Politics these days have become so divided and divisive that it’s become the norm to view the other side of the aisle as “the enemy”. People are being told to “pick a side” and that there’s no room for middle ground. We here at Phetasy believe that there are a lot more people in the middle than politicians and the media would have us believe.
We’re collecting stories from the ever growing number of people who are finding themselves Politically Homeless and posting them here on Substack. If you have moved from conservative to liberal, or liberal to conservative, if you feel you’ve stayed in the same place and your party has swerved drastically away from you, if you had a moment that awakened you to the insanity and hypocrisy on both sides, if you keep your mouth shut anytime a political topic comes up because you’re afraid your opinion will cause you to lose friends or your job, you’re not as alone as you might think.
Our goal is to shine a light on people’s earnest, individual experiences and show them they’re not alone.
Some letters have been edited for clarity and brevity. If you’re politically homeless and would like to share your story, please email us at iampoliticallyhomeless@gmail.com. All submissions will remain anonymous.
Letter 106:
August 22, 2024
Hi Bridget,
I wrote to you a while back and you published my message - thank you so much for that!
A lot has happened since then and I can't help but think that I couldn't be more politically homeless than I am now.
News is breaking that Bobby Kennedy Jr - a man I was considering voting for - is going to drop out and endorse Donald Trump. So where the hell does that leave me?
Well, it leaves me staring down the barrel of a gun with Donald Friggin Trump's face at the end of it, that's what.
I can't believe I'm about to type these words but I'm actually giving strong consideration to voting for the Orange One.
Mind you, it's not because I favor his policies. In fact, about the only one that I could see as being beneficial for our country would be his energy policy. Everything else would come with some sort of unintended consequences, unfulfilled promises, etc.
But, I feel the need to vote for him out of self defense.
I would vote in self defense because the Democrats have gone so completely bananas and I can't help but think that the only thing that would stand between me and them is Trump. Years ago I could have made (an albeit) short but decent case for the Democrats. But now, they seem like the biggest bunch of power-hungry, tone deaf, culture war-obsessed, authoritarian nutjobs and I can't help but feel backed into a corner. With Trump I feel like our country stands a fighting chance. With the Democrats? Just pack it up and pray for a giant meteor.
While I didn't agree with everything that Bobby Kennedy Jr stood for, he was solid on the most important issues to me. I felt like I could vote for him and it would not be wasted, and it could be a vote I could stand by. But, should I even consider pivoting to Donald Trump?
Ugh, pass the bottle. It's gonna be a long election season.
Some letters have been edited for clarity and brevity. If you'd like to share your story, email us at iampoliticallyhomeless@gmail.com. All submissions will remain anonymous.
I've always considered myself a moderate, socially liberal, fiscally conservative, but will be voting for Trump for the 3rd time. First time was tough, I literally stood in the voting booth for 5 minutes vacillating, but figured, I live in MN my vote doesn't really matter anyway. Adding RFK Jr., Tulsi and others just makes him more appealing to me. The left has gone bonkers and the right is actually the moderate group at this point in time.
Minnesotan (and author of this piece) here as well. I feel ya!
I'm right there with you! I was so excited to vote for RFK Jr...finally a candidate I actually want to vote for rather than voting against the candidate I dislike the most or "wasting" my vote on a third party candidate. But I vote in one of the swing states that Kennedy has withdrawn from. If I lived in a blue state or a deep red state, I would vote for him in a heartbeat.
I tuned out the "Vote Blue No Matter Who" chorus and voted third party in 2016 and 2020, believing those candidates to be far superior to what the DNC and RNC were offering up, but at the same time knowing they had no chance of winning.
Finally, this year, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. came along and offered an opportunity to vote for the best presidential candidate of my voting lifetime. He is intelligent, principled, compassionate, courageous, and charismatic. He has an encyclopedic memory, can talk at length about most any subject, and he offers common sense solutions to our most pressing issues. And he has run his campaign without making personal attacks against his opponents.
But alas, the DNC and their conjoined mainstream media outlets carried out a relentless character assassination against RFK Jr like no other we've ever seen. Millions of people watched the 'Who is Bobby Kennedy?" documentary, learned that he isn't actually crazy, and figured out the media was lying to them about him.
While continuing their massive, well-orchestrated smear campaign, the DNC and their affiliated PAC's started filing frivolous lawsuits in many states in an attempt to keep Kennedy off of the ballot. His masterful legal team won lawsuit after lawsuit, but some cases are still pending. He recently had trial dates in San Francisco and Albany on the same day and could be in courtrooms on opposite sides of the country at the same time.
Many supporters, including myself, believed that if he could only debate, he would win. His detractors must have believed it, too! To ensure he didn't qualify for the debates, mainstream pollsters left his name off of their polls and reported that he was polling under 5%...very interesting since he had been polling in the mid 20's and even in the mid-to-high 30's in some demographics back in November. From my humble perspective, his support has not waned since then. Over a million voters have signed petitions to get his name on the ballot, and those are only the people who happened to cross paths with petition circulators. His podcast interviews and rallies have received over 100 million views on YouTube alone, and the comments under each video are overwhelmingly positive!
On August 23rd, the day of Kennedy's heartfelt Address to the Nation, mainstream polls showed him at 2% in Arizona. That night, he was a special guest speaker at a Trump rally in Glendale Arena, capacity 20,000. There wasn't an empty seat in the place, and the energy and enthusiasm when Bobby came out on stage were palpable! Anyone who watched Trump's seven minute introduction and Kennedy's five minute speech could easily see that he is way more popular than the 2% polls were showing. Mainstream polls have clearly become propaganda tools.
The DNC has been telling me for years to vote for the lesser of two evils, and I didn't comply. This year, I may finally heed their call and vote for President Trump. While not a fan, I feel that the transition team he is putting together, that includes RFK Jr and Tulsi Gabbard, offers our best chance of restoring honesty to our government and returning it to the people. After decades of remaining a Democrat, despite the DNC selecting the Presidential nominees for us, this year was the straw that finally broke this camel's back!
I could have written this letter, life long Democrat that is completely disgusted with the party. How did they become the party of war, elites, censorship, big pharma, authoritarianism, processed food, the list goes on and on. I live in a SOLID blue state that has done everything it can to keep both Bobby and Orange Man off the ballot. Well, we are the home of the Bronco's so I guess I'm going with Orange Man over blue. If Trump includes RFK Jr. within the health services departments, CDC, EPA or at least gives him access to the JFK/RFK CIA files it will be worth it.
"they seem like the biggest bunch of power-hungry, tone deaf, culture war-obsessed, authoritarian nutjobs." Such a perfect description!
Thank you for writing the letter I couldn't (I already did #49, before the latest fiascos). I haven't liked Trump since the '80s! So my rationalization is, I'll be voting for the party Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr. are endorsing. And should there be another presidential assassination attempt or success, I'd rather have JD Vance at the helm than Mr. Walz. I'm in CA, registered Independent, and my vote doesn't matter much more than those from MN, but I feel the pain and will vote accordingly.
Totally resonate! Re-registered as an independent (former republican for 40 yrs) this past year….was going to vote for rfk….now I’m forced to make another decision I don’t really want 🤪🤪🤪