I'm not a Democrat.  I'm a reformed Republican who's now an Independent.  I'm the voter the Democrats need to lure in, along with millions of others like me.  We're a growing number.  We can't be Republicans any more for reasons I won't even bother to enumerate here because it's so obvious to those who post and read on this site.  We can't be Democrats, either.  The reasons for that are myriad.  My daughter, who is gay, won't be a Democrat because of gun control issues.  She lives in New Jersey, and calls at least once a week to rant about the backward gun laws.  My son can't be a Democrat because he's too socially conservative.  That's not to say that he has a problem with gay people or people of color.  He just thinks the Democrats aren't practical when it comes to some of their social policies.  I can't be a Democrat because as a political party, I don't think they're any better than the Republicans.