For most of my life (I'm 58), I was a registered Democrat. Then I tired of the political bickering and frankly seeing Democrats engaging in corrupt and inept behavior themselves, so I switched to Independent. I still maintained a liberal frame of mind and voted for Democrats, but never had I ever considered putting an 'R' after my name. Until recently...
You see, I live in Florida. Our Republican governor, Charlie Crist, is running for Senator this year. Normally, I wouldn't care. I'd vote for the Democrat because that side generally aligns with the way I see the world. But this election, the Democratic candidate for Senate is a relative unknown who doesn't have much of a chance in my opinion. I wouldn't mind being surprised, though.
Anyway, Charlie Crist is a moderate Republican, and he has mostly governed that way. This makes him practically on the extinction list as far as the wingnuts are concerned. So Crist faces a primary challenge from the tea party/Jeb Bush/right-wing approved candidate, Marco Rubio. I just couldn't stand another term of Jeb Bush in drag. So I figured that I had to do what had always been unthinkable to me - register Republican. That way I can vote for Crist in the Republican primary. Hence, the R now after my name.
Now it seems very likely that Crist will go Independent. Which would be fantastic and make him that rarest of all politicians - a centrist. Or close to one. That puts Florida on the map as potentially slapping down the teabag people - either through an Independent Crist or a victorious Democrat (less likely.) Considering the alternatives, I say, go Charlie!
As an independent candidate, Crist doesn't need to go through a primary. But I think I'll keep my R for a while just to make sure.