seems like an arbitrary thought exercise designed to justify this position? independent should fundamentally mean that you disregard each party's description o

seems like an arbitrary thought exercise designed to justify this position? independent should fundamentally mean that you disregard each party's description of reality, arrive at your own understanding of the world and then make decisions based on each candidate's promises and previous actions. you decide based on that value system, not simply based on "who your party picked." if i decide i like kittens and value kittens, and i analyze both options presented to me and one consistently promises to euthanize all kittens, i don't think i'm a "party line voter" because i say "well, gosh, i really just can't stomach voting for that." it just ultimately is important enough to me that it not happen that i cannot accept it in exchange for their other more nuanced policies.