If you want to know how little meaning is attached to political labels, watch the party switching going on before the Oregon primary.

Some Republican and unaffiliated voters have been signing up as Democrats so they can vote in that party's primary, especially for president.

Independents might be sincere in wanting to pick the best Democrat for president. With Republicans, who knows? Maybe they are switching so they can vote for somebody they hope John McCain has a better chance of beating.

The switching illustrates that you don't have to have particular principles or ideas in order to call yourself a Democrat, a Republican or anything else on the Oregon ballot. It is a completely self-selected label, and there are no tests. So why not just get rid of the partisan primaries? Why not just go with an open primary in which every citizen can vote?

Just such an initiative is being circulated. For details, check oneballot.com. And if the petition comes around, sign it in order to give everybody a chance to vote on it this fall. (hh)