Editor, Manteca Bulletin,
After seeing the results of Tuesday’s elections across the country, I am pleased to say that moderates are making a comeback. Independents should be pleased.

You saw it in both the New Jersey and Virginia election results. Both states elected Republican candidates who most would not call extreme, or radical.  One interesting thing came out of the elections, in the exit polling that took place in these two states, 56% of Virginian’s and 60% of voters from New Jersey stated that they were still feeling positive about President Obama.

Those who followed Obama through the elections last year know that Obama has run as a centrist. I can see the heads spinning from followers of Frank Aquila and those members of the Fox Party right now, but in the real world Obama is not the most liberal president of all time. He had many friends over on the Republican side, names that I have written about many times in the past letters that I have submitted. For those who can remember that far back, it was one of Obama’s goals to try and be bipartisan, but that takes two to participate to make that work.

So it’s no wonder that the more moderate Republican would get the Independent voters’ vote.  From my point of view, Independent voters appear to be more pragmatic and less likely to follow a political dogma.  Their numbers are just at twice the 20% that Republicans register lately.  Any claim to victory goes to the Independent voter who votes for solutions and not hyperbole.

There was one other race of interest, and one that truly shows what the upcoming midterm elections will be like. That was the race in New York where the leaders of the fringe in the Fox Party tried to push their choice for congressman on the 23rd district. We were able to see all of the big wigs go there to push their choice to represent not the local people, but an outsider who would push their agenda instead of that of the people of the district. You saw Palin, and former leader of the house Dick Armey, temporary presidential candidate — Fred Thompson, failed Senator Rick Santorum, and strangely, Governor Tim Pawlenty all come out to the 23rd district to point out that the district needed a candidate that was more like them. They were being too local in picking their candidate, something Dick Armey referred to as “parochial.” They held up outsider, Doug Hoffmann, darling of Glenn Beck as the man who would better represent the ideals of the Fox Party. They damned the local moderate Republican, and the 23rd district elected a Democrat to represent a district that has voted Republican since the 1800’s.  Good job, extremists, wingnuts, teabaggers, or whatever they are calling you lately. This is truly a sign of things to come.