[Wayne Luke]

Most people belong to a party because the underlying ideal fits with what they want out of life. There are multiple candidates for each party which get narrowed down in different primaries. However voting party ticket has little to do with local elections. These are the ones that are actually most important in a person's life. Yes, federal and state elections are important but local elections impact your daily life moreso than any other.

Personally, I don't vote party line and am usually registered as an independant. However I want my vote to have more impact in the California Primary this year so I re-registered as a Democrat. Though, I am probably more liberal than most of the candidates in that party as well. I did vote for Schwarzenegger (republican) because I liked his environmental policies. I did vote to recall Davis (democrat) because he was ineffective in his office. However when I voted for Schwarzenegger, I also voted for Jerry Brown (democrat) because I felt he was the only one who would hold the "govenator" to his pledges on the environment.

Though, I have also written about 300 letters this year to Brown, Schwarzenegger, and the California Senators on environmental issues. I have also sent letters to all Republican and Democratic presidential hopefuls asking what their stance is on both the Environment and the Economy. Well emails actually but same concept.