This is a good a place as any to go on this rant.
How in the hell did THIS issue become so divisive along party lines? And so quickly?
Why do opinions from Ds and Rs on re-opening the economy correlate so highly with their views on gun control, immigration, abortion, taxes, and every other issue? Battle lines are drawn and critical thinking is enthusiastically ceded to the party leadership. Then it becomes a purity test.
If I support a deliberate, data-driven approach to re-opening the economy that strikes a good balance between health risk and the economy, then one side thinks I've been brainwashed by the WHO and the other thinks I'm complicit in murder.
"Moderate" and "independent" do not always mean the middle on every issue. They do imply using all tools available, and depending on the flavor of the month, those tools may or may not be in favor with one of the parties.
D and R are quickly quickly overlapping to occupy a lot of the same space. Massive policy differences obviously, but both are wild-eyed zealots that spend all day in their respective echo chambers applying purity tests.
I feel like the dude caught between Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne in Dumb and Dumber when they're playing the stamp game in the van (excluding the whole thug-for-hire thing of course).
Not just no but hell no. Give me a damned pragmatist. Again that does not mean someone who straddles the fence on everything. It can be someone who wants radical change, as long as the strategy has a firm foundation in reality and long-term thinking. Someone who knows how to unite and build coalitions, not someone who operates on emotion and whatever the outrage du jour is. In other words, a fucking adult. To tie this to the poll question, those people seem to be migrating to the Dems, so that's how I'm going to vote this cycle. But I'll follow those folks wherever they go. If they're Rs in 4 years (probably not), then I'll be voting R. Above all I want politicians who have a clear strategy for improving education. Because this country is clearly lacking in critical thinking skills right now.