I am a moderate democrat. I have voted for both republicans and democrats. I look at the candidate and see where he or she stands on the issues that are important to me.

Recently in Connecticut, the democrats selected Ned Lamont as their nominee for the United States Senate. Mr. Lamont defeated three-term incumbent Joe Lieberman. The vote was 52% to 48%. However, not long ago, Mr. Lamont was trailing Senator Lieberman by over 40% in some of the polls. Approximately 50% of the democrat party voted in the primary. Generally speaking, a primary only draws approximately 25% of eligible voters.

Since the primary election, various pundits have talked or written about how either the democrat party has shown a winning strategy or how the party is going to lose. I have read a variety of op-ed pieces, letters to the editor and blogs authored by conservatives, moderates and liberals. Some argued that Lieberman was not in touch with his state, well others stated that it was a referendum on President Bush. Either way Senator Lieberman lost and should step aside. I know that Ned Lamont pledged that if he lost the primary that he would support Joe Lieberman. The democrats of Connecticut have spoken!

On the same day that Lamont defeated Lieberman, a moderate named Hank Johnson defeated liberal Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney for the democrat party nomination in a Georgia house race. Moderate republican Congressman Joe Schwarz lost his bid for his party’s nomination to conservative Tim Walberg.

In the past, when a republican incumbent has lost his party’s nomination, I have always heard that he or she did not represent the values of their party. I guess the same can be said for Senator Lieberman and Representatives McKinney and Schwarz. None of them reflect their party’s values. However, does this mean there are only national party values or can there be regional or even local values for a political party? I believe in the latter and that the aforementioned races reflect that local and regional trumps national party views.

In the different regions of our country, different factors need to be taken into account. Generally speaking, the northeast is more liberal, whether you are a democrat or a republican. In other words, Senator Trent Lott from Mississippi wouldn’t stand a chance in being elected in Rhode Island as Senator Lincoln Chaffe would never win a senatorial race in Mississippi. Both are republicans but have different views that are reflective of their own states.

The same goes for Democrats. California Senator Boxer would be to Liberal for Louisiana, although democrat Senator Mary L. Landrie represents Louisiana in the United States senate. Once again, both are democrats, but have different views that are reflected in the states they each represent.

I have heard that the “net roots” were a liberal conspiracy to take over the democrat party. Let’s set the record straight! Prior to the net roots supporting Ned Lamont, they were supporting democrat nominee Bob Casey in his race against Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. Casey is a conservative democrat. In Virginia, Jim Webb a former republican and Reagan administration official, who is now a democrat is being supported by the net roots in his race against Senator George Allen. If the net roots were only supporting a specific type of candidate, then why would they be working on behalf of all three aforementioned democrats, who are reflective of the entire political spectrum?

In Rhode Island which is a blue state, liberal republican Senator Lincoln Chaffe is in a tough primary race against a conservative opponent. Senator Chaffe voted against going to Iraq and voted against confirming Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. It is well anticipated that if Senator Chaffe is not the republican nomination, then the democrat nominee will win the election and the democrats will take back one more seat in the United States senate.

In the 2004 election, Indiana -a red state- reelected democrat Evan Bayh to another term in the United States senate, while giving all of its electoral votes to President Bush. Indiana sent a democrat to the senate and returned a republican to the white house. n interesting fact is that Bayh received more votes than Bush.

Voters are starting to become less inclined to vote party line. This is evident given the fact that the fastest growing political party is the “declined to states.” The voters do not want to be associated with either major political party. Instead, they want to see who the candidates are before deciding who to vote for.

Between now and November, you will have to decide which issues are important to themselves ,whether it is the culture of corruption, cut and run, health care, minimum wage or a host of other issues. More importantly, after you have decided you need to vote for the candidate that best represents your views.

Michael Cruz