So I've never joined a party. But I almost always have voted Republican. My question is, does this mean he would have voted for Hillary if he had to do it all over again? Does this mean he'd vote for Bernie in the next election? Would he choose to not vote at all? Unless he answers those questions, I'm like meh... Most likely he would not vote. The candidates we are presented with all suck. You either hold your nose and pull the lever or sit out.

here is what he said:

"I have spent much of my life working in GOP politics. I have always believed that both parties were two of the most important institutions to the advancement of human freedom and dignity in the history of the world. Today the GOP has become a danger to our democracy and values."

accordingly,

"This Independent voter will be aligned with the only party left in America that stands for what is right and decent and remains fidelitous to our Republic, objective truth, the rule of law and our Allies. That party is the Democratic Party."

he's voting democrat.

"I do not say this as an advocate of a progressive agenda. I say it as someone who retains belief in DEMOCRACY and decency,"

---

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

then I guess he and Schmidt don't agree. Schmidts alternative is the D party. Because he's such a principled guy. And the R party left him.

This happened with Reagan once upon a time. We will see if the impact is as great.

Yep, top to bottom they all suck. Schmidt is an opportunist, the guy was crucified for how he handled McCain/Palin and has been looking for attention ever since. Scarborough is the same. The guy was a putz, he had no chance to be re-elected so he sold his sole, dumped his wife and family and took a job at MSNBC. There are a lot of people like him in both parties, all in DC. Guys who just want notoriety who will say and do anything to get attention and make a buck or two.

As for Trump, he isn't a Conservative nor is he really a Republican. That's why so many Obama voters pulled the lever for him. Listen to his rhetoric during the campaign on economic issues. He has more in common with Bernie Sanders then the Bush's. Most of those populating ST won't understand, maybe they need to read a book (The Great Revolt) to see why we have Donald Trump as President. I suggest the conservatives on this site do the same. Had Bernie Sanders not been blocked by the party structure he could very well have defeated Donald Trump. Bernie likely would have defeated Teddy Cruz or any other Republican.

Read the book, listen to what the people interviewed have to say, in most cases they aren't Republicans. Many were/are solid Democratic Party voters. Sadly DC, the media and most on this forum still don't understand what happened. Because of that fact, expect Donald Trump, or someone like him (Bernie?) to win in 2020. You can't keep killing the middle class and blue collar worker and not expect that they will eventually stand up and fight back.

As for George Will and the others. Establishment East Coast Republicans, they hated Ronald Reagan. The Bush's hated Ronald Reagan. Re-writing the history of how they felt about Reagan when he was running won't change all the history readily available. They loathed the man, the people, the same ones who voted in Trump, voted in Reagan in his first election. Is Trump Reagan? Of course not, but citing East Coast Republican's as the standard bearers for the party, thats laughable.

I'm all for playing, but you really gotta do better. That's not witty, funny, or intelligent. I'm sure you can do better.

Yeah, yeah. The point wasn't that Schmidt is going to start a new party. It's that it'd be nice if people in general started signalling like this that allegiance to party in the U.S. isn't like allegiance to party in a communist state. There should be no worship. Party membership, in my ideal world, should be a loose coupling, not blood-in/blood-out. People should be able to disagree with part of the platform without being ridiculed and called a "RINO."

Your central premise in posting in this forum seems hate-centered. You seem to have this belief of everyone hating everyone else, and it seems to really bother you. That must be a difficult way to view the world.

OK.....just......I don't think you are following Schmidt or Slowman. See Slowman's post #27 above and what Schmidt said. Appears to me he thinks parties and party loyalty are really important. He's just switching his.

add Nicole Wallace to the list