Photo by RBerteig/flickr.com
As I watched the recent national elections unfold in Virginia and New Jersey, to include the local mayoral race in Albuquerque, I realized that more and more independents are feeling much like me nowadays. We independents have become fed up with the big spending of both parties and we are willing to support more fiscally conservative candidates who favor keeping taxes low, balancing the budget and creating more jobs.
So as the results began to filter in I watched as every Republican glowed with giddy glee over the idea that the Grand Ole’ Party was back on track a lot sooner than the beating of 2008 would have predicted.
I would have to agree, the GOP is back in the game and I am here to say, don’t screw this up.
As an independent, I often vote for the individual candidate over any one party, and I have voted both Democrat and Republican. I highly favored the Democrats in 2008 because it appeared to me that the GOP was a really bad team in self-denial that needed a real wakeup call. So I thought it was quite laughable to watch the Democrats prance around like victorious chicken hawks after the 2008 elections.
The truth, at least from an independent perspective, is that 2008 was more of a vote against the GOP than a vote for the Democratic candidates. Heck, a dressed-up Democratic goat would have had my support, and I am sure I am not alone with that feeling. Yes the Republican Party was that bad. Deny if you will GOP, but the results bear out the awful truth.
The point to be taken by both parties is that more and more Americans are becoming independent in their political thinking, and most of us are tired of the big spending game. We are willing to shift our support more rapidly in order to put the brakes on this spend-without-end game. The election results of 2008 proved to be a warning order to the GOP, and I believe these recent elections will prove to be a warning order to the Democrats in 2010.
A military Warning Order is defined as “a preliminary notice of an order or action which is to follow.” I strongly believe that independents are putting both parties on preliminary notice to stop spending without end or the action that is to follow is re-election defeat.
So Democrats, as the majority party, the ball is in your home court and you are favored to win. But take heed because the GOP has been allowed off of the bench and back in the game a lot sooner than most would have imagined. But yes, you Democrats have also been that bad lately, and I am yet again prepared to vote for the dressed-up goat who will keep taxes low, balance the budget and create more long-term sustainable jobs.
I am sure I am not alone in that feeling, so politicos — be warned or be defeated in 2010.
Luévano, a registered independent, is a Marine Corps officer with 18 years of active-duty service and an Artesia native. He graduated from the University of New Mexico in 2001 with a bachelor’s in political science and economics and from the University of Kansas in 2008 with a master’s in public administration. You can reach him at jfluevano@gmail.com.