The loneliness of voting as an independent

Here in California the initiative process lets us do the legislature's work. Too bad we voters also don't get the legislators' perks.

This time there are 10 initiatives on the ballot. As you'd expect the two major parties have positions on most of them. But I found myself voting with the Democratic Party on some of them, and with the Republican Party on others.

This comes at a cost. Each party offers a comfortable tribal embrace to its partisans. I feel the pull all the time. Voting is a snap--you just vote the Party line. At social gatherings you get to enjoy the mutual backpatting society thing.

We're designed by evolution to live in tribes, so being an independent really goes against the grain of our biology.

Same goes for the presidential race. If you read this blog you know I'm voting for President Obama. But I agree with factcheck.org and politifact.com that he and his campaign stray from strict truthfulness way too often for my taste.

I read comment threads for articles about the candidates in the mainstream media and they're full of people who see their guy as All Right and the other as All Wrong.

Must be comforting to Believe that way.

So to other independents I'd like to say you're not alone. In fact you represent a plurality of voters. We just can't go to the Party's parties and feel the luv like the partisans do.