Time for a moderate party. Where we fight for human rights AND financial responsibility. Where Science and Logic are King. Where we constantly strive to get better, fix mistakes and try new things. Where we work towards solutions rather than assigning blame. Where we are happy to be wrong, if another party gets it right. Where we are worried about doing the right thing rather than worried about getting re-elected.

I recently returned to the republican party after being an Independent for over 30 years. Reagan, the religious right, and the "moral majority" ran me off back in '83.
I went back because I got really tired of doing nothing but bitching about how
truly heinous the GOP has become.
Instead of just bitching, which does absolutely NO good at all, I'm going back in
to effect change from the inside.
Granted, it's definitely an uphill battle, especially here in the Deep South bible-belt, but anything worth doing is going to take hard work.
I want religion out of politics entirely. I want the tax-exempt status of all churches to be revoked. I want the conservative, regressive policies of the current incarnation of the party to cease.
So, if I want those things, it's incumbent on me to get in there and work toward that. Complaining about it accomplishes NOTHING, and has gotten us to where
we are now.

I'm registered as a Republican. I never vote straight ticket. I don't consider myself a member of the party. What it has become is.....shallow. But then again, shallow, pathetic souls who don't even understand their inner selves, let alone the complex world outside of them....well they need somewhere to go .

I suppose the reasons I registered and voted the way I do has to do with economics. But that along with everything else has changed. The invisible hand no longer is a viable solution (if it ever was) . Reckless de-regulation does not work when there is little respect for the laws. The takeover by religious zealots is the most most frightening of all. Faux Patriotism. Willful Ignorance.

Here's my favorite: The RepublicanTs have convinced millions that the Poor People have all of their money. Count me out of that crowd.

Today is a new day.

A number of people who were staunch republicans are now speaking up in the various news outlets about how they can no longer - in good conscience - call themselves republicans. They are very disappointed in how the party has been taken hostage by a group of people who do not follow politics normally - who absolute adore reality TV - and heard Trump say "vote for me and I'll give you all the best reality TV show you've ever seen". That was all it took. They don't care how badly he screws everything up - they just want to be entertained. And they are - he didn't disappoint - his tweets are like crack to his his base. It is going to take a long time to undue all of the damage that he will have done. The people who I hold in serious contempt are the GOP members of Congress who are so TERRIFIED of being primaried this November they are willing to simply crawl under a rock and hide until the November mid-terms. Having said all that - the most appalling fact is that something like 49% of the american public did not even bother to vote....

If you go back far enough in time, the Republicans used to be the liberals left-wingers of the United States, while the Democrats were the right-wing conservatives. It's really interesting to see how political parties change over time.

Join Bernie Sanders Party and rock both worlds.

Not sure if my two cents is worth much but some if it has to do with the cultural war. It seems people are given fewer and fewer options today. One must either be one one side or the other. We need a centrist party not given over to either a political or religious ideology.

I'm a conservative Republican, but now registered as a Libertarian. My Republican values are from the Reagan years. I hope the Republican Party returns to a more centric, and logical philosophy. I hope, but I'm not optimistic.

Based upon their actions, I don't understand how anyone can reconcile belonging to either party.

Based on the only conservative I’ve conversed with on this site, maybe they don’t… maybe they’ve bought into the conspiracy as a way to protect… well… that’s the part I haven’t figured out. Racism? Bigotry? Misogyny? This guy likes to blame Hillary and Obama for pretty much everything, right down to the Great Ice Age. Although, to be honest, I can’t tell if he’s really just a troll or if he is what he claims to be. He strikes me as a troll. He sounds like a troll.

I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.

Groucho Marx

The short answer is about 40 years ago the Republican party was losing most of its voting power. In order to stay relevant they needed to draw in a new crowd and they found it in the religious right. At the time very small percentages of Republican leadership actually cared about Christian values it was merely a PR matter. One could argue that this is still the case but less publicly honest.

You don't remain in either party...that's how. Republicans long ago abandoned fiscal responsibility - and I still can't figure out what Democrats stand for - other than being anti-Republicans.

Not that there are other great options out there. I like some things the Libertarians like - but then they go off the rails on others. Same goes for the Progressives. The Green Party totally loses me.

There is no solution for those of us who's politics are a little from column A, B, C, D, E, and so on - that aren't defined by one ideology. I hate ideologies, they turn into dogmas, and there is a reason I'm an atheist.

I look forward to the responses.

If you don't get much of a response, you might try asking in the conservative atheists or conservative republican (I think?) group...but don't be surprised when the start in with the 3rd grade name calling, it's pretty common with a few of those folks.

There is no good answer to this conundrum. I personally am an independent. i vote Dem when they are for certain freedoms. I vote Rep when they are progressive and not a religious nut. But yeah man they are really ruining the party.

The question which concerns me more is whether people have become more focused on the labels than what people really stand for and support.

In Canada, i believe that party membership is still not the determining factor for how people vote or who they support. I hope that is the norm, and not just my impression.

I refuse to be put in any political box, and when asked, answer that I am a fiscal conservative with socialist tendencies which prioritize ensuring that all people have adequate housing, food, educational, and success-determining opportunities.

Balance is all in my view; so for example, if military budgets mean reduced supports so some people are left out and fall though societal cracks, I refuse to support any politicians who put politics before the needs of some Canadians.

So i guess i would myself a political hybrid. LOL

We are saturated with malignant integration that has strangled and nearly asphyxiated individual thought and reasoning. The danger comes from both Left and Right. If one considers the ways in which "public education" has morphed into regimented indoctrination it is a huge clue to at least one of the causes.

Younger people don't possess the perspective of those of us who developed relatively free of such captivity. Society has always afflicted the young with mores, most of religious origin, withing which we could navigate as individuals. Today? There is no tolerance on the fringes of the Left or Right for differences or criticism. Another thing that both kinds of fanaticism demonstrate that is most threatening to personal liberty is willingness to violate Constitutional principles and protections in any ways necessary to advance their respective ideologies.

At least the Left is more honest about it; stating their contempt for the document and the philosophy upon which it rests. The theological fanatics on the Right swear they cherish the Constitution until it gets in the way of theocratic nonsense they wish to make into public laws punishing and limiting the liberty of others.

Nowhere is it required for people to 'belong' to ANY political party or to be exclusive wards of this or that ideology as a requirement for validity of personal ideas and reasoning. One can agree with one herd on one issue and with the other on a different issue and be equally hated and indicted as a dupe or loved as a sage. It's disgusting.

Fortunately, NEITHER PARTY OR FRINGE ever elects our chief executive. They only comprise about 40 + or - % respectively of the electorate anyway. The only control they have is over who gets nominated while we in the middle determine which of their choices stinks less than the other. Last election, the process escaped them a bit and even though the winner is about as corrupt and opportunistic as any compromised, pedigreed politician, they are in full panic because they can't get a handle on him. Very entertaining to watch.

The national hiring process of choosing a leader has degraded to hero worship or hatred akin to the archaic 'Punch and Judy' puppet shows.

My two bosses claim to be economic conservatives. They simply ignore that the evangelical, and Fascist wings even exist.

I see were you are coming from. The republican party has moved to religion not liberty. They spout out religion like it is a polictical party but according the constitution no state sponsered or backed religion. No laws shall be made on only religion alone. How can someone be a republican today who cares about others or even supports the constution of The United States. Equal rights for all! Yes I know it never has been but does not mean we can not strive to make it true!

It is called selective belief without any morals or values.

You don't. The party as you knew it is dead. Move on, find another.

It seems to me that the whole left v right debate that has polarised politics is merely a blindfold for the people. Real politics are too complex to be captured in such a limited array of choices and views, and that the American system has come down to that choice shows how broken it is and how almost nobody stands for their principles in politics.

Personally speaking I am a Lefty Libertarian which sound like a contradiction in terms but it actually isn't. Part of being a Libertarian is supposed to involve social responsibility but that seems to have gone out of fashion with the current Right Wingers, Republitards and Libertarians alike. Democrats seem to just want all the money and power for themselves to mete out as they see fit, which translates as most of the money for themselves and their friends with a few scraps tossed to the special interest groups. It makes more sense to me to take care of all members of society and especially those who are most vulnerable than to build a police state that profits from incarcerating people, it's not civilized or humane and frankly it is bad business because incarceration and policing is expensive. Ultimately, the whole system is unworkable because with only 2 parties it is just too easy for big money interests to buy off both sides and have them work for the good of the few instead of the good of the many. 3 crooks are better than two because two will eventually come to an understanding that is to their mutual benefit but 3 is one too many and being crooks they can't trust two opponents so they keep each other at least a little bit honest and that benefits the many.

Republicans are all motivated by money and control. Any one of them that claims their reasons are religious are just lying to themselves