Opinion: Independent and on the sidelines

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Someone from Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign called me a few evenings ago to urge me to vote for him in the Democratic primary Feb. 5. I told her that I’m a registered independent, not a Democrat, and she said that didn’t matter, I could request a Democratic ballot. True enough. Still, I told her I’d rather let Democrats choose for themselves.

Granted, that won’t stop me from joining in the editorial board’s discussions about endorsements, which admittedly are designed to influence the choices made by Democrats and Republicans. Those endorsements, though, will be based on a broad policy framework we laid out in a series of editorials. Primary voters, by contrast, are likely to judge each candidate by his or her stance on the handful of issues most important to their families at the moment.

But I digress. I don’t think independents should vote in party primaries because doing so dims the already slim prospects for a true contest of ideas in November. There’s a real difference between what the two major parties stand for, and no one understands that better than the party faithful. For example, when asked what taxes are for, a Republican might say ‘To keep the government running,’ while a Democrat might say, ‘To help those at the bottom of the economic ladder.’ Of course, Republicans like using taxes for social policy, too -- witness the child tax credit, enterprise zones, R&D tax credits, etc. But the only candidates in this campaign advocating a flat tax -- i.e., a tax whose sole purpose is to raise revenue -- have been Republicans.

By contrast, a complaint often heard from independents is that Republicans and Democrats seem too much alike. And there are any number of topics that inspire the similar rhetoric from leading candidates on both sides. Nobody’s talking about de-emphasizing border security, for instance. But on other issues, the differences are apparent to those who care deeply about the policies. Again, taxes are a good example. So is the role of the courts. And so is the extent to which problems caused by the free market are left to the market to solve.

That’s why I disagreed with the independents and analysts quoted in this front-page story who argued that the Republicans’ closed primary in California was a tactical error. I think the GOP’s move was in the party’s interest, and I only wish the Democrats had done the same. Let Republicans and Democrats, who truly understand the policy underpinnings of their party, separately pick the candidate who best represents them. Then let the nominees try to sell their competing vision to the folks in the middle. That’s how real mandates are created.