Breaking out of the Independent Trap.

Full Disclosure – I am running as a Democrat for a seat in the Vermont State House for Grand Isle County and West Chittenden. Continued disclosure: although I have never been a member of either political party, I am have always been a reliable vote for the Democrats. With that out of the way...

In the past it has been easy to say that I am an Independent. It has been easy because it was very hard to actually see the difference between either party; neither party stood for me so it was hard to stand with either party. But there was and is more to it than simple policy – secretly it was both trendy to be Independent and also easy. But I think the days of being “Independent” have become irrelevant and dangerous. And I hope more independent thinkers will see what I mean.

Let me tell you why I felt it was fashionable. When I reached voter age Bill Clinton was running for his second term in office – as we all know, and I hope as we will remember, Bill Clinton was/is not a saint. Or so I was told. Being 18 years old I would have been open to buying the Brooklyn Bridge if the price was right. Nevertheless, the sage voices deriding Clinton were not wrong. Lucky me. So I determined that I would not associate with his party because his party was like the other party, although I did vote for Bill Clinton, and I registered as an Independent. From that time on until this cycle I was considered an independent and I was proud to be officially an independent – it felt like my voice was more reasonable than if I just fell in line and joined the party which I actually voted for year after year. It also let me embrace the budding anarchist/contrarian tumbling around in my baby brain - more on that another time. I was an independent and I was more open minded. Maybe. But when you are a young man, or rather this young man, you grab whatever ego defining symbol you can find and you hold on to it tightly until the storm of youth blows by or until something more fitting comes into reach.

Now let me tell you why it was easy for me to be an independent. Being “independent” meant I could disassociate from the jerks; I could throw my hands up and say like Ash from Armys of Darkness, “Wait a Minute. You got to understand, man. I never even saw these a--holes before.” And US politics makes this easy because, yes, most of them are jerks and a--holes. Pause for a second: Take a moment and think about the ego required to run for national office – the ego required to want that much prestige and power; to want to have that much control. Thought about it? What other words do you have for someone that ambitious. Obviously this isn't 100% true, but it is healthy, common sense cynicism. But I digress. So as an independent it was easy to throw up my hands in frustration and blame everyone while discounting your own apathy as inevitable given the circumstances. It was easy to be lazy and disengage even though I knew, we all know, that democracy requires engagement or it becomes held hostage by the powerful. It's just like exercising or eating healthy – we know we should do it. We know we can find the time to do it. But not enough of us Do It.

So logically, as an independent, I was a vocal supporter of Bernie Sanders – the Little Independent that Could. At a quick glance he legitimized my cynicism and I was only interested in the quick glance because Bill Clinton bombed a defenseless nation to distract us; because Bush was the illegitimate product of a coup perpetrated by the monarchs on the Supreme Court; because Obama quickly burned the public option which helped sweep him into office; because Hillary was demanding a dynasty.

And then came Trump. I didn't vote for Trump; I would never vote for Trump. He made a living as a con man and a crook. He fabricated a reputation of business acumen out of nothing. And all of this was well known to me prior to him ever declaring that he wanted to run in 2016. Nevertheless, I felt Trump couldn't be worse than Hillary – Hillary who laughed about how Gaddafi was killed – Trump might be so bad that we would never humor something quite so bad again. And to be fair, I am not sure he was worse than Hillary, but I am sure he tried to be. And the shock, didn't really come, or at least it didn't come from Trump.

Trump helped kill the “independent” in me but so did Bernie Sanders. With Trump it was obvious – the man tried, in plain view, to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power. Please take another pause: let me save you a little trouble, feel free to double check me, a peaceful transfer of power is one of the most if not most important aspects of the USA, or of any modern stable nation. Contested power is tantamount to horror and the revival of true “might makes right.” There is no romance to roving warlords and free companies all trying to take whatever power they can get from the powerless, which is a category that includes most of us. Traditionally, historically this is what happens when there is no peaceful transfer of power. So Trump's contribution to my independence from Independent status is obvious. Bernie Sanders' role, the Little Independent who Could, is a bit more nuanced. Bernie was a long serving Independent. But when he ran for President he ran as a democrat, was abused by the party, and then ran again as a democrat. I could understand the basic utility since realistically it is a two party system, but that utility went beyond simply being able to actually compete for office. Bernie as a democrat was able to bring his message to more people. The better he did the more people listened. And this was the true shock which shook the Independence in me, in the 2020 election cycle (prior to Jan 6.), the Democrats, to a candidate, where all running on Sanders' 2016 platform. He changed the conversation and expectations of a whole party. Bernie Sanders was and is an Independent, but Bernie Sanders does not throw up his hands and pout about being on the outside; he does what we all know we have to do – he engages. He agitates. He agitates. He agitates.

We all know or should know that you don't have to be involved in politics for politics to be involved with you. And when I was an Independent, it was easy for me care once a year since I knew nobody was going to stand with me for the rest of the year. But I have a family – my children are life's “Easy Button” in that they give me drive and purpose. I owe it to my kids, my family, and my community to at least try harder. This is a democracy and democracies require engagement. Saying I am Independent is no longer something I can stand behind. If I take a moment and look at the policy, it is easy to see who is more, stress MORE, on my side – the pro/con list is gravely titled towards the Democratic Party. Even when I disagree with the policy I don't doubt the intention. Can't say that about a lot of Republican policies – any party that needs to hide behind fear or tribalism has nothing productive to say. I am adult now, I don't care about fashionable and I don't have the time to wait for something better to come along.

My name is Luke Richter. I live Alburgh, Vermont. I love my wife. I love my kids. I love my community. If I think I can help, then I owe it to my community to step forward. I would probably make a crappy EMT (lots of reasonable reasons) but I still have a good head on my shoulders and we need to use what we got where we are needed. I am running for the Vermont State House as a Democrat for our district so that I can use what I got, while I got it, and make myself useful to our community.