Forgive me while I climb onto my soapbox one last time in my final column for The Daily.

One dangerous thing about having an opinion is that people will often disagree with it. In fact, given a set of your opinions, people will often disagree with you.

I guess that's fair.

Another really easy way to get people to disagree with you — even before they've heard any of your opinions — is to tell them which political party you identify with.

Is that fair?

Thomas Jefferson once said, "I never submitted the whole system of my opinions to the creed of any party of men whatever in religion, in philosophy, in politics or in anything else where I was capable of thinking for myself. Such addiction is the last degradation of a free and moral agent. If I could not go to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all."

These are strong words against partisanship from one of our Founding Fathers. What meaning might they hold for the present day? Does partisanship really degrade free agency?

A lot of political moderates, myself included, would say yes. Why?

For one thing, partisanship in general plays a significant role in deciding which issues voters are to be concerned with from the outset.

It's easy to understand why abortion has become such a controversial topic, for example, but the whole of voters never convened to decide it was an issue they should be faced with every election. Prominent politicians helped bring it to the forefront of public attention.

Today, hardly any of us can select a candidate for a major office without hearing that he or she is "pro-choice" or "pro-life," and some elections have even been dominated by the issue. Where does this leave the voters without a strong feeling toward either side — or the voters who are passionate about completely different issues?

Parties also have a tendency to ascribe a designed set of beliefs to party members. Along with this may come an expectation of disdain for the set of beliefs held by opposing parties — perhaps even some expectation of disdain for the members of opposing parties.

Do Democrats in the Northwest really hate Southern Republicans? Do Republicans in the South hate them back? Such ideas are too broad to convey the entire truth, but there is no question that the tension between parties in our nation is high, and the claims we've all heard that partisan politics are "tearing our nation apart" have, in my view, become increasingly credible with time.

Allegiance to a party certainly does not preclude independent thought — staunch Democrats and Republicans cross party lines all the time. But how much more frequently is a unique opinion withheld in the name of partisanship?

It is, of course, possible that an individual's convictions may align very closely with the agenda of a particular political party.

It may also be valid to say that choosing a party is not necessarily a reflection of one's true political convictions, but rather a means of finding a political voice that will be heard — sort of like how they say not to "waste" your vote on the third presidential candidate.

Nonetheless, it would be exceedingly difficult to argue that close association with political parties does not to some degree homogenize individuals' beliefs. If we truly value critical, independent thinking, this must be viewed as unfortunate.

To return to the original question, then, I would submit that assumptions about the opinions of those who propound particular political parties are not necessarily accurate, but understandable.

My proposal is this:

Find out why you don't like Bush. Besides the Iraq War, what else is there? Find out why some people think John McCain would make a great president. Find out why Clinton and Ohama are very different candidates.

Decide what environmental issues matter to you. Decide what social and education issues matter to you. Which candidates best represent your personal views?

Our generation will inherit the country in a couple of decades. If we seek to unite the nation rather than divide it further, we will do well to heed the wisdom of Jefferson and consider all perspectives in the red-blue continuum.

Reach columnist Andrew D. Brown at opinion@thedaily.washington.edu.