It’s time for a new party to take over center stage in the political arena. Time to walk away from the Democrats and Republicans, as neither party has our interest at heart anymore.

The Democrats are a mess between Albany, bail reform, and the Iowa caucus. Whether it is the rigging of the primaries in 2016 for Hillary or blaming everything on Russia, how can anyone trust this party anymore? Just this week, Nancy Pelosi childishly ripping up President Trump’s speech. How do you let her represent you? Her actions are outright disrespectful. She may not like the President, but she should still respect the office.

The Republicans have given up in such states as New York and California. Did you know it’s been over 20 years since a Republican has won a statewide election here in New York? Twenty years, with most of the representatives giving up and quitting, such as Peter King. They claim to cut taxes, but what they really do is rearrange them, to make it appear like they do. They have let our federal budget grow to 23 trillion dollars. So much for our kids having a great life. Maybe our grandchildren will? President Trump continually shows the country his childish side. Yes, Pelosi impeached him. However, I feel he should’ve acted like the better person and shook her hand regardless.

One of the fastest growing parties in the country is the Libertarian Party. We had 23 wins this past election cycle; 7 of them right here in New York state. The enrollment went from 2,000 to over 13,500 people this past year. We have great candidates running across both the state and country.

This brings me to Staten Island’s Libertarian Party, which has also significantly grown. We now have 251 registered party members; most attributing the change to the realization that the two big parties don’t have our backs anymore. Most feel the two parties have stomped all over the United States Constitution. One member said she has joined the party because she feels, “government isn’t the answer for everything and has only made things worse through its corruption.” Another member joined the Libertarian Party, “after being a life-long Republican from the time of Ronald Reagan. I was unhappy with the way things changed after 9/11. War-hawk, neo-cons and the further left/Socialist Democrats just made it unbearable. It seems like most people lost the idea of a Constitutional Republic, where everyone leaves everyone else to live in peace to follow what the Founding Fathers envisioned for us.”

If you feel you have some of the same concerns and want true change, please look into the Libertarian Party. We truly are a party for the people, by the people. We want people to live the way they want, without causing harm to others. The Libertarian Party is truly socially liberal, but fiscally conservative. We don’t need or want government in every aspect of our lives. Come check us out at LP.org. The state website is LPNY.org and our local site is statenisland-lp.org.

(Joseph Portelle is a Sunnyside resident.)