My "leanings".

In 1996, I made the decision to eschew the two major political parties in favor of being a person who is of his own mind in deciding where my vote goes as opposed to going on the rantings of the elephant or the donkey and those who believe them.  Therefore, the party affiliation on my voters card is a very proudly displayed "I" instead of "D" or "R".

The story behind the decision to switch to an independent voters designation is actually both funny and sad.  Once , during a long period of doing nothing on the night shift at work (it was in the jail and there is virtually nothing to do once the animals go to bed), and the discussion came up about who we voted for in 1992.  I didn't vote for Bush (41) or Bill Clinton.  I voted for Ross Perot.

That caused one co-worker in particular to lose his mind because...not being a fan of the winner of the 92 election (Clinton) I was accused of taking a vote away from Bush and by my actions alone I somehow caused him to not be re-elected.  That I would ordinarily dismiss as low-informed drone BS but the verbal abuse extended well beyond that evening.  That was in May of 1996 and after careful consideration, by the time the Tulsa State Fair rolled around I went to the election board booth and changed from an "R" to an "I" as an act of defiance.

Needless to say that was not when the debate endeth, unfortunately.

In the years since I have been randomly accused of "throwing my vote away" when it comes to elections, which really isn't true.  Thanks to the litigation that has been forwarded by the two major parties in America I have the two major party candidates to vote for anyway...at least that has been the case since 2004...and literally nothing changes when I head to the polls on election day.  It's meant to be an insult to the fact that I am not following the herd and actually, I am fine with that.

In today's political arena it's much like the cliquey crap we all had to endure in school.  It's disgraceful.  If you didn't vote for or support Barack Obama after he was elected President, you are a racist, you don't support same-sex marriage, Obamacare, you are a religious zealot who is not interested in the separation of church and state, and you do not have a progressive mindset that would include such things as being environmentally friendly and you don't want marijuana legalized because it is a harmless plant that would be medically helpful...as long as those who have nothing wrong with them can get toasted on it..

Likewise if you didn't vote for Mitt Romney in the last election you don't want the country to succeed in business, you hate the country because you support opening a dialogue with countries who have the blood of Americans on their hands in terrorist attacks, you don't believe that the world was created in seven days and that God had a hand in the creation of this country, and you are a socialist because you want a socialized system by which you can obtain your medical care.

The great thing, and indeed the most liberating thing about being an independent is that you can take the good points of BOTH political doctrines and apply them to your voting choices.  One thing that gets me put at the kiddie table with the Republicans is that I do indeed believe that medical care in the United States should be free.  The simple logic being that we are a SUPERPOWER that is WICKED RICH.  We can afford it, so we should get it for free.

On that note, what gets me put at the democrat kiddie table is that it should be fair for everybody...it should not have political footballs like things that are themed to my opinion about birth control and/or abortion.  That should be a matter of choice in the national health care plan, not something that is in any way required to illustrate to the losing side who won the debate.

That is only one example of many in the mess that is the two major parties and their platforms, and it has effectively driven me away from both of them.  Seeing this federal pissing match would be hilarious if it weren't so pathetic, and as a result I have very high praise indeed for my hometown and the way they conduct municipal elections because they have eliminated the party system from their election cycles, and that had it's first test in 2013.  The mayoral election had candidates who could not be party animals, as it were.  

It wasn't a perfect situation, as the candidates were well known party representatives who sounded a lot like their party philosophy when they stumped for votes, but that didn't matter.  it worked, and the best part is that it throws the door open in 2 1/2 years for true independents to run for office, and not be considered as whack jobs as they have in the past.

So now you know which way I "lean".