I have seen a lot of polls asking Republicans and Independents what they think of President Obama, Congress, and the issues that are important today. They assume if a conservative is not a Republican, a conservative would only become an Independent.

I have not seen them ask a question that may take them by surprise next year, a question to put to Democrats: "Have you switched parties from Republican in the past few years?"

I have news for you. It's happening. It has happened within my family. Has someone you know switched to the Democratic Party recently?

This is the quiet factor for the 2012 election that you might want to consider. I don't know when people decided that Democrats were completely liberal. The two parties had conservative to liberal factions in each of them until recent times. The dividing line between conservative and liberal seems to have become very visible during the Civil Rights Movement. Many conservative Democrats in the South left the party and moved to the Republican Party in anger about Democratic administrations pushing forward civil rights.

Extreme conservatives still see the dividing line between the parties as conservative and liberal. The truth is, the dividing line is between Repressives and Progressives - and a number of attentive Republicans have realized that. Progressives tend towards legislation that will provide necessary services for all; Repressives don't want to share the necessities. They want "every man for himself." That doesn't keep a nation strong. So - Are we a nation or a mass of single people? Here's our battle line.

Becoming Independent may always be a swing position, but it's never a strong one. We work and govern within a two party system. I would love a no party system, but that is a dream that may take a long time coming true. In order to have an effective voice in an election, a voter needs to stand with a party. The Democrats are the only ones offering plans to help get the nation out of this terrible situation we have been in. The Republicans who are running for office have made it clear that the only thing truly important to them is beating Democrats - especially beating (and beating up on) President Obama. The ones elected to Congress have yet to do one substantial thing to help the country recover.

Now is the time for all good Americans to come to the side of one party. We need to come togather as Democrats. Conservatives, moderates, and liberals alike.