Demlicans or Republicrats?

Marion Pellicano Ambrose

I’ve decided to form a new political party!  I think I’ll call it the Republicrat Party ( or the Demlicans – we can vote on it later).  I came to this decision recently and as a result of a post I made on my profile. It set off a bit of a debate between me and a dear friend of mine. Fortunately for me, this friend is an educated, mature woman who, although she strongly disagreed with my post, didn’t let it offend her or influence our friendship. I was greatly relieved, and it gave me pause to think.

Why is everything so black white these days?  Maybe I’m naive but I don’t remember people being at such opposite ends of the pole (or poll, pardon the pun) in the past.  I was a Democrat for most of my adult life and just recently changed my registration to Republican, but I’m still not happy.

I joined a political “club” for professional women at the suggestion of a good friend. They do some wonderful things to support the troops and promote patriotism in schools. Sounded good to me! After I joined, went to a wonderful luncheon, paid my dues and met some lovely ladies. Soon after, I received the club “pledge” form. It stated that I would never support or vote for a candidate that was not officially supported by the Republican Party. WRONG! I vote for the person I believe will do the best job and who will support the things I believe in. I don’t care what party he or she belongs to. Why would all these well educated, professional women sign away their freedom to choose like that?  I have another friend who is a Democrat and votes for whatever the Democratic Party suggests. He doesn’t even read the information on the propositions or amendments he’s voting on! I just don’t get it.

So here’s my solution. We start this new political party where everyone gets to feel the way they choose without ridicule or attack from others. They can state their beliefs and others will listen and respect them, even if they don’t agree. Then the other person is free to so the same.  We learn to “agree to disagree” without bad feelings or resorting to character attacks and exaggeration or manipulation of facts. We demand that the press go back to printing only the facts without editorializing so we can make up our own minds. We won’t tolerate candidates trying to win your vote by slandering the other candidate, but rather by proving their worthiness by their actions and their own record.  We avoid websites, TV news programs, magazines and other sources that use abuse their positions to promote their own political agenda and defame another party’s point of view.

Crazy?  I know!  Imagine, an America where people are free to express themselves without fear of ridicule, to vote for what they believe in, to demand that politicians run on their own merit, and that slander, fabrication, misrepresentation of facts and prejudice would not be tolerated! Wouldn’t that be something?

So, are you with me? How many Demlicans or Repubicrats are out there?  You don’t have to pay dues or attend a luncheon to join. You won’t EVER have to sign a pledge to vote a certain way. All you have to do is listen to, respect and appreciate the views of others, and then they will do the same for you. If we decide to hold a convention, it would be a BBQ at the beach with lots of food, beer, friends and laughter, and the only politics that might come up would be a vote on where we’ll hold the next party!

Remember, no matter what party you belong to, there are things we all agree on. We love this country, we support and appreciate our troops, we long for world peace and we want a better life for our children.  

Let’s work together so that we can always say that we’re proud to be AMERICANS, not Democrats or Republicans.