Bernie!!

Only myself. He is a Democrat in my book. I like him a lot more than I do some Democrats.

... which some 300,000 people so out of touch with political reality that they had NO IDEA what it really is -- went and joined.

And now they can't vote for Bernie unless they re-register as DEMS very quickly.

Anyone who doesn't know what I'm referring to, just ask.

http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/political-parties/no-party-preference/

No Party Preference Information

Voting in Presidential Primary Elections

Voters who registered to vote without stating a political party preference are known as No Party Preference (NPP) voters. NPP voters were formerly known as "decline-to-state" or “DTS” voters.

For presidential elections: NPP voters, unless they choose otherwise (see below), will receive a “non-partisan” ballot that does not include presidential candidates. A nonpartisan ballot contains only the names of candidates for voter-nominated offices and local nonpartisan offices and measures.
Voting in the June 7, 2016, Presidential Primary Election

An NPP voter will receive a non-partisan ballot, which will have no presidential candidates listed.

However, upon request, an NPP voter can instead vote the presidential ballot of the following parties:

American Independent Party
Democratic Party
Libertarian Party

Why? Each political party has the option of allowing NPP voters to vote in their presidential primary election. 135 days before the election, political parties must notify the Secretary of State's office whether or not they will allow NPP voters to vote in their presidential primary election. The above three parties notified the Secretary of State that they will allow NPP voters to request their party’s presidential ballot for the June 7, 2016, Presidential Primary Election.

How to request a party ballot? The NPP voter may ask their county elections office or poll worker, at their polling place, for a ballot for one of the above three parties. An NPP voter may not request more than one party's ballot.

The following three parties notified the Secretary of State that they have chosen not to allow NPP voters to request their party’s presidential ballot participate in their presidential primary election:

Republican
Green
Peace & Freedom

If an NPP voter wants to vote for a presidential candidate in the Republican, Green, or Peace and Freedom party, the NPP voter must re-register to vote with one of those parties by May 23, 2016. To register online go to registertovote.ca.gov.

CA is very tech savvy. I'm from Silicon Valley. Take a in a flash to change.

it instead was a very conservative group...tea party kind. But the news in CA it's all over the place. I'm sure they are changing their affiliations.

and called themselves independent. But now a lot of them are truly independent because they are fed up with both parties.

I'm registered independent and have never voted for a Republican. Has the split changed? I am not sure if polling tracks this going far back or not.

Edit:

Based on this chart that includes leanings of independent voters, it appears that the split hasn't changed much over the years - perhaps 3% more are actually "independent" compared to historical averages, for a total of 13% of all voters.

Before people would say they were Independents but you could tell they really heavily favored one party. This year there is a change. People are fed up with both parties and looking for the right person. Especially earlier on. People were really trying to decide which party to go with. That to me is a sign of a "true" independent.

for you. But in your haste you posted a odd post.

In most cases.

In lieu of actually entering into a discussion you'd rather Alert, Hide, Lock, and Ban, ban, ban. You want to turn DU into the Hillary Group.

And I love the tactic of trying to get the first response slot to try to highjack threads. LOL. How sad.

The tactic you accuse me of is highly inaccurate. More often than not, I am registered independent, the op has no clue what independent means on a broad scale.

I have no purging and an accurate reading of my post would let you know I think they are bullshit, outside of one.

You keep telling me what I think. It's what most of your replies to me are. But your projections never match with my own words.

You were referring to my side. And you accuse me of hi jacking? Even in my second reply I made sure to put something in about the op. You? No. Just personal and incorrect assumptions.

It is clear from the direction of the op, they don't understand independents in this country.

In all of your time here, other than Crist and I believe one other, how many times have the administrators allowed someone to consistently advocate for third parties? As I said, self fulfilling prophecy. It's just known. Never have the administrators been this lenient on it.

easy but apparently an important tactic. And why is the first response slot so important to your side? I am sure you know.

As far as the purges here, how typical to blame the victim. What WillyT said wasn't racist but declared racist for the purpose of running him off the site. How many of the Clinton side all ganged up and started shouting for his banning. Kinda like a posse with a rope. After Manny was "purged" I told WillyT that they would be coming for him. They hounded and alert stalked Manny for a long time before they bullied him off. And now WillyT. Banning isn't the behavior of "politically liberals" it's the behavior of Conservatives.

Only progressives get banned here. I wonder why.

Have a great weekend.

Wait, stop.

Before you answer, think.

You think the Democrats are going to need our leftist independent votes to win any elections in the future at any level?

Yuppers!

that describes this type of willful ignorance.

Most have a firm affinity for one party or the other. They just masturbate over feeling like they're not beholden to the party system.

my brother for example. He has voted for both Dems (mostly), Repubs and even Libertarians.

Labels don't mean much to him. Ideas do.

this removing all of your snark, insults, and ignorance.

Half of the independents in this country are rightists and the other half are leftists. All recognize that in one way or in many ways the two party system is failing us all. The two parties no longer represent the positions that we hold dear and true.

Historically, when that occurs, there is a party re-alignment. That is happening right now, and naturally the party loyalists are too blind to see it.

Ironically enough, you need us, we don't need you.

They won't by the very nature of how the system works. You don't have a majority, either. Not even close. To get to a majority we need to be in a coalition. How is a coalition best held together? Oh, parties. Shit, we're right back in it, aren't we?

Coalitions can not be formed if the party disrespects, dismisses, and insults the majority of the voters they need. In this case, ya'll need us.

We are quite content to vote third party, sit out particular local, state, and national elections, and push for new progressive candidates to challenge the status quo.

You are an authoritarian that believe the it is top down from the party to the voters. You could not be more wrong.

The 45% of the country calling themselves independents doesn't have a single unifying ideology. Stop pretending that there is this mass unified movement. There is no such thing.

Secondly, your views and my views on most issues are actually probably pretty close to the same with possible slight numerical differences.

Thirdly, "the party" is comprised of its members. There isn't a cabal telling us all what to think. It's a free association. However, it's the organization of these people who make winning elections possible. A crowd-sourced people's movement will not hang together without the party or at least a party structure.

Since the Democratic Party is pretty much where you are on issues, whether you acknowledge it or not, doesn't it make more sense to try to register and become a majority of the party's membership in any case? Bernie wasn't *that* far off from doing so. Another couple of pushes and you're there. What's the point of this "destroy the parties" nonsense?

and communicating nothing.

Leftists are leftists dude. Look at that big picture for just a moment and realize that the reason the independents have grown is because they have left the Democratic (and Republican) parties.

They are not disagreeable factions as you would like to pretend. I know that gives you some comfort believing it is true. But it is not. Sanders espouses traditional progressive pre-DLC New Dem Democratic ideology, positions, and policies. Independents from the left have all agreed he is the correct candidate because of this.

There is no change from within without money, power, and influence. Wall Street and the Clinton Machine have that, we the people do not.

he's even sort of endorsed her. Maybe she goes to his family weddings too.

And, trust the people rather than the bosses.

Independent Underground is on the next street over.

The paradise that currently exists in Europe, with their austerity policies and racist parties?

No democratic system leads to perfection and all allow choices. Oftentimes your choice is not the one many others make.