text: at what point would you find yourself voting for the party opposite of your basic cons/lib bearing? is it possible or do you just blindly vote the party line on the basis that they must be right?  i watched my grandfather vote democrat all his life mearly out of respect for all fdr did to help his family survive the depression.  my father on the other hand has voted straight republican all his life based mearly on his career in the business world and his belief that the republicans helped him.  when do you cross the party line? the answer is that we do away with the party system altogether and create an independent political system. as long as america takes its "team mentality" from the sports field into the political arena and votes based on a "label", this country can only go even further down than it already is. when people start voting issues instead of party affiliation, candidate popularity contests, or advertising dollars, we can reclaim this country with leaders of fairness and a vision for the true equality of all americans.  our votes are stolen (see 2000 and 2004 elections), the elected officials care more about "job security" than their constituents (government was to be "service" not a career path!), and "we the people" suffer in the long haul. don't cross party lines to vote--be independent and vote the issues close to and for the good of "normal" americans.