What a Difference a Decade Makes

In 2000, the Maryland Republican Party opened it's primary system and allowed registered Independents to caucus with them. In 2010, the Republican Party again turned its' back on Independents and Tea Party supporters, and slavishly shut them out of the election process, reducing their political representation rights to a choice between "confirming" the "lesser of two evils", the de facto Democratic and Republican nominees.

Registered Independents in Maryland total one in seven voters. Given the vast voter registration gap in Maryland of Democrats over Republicans, can the RNC continue to afford to alienate and abuse one in seven Maryland voters? And at what point does this ill treatment lead to a third party challenge?

Independents in Maryland deserve a voice in the political process beginning with inception. If the mainstream parties won't give it to them, then perhaps Independents need to rethink their role in the political process, from merely affirming to actively competing. You can bet your bottom dollar that if a viable Independent third party were to organize and emerge, that the existing narcissistic Republican Party wouldn't last very long.

In the absence of a viable 3rd party run, Independents should consider voting Democratic until the RNC reconsiders its' policy. And beginning in 2012, that's EXACTLY what they should do.