Is it permissible to register as a Democrat?

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If one votes in a manner consistent with Catholic teaching, or abstains from voting, in elections, would it be permissible to register with a political party which has an official platform that accepts abortion and homosexual “marriage?”

I ask because I am about to register as a voter, and appreciate the social concerns that the Democratic Party of the U.S.A. has, as well as some of their economic stances. I very much approach political views issue-by-issue, rather than demonizing entire political platforms.

I realize also that in an election such as Jeb Bush vs. Hillary Clinton, I would either have to vote for Bush or abstain from the election, as painful as I expect that will be.

If it were considered evil to register with the Democratic party, I plan to register Independent.

Thank you!
 
I don’t see why you can’t.

Registering for a party does not mean you have to vote for them or support them financially or anything. The biggest benefit is voting in the primary elections to help choose the candidate for the Democrat party. As long as your vote is rooted in principals your registered party really doesn’t matter much.

I’d be a registered Independent too if it weren’t for the primaries. I don’t always vote with my registered party either.
 
You need not affiliate with a party.

If you do register, do you not think that doing so ensorses their stated platform? Do you think you can compartmentalize this decision and think it really doesn’t matter?
 
1ke said:
If you do register, do you not think that doing so ensorses their stated platform?
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I’ve thought about this before, and have previously concluded that it does not, but I could be very much in error. Again, I support a lot of their platform, but of course not abortion, gay “marriage,” or embryonic stem cell research.

Also realize, it might be difficult for me at first to accept an uncomfortable answer, but I do not wish to be difficult. If it truly is sinful to affiliate at all with the platform, I do not wish to do so.

Again, sorry if I give appearance of being difficult, my faith has been very much revived and strengthened lately and I am trying to make changes in many areas of my life to live in a way most pleasing to God.
 
Unless you live in a state with closed primaries, it really isn’t necessary to register with any party. I will say that when I lived in upstate NY, I registered as a Democrat because there were closed primaries and the local elections were dominated by the Democrats. So to have a voice in the primary for local elections, I had to register as a Democrat. Since local politics (city government and school board) mattered to me, I held my nose and registered for a party that never got my vote in state or national level elections.
 
I don’t think it’s sinful to be registered as a Democrat. It may even be useful to you to be able to vote against candidates you don’t like in Democratic primaries. The trouble is that, when voting for most national and even local candidates, it seems to me that the vast majority of them do endorse the party’s positions in favor of abortion and gay marriage and other evils.

I was a registered Democrat for a long time. But it became impossible for me to vote for any Dem because of their positions in support of intrinsic evils. It’s a far cry now from the party of JFK. (And even JFK did a grave disservice by appeasing the Baptisit ministerial association and effectively severing his religion from his political conscience. No one of any other faith has ever been expected to do that.)
 
Melissa said:
Unless you live in a state with closed primaries, it really isn’t necessary to register with any party. I will say that when I lived in upstate NY, I registered as a Democrat because there were closed primaries and the local elections were dominated by the Democrats. So to have a voice in the primary for local elections, I had to register as a Democrat. Since local politics (city government and school board) mattered to me, I held my nose and registered for a party that never got my vote in state or national level elections.
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Unfortunately Florida is a closed primary state. However, reflecting on the reality that it is rather unlikely that a pro-life Democrat would win nomination, I am very much convinced that it would be proper to register as no-affiliation. Thank you all so much for helping me in this matter! 🙂
 
1ke said:
You need not affiliate with a party.

If you do register, do you not think that doing so ensorses their stated platform? Do you think you can compartmentalize this decision and think it really doesn’t matter?
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Actually the way I look at it is this. For some people, the primary elections are where they have the most influence. For me, a registered Republican living in NY state, this is definitely the case, particularly with presidential elections. I know that my state is going to go for the Democrat in the general election. But if I can vote in the republican primary, at least I might help choose which candidate the red states will be voting for. When I was registered as an independent, I didn’t even have that - my one little November vote really felt useless. I imagine the same would be true of a democrat-minded person living in a place like Texas.

Also, participating in the primary process could potentially have an affect on what ends up in the platform. So I could see a situation where a pro-life person might want to register as a Democrat because they agree with more of their platform on the other issues, and so that they could vote for the pro-life democrat in primaries.
 
Profile said:
If one votes in a manner consistent with Catholic teaching, or abstains from voting, in elections, would it be permissible to register with a political party which has an official platform that accepts abortion and homosexual “marriage?”

I ask because I am about to register as a voter, and appreciate the social concerns that the Democratic Party of the U.S.A. has, as well as some of their economic stances. I very much approach political views issue-by-issue, rather than demonizing entire political platforms.

I realize also that in an election such as Jeb Bush vs. Hillary Clinton, I would either have to vote for Bush or abstain from the election, as painful as I expect that will be.

If it were considered evil to register with the Democratic party, I plan to register Independent.

Thank you!/QUO
Code: 
   I would love to comment on this subject... but being my first day here.... i better not.
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In some parts of the country, the real election is the Democratic Primary. This is especially true in the Borough of Manhattan in New York City. There are so few registered Republicans in the Lower East Side neighborhood, that there has not been a G.O.P. primary in over 100 years! The general election is merely a repeat of the De. Primary. Again, no Republican has won public office from either the LES or the East Village neighborhoods in the 20th Century. In fact, the Communist Party, USA candidate polled more votes than did Ronald Reagan in both of his Presidential campaigns!
All this goes to show you that the real election for most political offices is often the Democratic Primary. So if you live in a heavily Democratic Party area, don’t throw away your vote by registering as something else. You can always vote independantly in the General Election.
 
I’d have to go with George’s recommendations here. If you want to have any influence over the slate in the general election, and your state has closed primaries, it’s ludicrous to not take advantage of having some voice over who will be put on the ballot in the general election. You can only do that if you register with one of the major parties. You can vote however you wish in the general election: I have never voted for any particular candidate based on party. One year, when I liked neither the pro-abortion Democratic candidate nor the corporate-welfare-granting Republican candidate, in a fit of pique I wrote in “Mickey Mouse.”

Since the country has an electoral college, the popular vote only influences the electoral vote indirectly. “Mickey Mouse” would not have influenced the election either way, it was merely my statement of opinion.
 
The area I live in at the moment is largely Republican; In the last election, our county only voted for 1 Democrat, Bill Nelson. Again, there is difficulty with living in Florida because, being a swing state, and having possibilities for major Presidential candidates in 2016 (Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush) might give our votes much more impact than in the last two elections. Now, I will soon be moving to Tallahassee, which is likely more Democratic, so perhaps it would be sensible to register as a Democrat there as the elections in 2014 draw closer.

However, while the doubt persists, I think it would be wise to register as having no party.
Please pray for me.
 
I’m no priest or spiritual advisor (other than to my kids), but I don’t think you are in the area of sin. This is a matter of political philosophy. Is it more effective to make a statement in the democratic primary, or to make a statement that democratic registrations are declining? Think about what you think will be the most effective use of your registration, and save your moral worries for the specific candidates.

I register Republican reluctantly. Living in NY, I know that my say in the presidential election is almost completely useless. But there is a small chance that my vote in the primary will have an effect. However, I don’t love everything about the republican party, and I actually identify more with the Conservative party. So in the election, if a candidate is listed as both a repub. and a conservative, I will always vote the conservative ticket. It is my little way of making a statement that conservative ideas ought to have more attention paid. I don’t know if there is an equivalent situation for a pro-life democrat, but the idea is that there are multiple ways to make statements or have a small effect aside from just how you register.
 
First of all let me be straight forward and say that I am a conservative republican. I would highly suggest you research our party platforms! 😃
But in all seriousness and unbiasedness (is that even a word? lol), I would not recommend you do so mainly because of the heavy baggage that comes with it as you have mentioned. Why be associated with a party that hates what you morally stand for? I can understand that you may like their stances on economic and/ or defense issues because that is up to you, but the evil abortion, gay-pride, and other tags included aren’t as easy to justify. In my opinion it would be like aligning yourself with Hitler’s party because he hypothetically made a good point or two on economics. A few rights cannot right an entire wrong. Your best solutions would be to call yourself independent. Do you have to register to a certain party anways?
Please don’t take my post as anything against you. But I do thank you for voting judiciously and not just blindly voting democrat. I appreciate that. (And definately Hillary Clinton would not be a good person to vote in. She has some major confessions to be heard namely the Benghazi and abortion deaths on her hands.)
I would suggest you take the time to watch on youtube “Intolerant Democrats Deny God Three Times at DNC” posted by pajamasmedia and presented by the talented Alfonzo Rachel. You obviously don’t have to but if you have time it could be useful.
God bless and good luck on registering!
 
1ke said:
You need not affiliate with a party.

If you do register, do you not think that doing so ensorses their stated platform? Do you think you can compartmentalize this decision and think it really doesn’t matter?
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I’m not sure about it. There are only 2 major parties in the U.S. There are actually some Republican politicians that have strong and serious disagreements with the rest of their party (Ron Paul and Rand Paul come to mind), and I’m certain there are Democrats that are pro-life, and so on. I don’t think it hurts at all to have Democrats voting for pro-life Democrats in primaries. That would be good, actually.

Personally, I am registered as a Libertarian because I think that most accurately reflects the Church’s teachings, whether people agree with me or not…
 
I think I could change your mind about the economic policies of the Democrat party. 😛
However, it’s really up to you; I’d suggest researching both parties heavily.
I will say I’m impressed you don’t just vote blindly Democrat and are actually asking these questions for yourself! I’ve spent most of the night ripping into my liberal friends, and even though they concede I’m right (on economic policies) they still would sooner die before voting Republican…so good on you!!! 👍

To answer your question, no, there are amazing people who are Democrats! 🙂
 
I’m a registered Democrat. I can’t stand the Republican economic platform. I am fiscally liberal and socially moderate. I’m also extremely pro-life. I honestly don’t believe the Republicans will really do anything about stopping abortion, but their economic policies will create more poverty, which will increase abortion. If more pro-life people become Democrat we may be able to get the party back.
 
AshJade said:
I’m a registered Democrat. I can’t stand the Republican economic platform. I am fiscally liberal and socially moderate. I’m also extremely pro-life. I honestly don’t believe the Republicans will really do anything about stopping abortion, but their economic policies will create more poverty, which will increase abortion. If more pro-life people become Democrat we may be able to get the party back.
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Please don’t hold your breath. We would miss you.🙂
 
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