Roaming Between Parties
Podcast Script
NAT POP (:06)
RT (:10)
Sara Stavile (STAH-VEEL) was raised to be informed. So she was excited for her first election. But she quickly discovered that though she considered herself a Democrat, there were some things about Obama’s politics that she couldn’t quite reconcile.
SOT (:06)
Sara Stavile
Emory Undergraduate Student, Alternate Party Member
And like, someone asked me, like, who I was going to vote for, and I was like, I really don’t know. You know, I might just vote independent. And they got so mad at me.
RT (:09)
Since that idea seemed pretty unpopular, Stavile ultimately voted for Obama. But over the past year, her political independence has grown. And now she calls herself a member of the Green Party.
SOT (:06)
Sara Stavile
Emory Undergraduate Student, Alternate Party Member
I just decided that it’s better to vote more along what I believe.
RT (:26)
Stavile’s not the only one reassessing her political standing.
An August 2013 study from the Pew Research Center shows that at least half of Americans have an unfavorable view of both parties. The number of independent citizens has shot from 30 percent in 2000 to 38 percent in 2012.
And since the majority of Americans now disapproves of both parties, the base of the country’s political system is growing shaky.
Alan Abramowitz (AB-RAM-OH-WITS), a professor of political science at Emory University, says he’s even seeing splits within the parties.
SOT (:14)
Alan Abramowitz
Professor of Political Science, Emory University
There certainly is some, you know, discontent right now with the way that the extreme conservatives have pushed the party further and further away from the center. And there is an element within the Democratic party that are, I think, pretty unhappy with some of the things that Obama’s done.
RT (:12)
This growing cynicism can lead some, like Stavile, to want to help find an alternative to the two-party system.
But others, like Jana (YAH-NAH) Muschinski (MOO-SHIN-SKEE), see their frustration become disenchantment.
She’s also reevaluating her alignment, but in a more apathetic way.
SOT (:07)
Jana Muschinski
Emory Undergraduate Student, Uninvolved Politically
I consider myself a Democrat, but then on both sides you see a lot of hypocritical things, so I don’t really even know.
RT (:10)
There are many others who don’t know.
But they’re not all as independent as Stavile.
Many would rather ensure their vote will count than simply use it to make a statement, like self-proclaimed rough Democrat Tarrek (TEAR-ECK) Shaban (SHAW-BAWN).
SOT (:09)
Tarrek Shaban
Emory Undergraduate Student, Tentative Democrat
It’s been more and more difficult to associate with one political party. I consider myself independent of thought. But if you’re not aligned with one party, your vote doesn’t matter.
RT (:10)
And though many are reconsidering their politics, sometimes that switch only creates an even more pronounced split.
Like Olivia Walser, who was raised conservative, but now considers herself a die-hard liberal.
SOT (:07)
Olivia Walser
Western Michigan University Undergraduate Student, Reformed Politically
They can’t hold on to these old-world values and try to impose them on everybody else just because you think that they’re correct.
RT (:15)
Abramowitz says it’s hard to say what will come of this rift in the next election.
He notes that America has gone through phases like this before: and they’ve concluded with a war, like what happened in the Civil War, or one party, quote, winning.
But as for Stavile, she knows her party probably won’t for a while. But she doesn’t see that as a reason to stop supporting it.
SOT (:09)
Sara Stavile
Emory Undergraduate Student, Alternate Party Member
I would like to think that if these people did get a chance to do it, with the immense amount of dedication that they put into their campaigns that they’d really be wanting to live up to those promises.
RT (:02)
Emelia Fredlick, Emory News Now.
RT (:10)
Sara Stavile (STAH-VEEL) was raised to be informed. So she was excited for her first election. But she quickly discovered that though she considered herself a Democrat, there were some things about Obama’s politics that she couldn’t quite reconcile.
SOT (:06)
Sara Stavile
Emory Undergraduate Student, Alternate Party Member
And like, someone asked me, like, who I was going to vote for, and I was like, I really don’t know. You know, I might just vote independent. And they got so mad at me.
RT (:09)
Since that idea seemed pretty unpopular, Stavile ultimately voted for Obama. But over the past year, her political independence has grown. And now she calls herself a member of the Green Party.
SOT (:06)
Sara Stavile
Emory Undergraduate Student, Alternate Party Member
I just decided that it’s better to vote more along what I believe.
RT (:26)
Stavile’s not the only one reassessing her political standing.
An August 2013 study from the Pew Research Center shows that at least half of Americans have an unfavorable view of both parties. The number of independent citizens has shot from 30 percent in 2000 to 38 percent in 2012.
And since the majority of Americans now disapproves of both parties, the base of the country’s political system is growing shaky.
Alan Abramowitz (AB-RAM-OH-WITS), a professor of political science at Emory University, says he’s even seeing splits within the parties.
SOT (:14)
Alan Abramowitz
Professor of Political Science, Emory University
There certainly is some, you know, discontent right now with the way that the extreme conservatives have pushed the party further and further away from the center. And there is an element within the Democratic party that are, I think, pretty unhappy with some of the things that Obama’s done.
RT (:12)
This growing cynicism can lead some, like Stavile, to want to help find an alternative to the two-party system.
But others, like Jana (YAH-NAH) Muschinski (MOO-SHIN-SKEE), see their frustration become disenchantment.
She’s also reevaluating her alignment, but in a more apathetic way.
SOT (:07)
Jana Muschinski
Emory Undergraduate Student, Uninvolved Politically
I consider myself a Democrat, but then on both sides you see a lot of hypocritical things, so I don’t really even know.
RT (:10)
There are many others who don’t know.
But they’re not all as independent as Stavile.
Many would rather ensure their vote will count than simply use it to make a statement, like self-proclaimed rough Democrat Tarrek (TEAR-ECK) Shaban (SHAW-BAWN).
SOT (:09)
Tarrek Shaban
Emory Undergraduate Student, Tentative Democrat
It’s been more and more difficult to associate with one political party. I consider myself independent of thought. But if you’re not aligned with one party, your vote doesn’t matter.
RT (:10)
And though many are reconsidering their politics, sometimes that switch only creates an even more pronounced split.
Like Olivia Walser, who was raised conservative, but now considers herself a die-hard liberal.
SOT (:07)
Olivia Walser
Western Michigan University Undergraduate Student, Reformed Politically
They can’t hold on to these old-world values and try to impose them on everybody else just because you think that they’re correct.
RT (:15)
Abramowitz says it’s hard to say what will come of this rift in the next election.
He notes that America has gone through phases like this before: and they’ve concluded with a war, like what happened in the Civil War, or one party, quote, winning.
But as for Stavile, she knows her party probably won’t for a while. But she doesn’t see that as a reason to stop supporting it.
SOT (:09)
Sara Stavile
Emory Undergraduate Student, Alternate Party Member
I would like to think that if these people did get a chance to do it, with the immense amount of dedication that they put into their campaigns that they’d really be wanting to live up to those promises.
RT (:02)
Emelia Fredlick, Emory News Now.