“Political labels don’t tell the whole story,” proclaimed the inaugural article of NMPolitics.net’s relaunch on June 1. “If understood, political labels can be useful,” the story stated. “If not, they can become barriers to communication.”
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Many are fed up with a system that divides us into Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives. This photo was taken at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear held by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert in Washington, D.C. in 2010.
Not surprisingly, given that the article was based on earlier conversations on Facebook, some NMPolitics.net readers agreed. A couple of them longed for a system that didn’t simplify everything down to Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives.
Jessica Murphy of Williamsburg said she registered as a Republican for a few weeks in 2012 so she could vote in the primary, then switched back to independent.
Murphy complained about the two major political parties taking “opposing stances” that “have almost nothing to do with their supposed platform.”
“Why are ‘small-government Republicans’ supporting mandatory vaccines while Democrats are largely ‘pro-parent choice?'” she asked during a conversation NMPolitics.net facilitated on our Facebook page. “Same with the R’s stance on marriage equality.”
Murphy, who identifies as a “small-l libertarian,” said a lot of the “supposed issues aren’t really issues for most of us.”
“The two-party system, with opposing and often illogical platforms, serves to further divide us and inaccurately label us,” she said. “It’s often a false dichotomy.”
Kent Simpson of Tucson, who is from Las Cruces, complained about polarization.
“Both parties have moved to the extremes of the political spectrum, leaving the moderate majority with no voice,” he wrote in a discussion on my Facebook page. “Take a look at the mass defections to ‘independent’ registrations – which, in Arizona at least, outnumber the registrations of either party. The parties have been hijacked and no longer represent America at large.”
Barbara Alvarez of Las Cruces, who identifies as liberal, complained about seeing the Republican Party “morph from an organization I used to respect (even though I have always been a registered Democrat) into an association of beliefs that range from fiscal conservatism all the way down to beliefs in conspiracy theories that, when taken apart and examined closely, hold no basis in reality.”
She said she used to vote for Republicans. She still considers supporting GOP candidates but wrote that she “honestly can’t say when or if I’ll vote Republican again.”
That’s affected how Alvarez labels herself. She wrote that she has gone from feeling “disdain” toward the label “liberal” to now being “proud to wear it.”
While Alvarez often stands opposed to those on the other end of the political spectrum, she spoke with respect about one Las Cruces conservative I quoted in the original article. “While I rarely support anything that Bev Courtney says, I appreciate her frankness because I know where she stands,” Alvarez wrote.
“Bev, I say that with complete respect,” Alvarez wrote. “You stick to your convictions. Continue to believe what you believe and I’ll continue believing what I believe.”
Alvarez said she was trying to articulate thoughts she is still figuring out. I suggested political labeling is fluid and unique to each individual. She agreed.
The point remains: Labels, if understood, can help, but they don’t tell the whole story. We’re more complex than that.