I have been accused of being partisan. Me? I would like people to note that I am partisan by choice, but it doesn't mean that I don't listen to the other side. Hell, it's called strategy...er, strategery if our current president has his way. So here. Take a look below. Make your own choices, this is a free country...unless our president has his way with that, too...there I go, back on my soapbox.

I, by the P.S., would like to point out that I got these here quotes from the NY Times, unlike a certain writer at that paper. See, I knew that when they backed Pataki that there was something seriously wrong over there. Whoops! Soapbox again.

G.O.P. VOICES
Republicans Explain Why the Party Appeals

"I want to make sure the dollars that we are taxed are being spent properly. I like George Bush's stance on social spending and funding of some of the Democratic strongholds. I feel that he's putting pressure on the Congress to really come to task and be responsible in their social spending. Because of the budget deficit, I feel that the Republicans are the best party to be able to bring a balanced budget back to the United States."
TIM CHRYSLER
Computer consultant, Woodbury, Minn.


"Republicans believe in the sovereignty of our country. The Republican Party consistently stands with our capitalistic system. They believe in free enterprise; they believe that we have the best country in the world. They take a lot less shots at what really makes this country great. The Republicans are for smaller government."
JOHN NICHOLAS
Associate pastor, Gentryville, Ind.


"It seems like the Republicans are little bit more conservative, and I tend to run more along the conservative line: not spending money so freely, that type of thing. I tend to think that the Democrats tend to raise taxes more and spend money a little more freely than I would like them to. The Democrats just seem a little more freewheeling, like Clinton."
SHEILA SCHAEFFER
Computer aide, Fort Wayne, Ind.

"The Republican Party just agrees with the way I feel compared with the Democratic Party, which is right now almost a communist party. You have to go some way or the other. I happen to think the Republicans are much more conservative. The Republican Party is trying to make the country so that the people are relatively self-sufficient and not living on welfare, which is paid for by the government and the people who are actually earning money."
RICHARD WIBALDA
Retired serviceman, Las Vegas

DEMOCRATIC VOICES
Identifying With the Party's Traditional Themes

"I think that the Democrats are more for the lower-class people. Didn't Clinton get the deficit down to practically paid for? And where are we now? We're back worse than ever."
LILA CAMPEN
Retired advertising manager, Renton, Wash.


"I think the Democrats look out for the small businesses and the independent businesses. They don't put big corporate America first. Bush's tax cuts all end up rewarding huge corporate America, and he makes a stink that it's the little man that's getting a break. He got a $600 break. That's not a break for a family."
LINDA NECOCHEA
Homemaker, Ojai, Calif.


"I don't consider myself a one-issue voter, but if I had to be, it would be the environment, and maybe that for me is the real difference between the two parties. We all live on this planet and we have to take care of it. There's no guarantee at the present rate that there's going to be a healthy planet a hundred years from now for our children, and our grandchildren, and our great-grandchildren. We have to take care of it now."
SAM ROSENTHAL
Professor of linguistics, Huntington Woods, Mich.


"I've always felt that the Democratic Party was more interested in the little guy. They seem to take all races, feelings and creeds into consideration. The Republicans, on the other hand, seem to favor big business. With the Republicans it's, `I've got mine, you've got your own.' "
JUNE BRINES
Clerk, Lafayette, Ind.