[Coda]

For the record, my political affiliation isn't along party lines at all.

I'm fiscally conservative, that is, I believe that the federal government should be small, federal taxes should be brought down to the lowest sustainable level (but no lower!), and most programs should be administered at the state level, even though this means state taxes have to go up; as the third-largest country in the world, the US is too large to administer matters of regional concern with efficiency and fairness.

But I'm socially liberal, that is, I believe that the federal government has a responsibility to ensure that all citizens are treated fairly, to protect minorities from oppressive local majorities, and to make sure that all states conform to certain guidelines of public well-being.

There is no candidate for me. There's a party for me -- the Libertarian party nominally has the same political stance, but not only are they too weak to ever get anyone elected, they're a little bit too radical for my comfort.

So this leaves me in every election looking for leaders that are centrist enough to do what's right instead of pushing for their party's platform.