I am a member of the Democratic Party... Are you??

[AdamGG]

92. I consider myself a Democrat but register Independent because Massachusetts is an open primary state

I think that's the most effective position to take, in my situation. In years like 2000, when I didn't have a strong preference between Al Gore & Bill Bradley, it allowed me to vote in the Republican primary for John McCain against George Bush (the pre Sarah Palin, Jerry Falwell is an agent of intolerance, refuse to speak at Bob Jones Univ. John McCain). McCain beat Bush 75/25 in that primary because of all the Democrats who crossed over.

Being registered as an independent allowed me to vote in the Republican primary for Bill Weld as governor and help assure that he was the nominee instead of the pro-life candidate that was the alternative.

In general elections, I've voted for every Democratic Presidential nominee since 1988 (first time I voted), but I think it can be smart to retain the added leverage of being an independent. People here often fault Bernie Sanders for this, but so long as he caucuses with the Senate Democrats to add to their number and has a voting record that's consistent with Democratic Party values, I don't have a problem with it.

There's a long tradition of politicians from northern New England doing this and people rarely give Angus King shit about it. Bernie has just hit a nerve by running against Hillary in 2016. He endorsed her when the primaries were over and was unambiguous about what a nightmare Trump was, and I'm not sure it's fair that he gets the blame for the Susan Sarandons out there, who refused to coalesce behind Hillary.