Donkey, Elephant, or Independent?

I received a letter in this afternoon’s mail from the Somerset County Commissioner, Anthony DeCicco, acknowledging a request to change my party affiliation back to ‘Unaffiliated.’ A few weeks ago, I had gone to the County offices on Grove Street in Somerville to have the change made. Although I’ve been registered as an independent for longer than I can remember, I voted in the last New Jersey primary as a Republican expressly to cast my preference for Mitt Romney.

You may remember him: He’s the guy that had to explain why it is that a Mormon should be elected to this nation’s highest office. He had been immensely successful as Governor of Massachusetts, a state so blue, that only a super-bright administrator with his talent could overcome the Bay State’s bias against Republicans. Nor did it hurt Romney that, prior to elected office, he drove the success of Bain Capital, creating jobs and making a pile of dough for himself and others with his entrepreneurial prowess.

Poor me, I knew that Romney did not stand a chance in New Jersey, but I thought, “What the heck!” The economy was beginning to go down the tubes and none of the other candidates seemed to get the point, so why not go for the smart person who knows what one is supposed to do with one’s heart and brain?

Don’t misunderstand; I don’t dislike Democrats or Republicans. In fact, I think that they are pretty good Joes and Janes and, much of the time, they do a good job. But, when campaigning, it seems that the difference between what they say they will do, and what, in fact, they end up doing once elected doesn’t jive: They don’t keep promises. Then there’s that other thing: They have a nasty little habit of not trusting the people who put them in office – you know: those pesky voters who make demands like wanting to approve state bond issues for billions of dollars in school construction, and other minor considerations of that nature.

Thing is, though, there are an awful lot of us who don’t wear the donkey or elephant seal of approval, and both the blues and the reds hunger for our vote.