Why calling myself a Republican makes me cringe (because I'm too conservative to be a Democrat)

Over the summer I took some time to re-examine my political party affiliations and was nonplussed to discover that my own brand of politics, for the most part, doesn't match up with that of the Republican party. I agree with the pro-life agenda and the idea that big government is bad government, but here is where I found myself beginning to separate from the party line: the manner in which Republicans go about "proving" their point is so full of informal logical fallacies that it gives me philosophical indigestion.

For example, rebuttals to democrat attempts to advance an argument are met with ad hominem fallacy or attacking the person making the argument as opposed to the argument itself. I don't think I need to give an example for this one, just turn on FoxNews.

Another favorite tactic is when a certain radio talk show host attacks a misrepresentation of a democrat's argument. This, I have noticed, is a favorite on both sides but it seems that the republicans have a lot more material to work with.

While I realize that both sides employ these fallacies to differing degrees (I mean, we are talking about politics), the way the party defines a persons life in terms of economics gives me moral ulcers. If you are rich it's because you've worked for it (not always true), and if you are poor it's because you're lazy. I think you can see where I am going with this. These are just a few of the things that make me want to separate from the party line, only I don't know where else I would go.

And so I am left with questions. Are these musings simply a product of the stage of life and post-modern culture I am in? Will I ever be satisfied with my political party of choice? Why am I still going into the field of social work knowing that I cannot stand the politics of it?

At least I have an answer to this one question: why there are so many antacid commercials during presidential campaign season.