I disagree that voting based on party lines is stupid. Given the immense power transparent congressional voting has given party leaders (in addition to lobbyists and organizations prone to intimidation such as the NRA) party lines become very important. There isn't a lot of deviation from party voting these days because of the sort of pressure party leaders are able to put on other representatives to vote with the party. This means that I'll generally want congress to be filled with members of the party I most often agree with so that their bills have a better chance of passing, as it's the best indicator of how they'll vote, regardless what they themselves say or believe. Of course I also want a president who is a member of my party so that he won't put roadblocks in the way of their agenda and so he'll maybe get a chance to appoint a Supreme Court Justice or two. Party does matter, but it's not the only thing that matters. When party lines really don't matter, though, is during general elections. That's the time to focus inward and make sure we're actually getting our best candidate.
Good point. I was being a little hyperbolic I guess. Politics has that effect. I have a problem with uninformed voting really. People who 'vote party lines' don't seem to me they types who would research candidates whatsoever. So what you end up with is a group of people who just check the boxes that say Republican instead of the boxes for people who would work on legitimately concerning issues.
There's most definitely an aspect of that to it too. Like I live in MA. Last election we elected Charlie Baker Governor. I didn't vote for him, but I like him. In retrospect, if I'd watched the debates I probably would have voted for him. He's Governor so his party affiliation doesn't cause any problems at a national political level and he does a good job. I've spoken with a number of Democrats who say they don't like him, though, even though they can't give a more coherent reason why than that he's a Republican. They don't have any policy criticisms or problems with how he votes or what bills he supports or anything he's ever said, they just don't like the little R next to his name. I definitely don't agree with that sort of thinking.