REB, that phrase really struck me because, no matter what the affiliation ever said on my voter ID card, independent is what I always was and what I believe every voter in America should be.

I understand clearly the role political parties play in our nation but when we as citizens align ourself completely with one or the other, we're empowering people with way more influence than our founding fathers ever intended.

I look at the parties as mere bus stops anymore, very much like a filing cabinet where the party platform is merely the title of a master file filled with lots of other sub files. Why only go into one or the other of the headings when the individuals contained within them can be so divergent?

Anymore, I look for candidates that buck their own power structure more than the ones that look for ways to form a snug fit with the ideology. Those trend setters are becoming rare these days but you still find them if you look hard enough. Now if only other Americans would see their value, we'd be a whole lot better off.

Art