Being A Democrat

I have been a Democrat since I registered to vote many years ago. Today, I question why I remain in the party. After all, most people today are registering as an Independent or Unaffiliated. Doing so sends the message that neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party is meeting the needs of the people.
In my party I've seen corruption that sickens me. Meg Scott Phipps in prison because of a political payoff. Jim Black in jail for having his vote and assistance bought. And, this week we learned Governor Mike Easley's closest aide, Ruffin Poole is facing a 51-count indictment on a variety of federal charges involving political payoff. Poole is presumed innocent of the charges. I predict that others will be indicted before this investigation is complete.
In Washington, DC my party is trying to ramrod a health care bill toward passage by buying the votes of other state senators and the union with taxpayers money. They are trying to pass a bill that the majority of Americans do not want. They are attempting to approve a bill that few have read because it is a bill so complex no one really knows what it will do.
When I look at the Republican Party, I don't find a much better alternative. Why? Because many Republicans have done little to bring forth compromise and have been as guilty as Democrats in caring more about their seats and padding their own pockets than they have been serving the citizenry.
I predict some real upsets in 2010 because of all the unrest in the Country. I predict that upsets will filter down to what have been Democratic-safe state houses. Elected officials once thought shoo-ins for their offices may very well learn a different story from an electorate that's mad about taxes and the lack of jobs, not to mention health care.
Those who believe taxes can be raised and jobs will follow have never taken an economics course. And, those who do believe that's possible don't need to represent us in Congress or in the State House.
So, today, I am pondering my party affiliation. I am questioning it, for not only the reasons above, but also because those elected to represent me do not represent my feelings and are hard to communicate with.
What will I do? Will I stay and argue for change within my party. Will I jump to the Republican Party? Will I become an Independent?
As a newspaper friend of mine once wrote in an editorial, "My party has left me." That's the way I feel today, and have for some time now.