Letters to the Editor: Stop talking about party registration as if it’s a deeply personal identity

To the editor: If I had been editing George Skelton’s column about Californians not liking either political party, I would have made one slight change.

Where he wrote, “One-third of Californians have an unfavorable impression of both parties, including their own,” I would have changed the last phrase to read, “including the one in which they are registered.”

I am registered in one of the parties, but I definitely do not consider it “my own.”

The news media have fallen into a pattern of reporting politics as they would a sports contest — describing states and positions by the “team colors” of red and blue, and assuming that people who are registered with a party consider themselves part of that team.

Skelton’s discovery shows that is not the case, and I wish that the subtle phrasing important to accurate reporting would reflect that.

Diane Scholfield, Vista

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To the editor: The fact that nearly a majority of California voters are Democrats, far outnumbering Republicans and independents, seems to contradict the idea that Californians want another mainstream political party besides the Democrats and Republicans.

I can tell you who would really like a third party option: California Republicans. A third party would only serve Republicans bent on breaking the Democrats’ hold on the state.

If California Democrats are gullible enough to believe a third party is needed, I have some very desirable swampland I would like to sell them.

Hector Hernandez, San Clemente

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To the editor: Reading Skelton’s column, I wonder if he also received the fundraising email sent out by the new House speaker.

I gave up on the Republican Party after Reaganomics and switched to the other party. That did not last long. I have been registered as “no party preference” for decades.

My answer to the survey questions were short.

When asked what was the most important thing that needed to be addressed, I replied that they should do the job they were elected to do and keep the country running.

At the end of the survey I was asked for any other comments. I told them to work across the aisle so that the voices of the progressive socialists and the MAGA extremists can be silenced.

Dale Peery, Joshua Tree