Kaine, I suppose it’s that way for a lot of folks. My first presidential vote came in 1968 when one had to be 21 years old to vote. For the most part, I had my druthers, but if my druther didn’t win, I was fine with that as I viewed both competent and worthy of the office of the presidency. That was true until 2016 when I considered both major party candidates unworthy of the office. I voted third party against both. I wasn’t alone as 6% of the electorate did exactly that, some 8.2 million voters.
I don’t think centrist is a word that applies to me. I have a long history of supporting republicans on some issues, opposing them on others. The same for the Democrats, supporting them on some, opposing them on others. I’m more of a middle of the road guy, one who favors compromise to keep things moving forward. Not in gigantic leaps, but in slow steady steps. I believe there’s always a middle ground. Only today, in our present modern political era of polarization, the great divide, the super, mega, ultra-high partisanship, reaching that middle ground, compromise has become impossible.
