Margie Maddox: Become an ‘informed’ voter

On April 7, one of the opinion pieces championed that “It’s time for the ‘unaffiliated’ party.” To me this is an oxymoron type of statement.

I have friends who share that “they always vote for the person” and “never the party.” I remember as a teenager hearing comments from adults regarding their reasons to vote for/against JFK: “he’s so cute!”; “his wife is so pretty!”; and even, “but he is a Catholic!”

Informed voters look past the trappings of an individual candidate and actually read the party’s platform, i.e.: What will the person really do if elected? Once elected, the person usually follows the party line when votes really matter on important issues.

Case in point, Pat McCrory as the smiling moderate Charlotte mayor who became the bathroom governor. Or, those who “talk tough” on TV or in the paper, but when the votes really count, vote exactly as the leader of their party tells them to. Why? Because they followed the party’s platform.

Rather than priding oneself on being an “unaffiliated” voter, why not become an “informed” one instead. Voters must vote their choice, but do so because they are informed and understand what the person will vote for if actually elected.

This story was originally published April 24, 2017 at 9:54 AM with the headline "Margie Maddox: Become an ‘informed’ voter."