chris Ward’s individual behavior is some how a representation of the Republican Party. I don’t quite understand that in logical terms. I certainly know the emotional terms at play. This is obviously an attempt to smear the Republican Party by it’s past association with Ward.
This type of linkage is analagous to the YMCA or LDS Church having a child molester in their midst and when they find out this person has been committing crimes, LO AND BEHOLD….they turn him in. I guess that makes the YMCA and LDS Church a bunch of pedophiles, eh?
Come on Joe. That was really weak! (And I say that with a smile on my face). Nemisis, you should know better than that too. The Republican Party can be bashed for alot of different things…..this is just not one of them.
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0 0 I have a feeling that Mike’s opinion would not be the same if it were the treasurer of the National Democratic party who looted his coffers. If that were the case he would make some snarky comment about crooked east coast liberals.
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0 0 Ha ha ha, guest 111, I like to rib Mike about those same liberals he mentions quite a bit.
Hey, Mike, I didn’t renounce my Republican party membership over piddly stuff like this. And my Democratic party membership being in jeopardy isn’t over something like this, either.
I’m tired of not being represented, and instead having the representation go to the wealthy and the powerful. I’m tired of both parties being almost indistinguishable from each other in terms of corruption and cronyism and corporate sponsorship.
For a long time I said I was an Independent. But there aren’t enough of us, we aren’t well organized, and enough folks aren’t angry enough at the two parties to jump ship. (”Earmarks? I LIKE earmarks, how else would we get back some of that tax money we had to pay?”…sigh…)
It always seems to be the choice between the lesser of two evils. Isn’t that what folks often mistake as Hobson’s choice?
One person, one vote. It just seems a little more equitable.
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0 0 111—Here is my snarky comment: OUR pocketbooks are being raided by both parties. So, if that makes you feel better I hope you can sleep better. I will note for you that I have little tolerance for individuals committing crimes. I don’t care what their party affiliation is. However, you cannot take one persons conduct and automatically assume that the party apparatus they were a part of is guilty by association.
If you were a Catholic priest who doesn’t molest children you would probably get the point! lol
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0 0 Good point that one person’s conduct cannot reflect an entire organization. However I pointed out a few examples of the Republican franchise sinking, and Chris Ward’s embezzlement is just one glaring instance. They failed to properly audit their own books. This is seems in line with Bush’s mantra, “Trust me”, and Republican donors should be outraged. Wasn’t it Reagan who said, “trust, but verify”? If Republicans cannot mind their own business, how can we count on them to mind our business? Actually we cannot, given the deficits and the tax cuts during war time and the billions in oil tax cuts.
Here in Idaho our legislature doesn’t see fit to repeal our sales tax increase but they are falling over themselves to grant more big business tax cuts.
But yeah to be fair, the Dems are equally bad if not worse. I read an interesting article the other day title, “How I’ve grown to loathe the Democrat party.” It doesn’t look good when the Democrats’ only message these days seems to be, “at least we are not Republicans.” Our country needs better than this.
Did you all heard Bush jamming his foot in his mouth the other day:
I must say, I’m a little envious. If I were slightly younger and not employed here, I think it would be a fantastic experience to be on the front lines of helping this young democracy succeed. It must be exciting for you … in some ways romantic, in some ways, you know, confronting danger. You’re really making history, and thanks.
I am all for Bush going out to serve on our front lines, it would be the first time in his life. I thought he should do this during the last campaign, but someone said he would end up in one of those beheading videos going around at that time.
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0 0 Nemisis: Excellent post in #32. I agree about the total lack of representation from both sides.
Joe: The Washington Post reported that Ward submitted fake outside audits for nearly 4 years. He was finally unmasked when a new chairman of the audit committee made a determined effort to meet the supposed auditors in person. Rep. Greg Walden (Ore.), who previously served as chairman of the National Republican Committee (NRCC) audit committee, said he had asked to meet with the outside auditing firm, Deloitte & Touche, and that the fake audits were almost perfect forgeries.
“I sought for several years to meet with the outside auditors,” Walden said. “There was always some seemingly legitimate reason why that didn’t happen.” The scheme began to unravel this year, when Rep. K. Michael Conaway (Tex.), the new head of the audit committee, insisted on meeting the auditors.
The largest confirmed political fraud in the modern campaign finance era, after a 1974 law set strict contribution limits, is believed to be the embezzlement of $1 million from the 1992 presidential campaign of the late Sen. Paul Tsongas (D-Mass.).
Wouldn’t it be nice to have just the tax payers support campaigns for office. The shell game of raising money and doing end around contribution limits could be eliminated….as well as lobbyists offering money for favors. That would be some of the best money spent!!!
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0 0 I support banning all political contributions and instead doing publicly-financed campaigns where the candidates live on a bus together with only one adviser each and travel from town to town giving their speeches, then doing nightly debates.
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0 0 woo hoo, Joe! I support those kinds of back to basics, too. Definitely public financed campaigns.
Then Mike could afford to run for president without having to win the lottery.
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0 0 Sounds like a reality show in the making! 
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0 0 Sure, why not? The political process has become a clown circus anyway, making us believe they hold our interests higher than corporations’ interests.
For the primaries, put all the Republican candidates on one bus and the Democrat candidates on another bus, install 24 hour live webcams all over, let these candidates show who they really are under pressure.
Each week primaries go by and the candidates are voted off anyway, right? When we are down to one candidate from each party, put them on a bus together and they tour America until election day. Make them stay on the buses from Monday morning at 5am until Friday night at 9pm. It would be nice to include popular independent candidates in the bus also, but only the ones who stand a chance.
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0 0 You’re right that it’s become a circus anyway. Reality show sounds about right, and then we’d certainly see some good and some bad things about them.
Right now I’m disgusted with the political system, and I keep telling myself it’s not just because I’m old and jaded.
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0 0 Excellent ideas. Kind of like American Idol and Survivor. Only in this case it will be American Politican. Candidates get voted off based on popular vote totals. Campaign gaffes or lying by pols are penalized with having to sleep on a stack of the United States Tax Code. Pols that actually tell the truth, whether we like it or not get to sleep on a bed of feathers. We could also have the bad pols be forced to eat Meals Ready to Eat like the military folks. It might give them a better respect for what military men and women have to sacrifice.
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0 0 Oh heck yes! You haven’t toughed it out until you survived on MREs! I’m liking this idea more and more as we talk about it. I mean really, nobody believe candidates anymore, they’re all completely manufactured marketing products. Let’s get them in an arena where they have to start being honest and truly transparent.
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0 0 Arena? That sounds like blood and circuses, old Roman style. Feed ‘em to the lions if they don’t perform to our liking.
That’s a complete dramatization, of course, but you get my meaning. (To quote the gecko).
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The new Michael Moore film, Sicko, has a part demonstrating the flow of health care industry campaign contributions to political candidates in both parties. It attempts to tie Congress’ lack of motivation to reform our health care system to being leaders being bought and sold.
For all the times many political leaders reference America’s founding fathers, George Washington was not in a political party, and actually warned America against future political parties.
How can the founding fathers have been so correct when leaders try to interpret their intentions, but this stark clear warning against political parties is ignored?
Why is it that local governments operate in a nonpartisan manner, but political parties are seen as good for state and national governments?