(Wrong area, throw me in a tub of scalding oil and move me)
I always get looks when someone asks me what party I agree with, and I cannot say either or so I will lay out some of my beliefs and someone can lead me to the right party.
FTR I have always voted by the person, not the party. And in the last few elections its been pretty even by party.
I am anti gun control
I am anti big government
I am neutral on abortion have no strong feelings other then I believe the parents have the right to know about minors.
I am pro stem cell research
I am pro equal rights for everyone regardless of age/race/gender/handicap/sexual orientation and that goes for marriage.
I am pro Iraq war
I am pro Afghanistan war
I sided with Michael Schiavo
I am pro UN (if they can reduce the graft)
I am anti censorship meaning if they want to say “Fuck” on NBC at 8pm they should be allowed to, I believe its the parents responsibility to monitor what they can and cannot watch/hear.
I don’t think Bush was/is any worse then Clinton, and haven’t thought real highly of any president in my lifetime.
The only presidential candidate I even remotely liked was Ross Perot, and not because I agreed with all his beliefs, but because he was hopefully going to shake things up a bit.
So what the hell am I? Give me a name I can call myself… other then asshat please.
You vary with me on two points (big gov (don’t care on size, just content), abortion (pro)), but I’ll take ya in the Sage Rat party, anyhow. We believe in using your brain to determine your believes and the heck with parties.
Lonely perhaps, but there are twice the political parties to deride. sigh
If you usually vote for Democrats, you’re a Democrat. If you usually vote for Republicans, you’re a Republican.
What you actually believe doesn’t really matter, because both parties are incoherent amalgamations of people with a wide variety of often contradictory beliefs.
Please, please, PLEASE don’t align yourself with either major party unless their policies resonate with you. American politics have become truly boring during the past few years due to its ridiculously high degree of partisanship. Neither side listens to the the other, dismissing them and their stances on the issues as misguided. It’s not productive, and it’s not engaging.
You don’t need to be part of a faction to discuss or participate in politics. Stay informed and ready to discuss important issues intelligently and with and open mind. Vote according the way you want America to be.
Welcome to the forgotten middle. You think for yourself. Excellent.
Call yourself a moderate. Or if you have any leanings a moderate (Rep or Dem)
I call myself a Moderate Republican, but I have voted mainly Democrat or independent for years now. (personally feel the Republican party was high jacked by Religious right) I think I am an Ike Republican even I am way to young. I like Reagan overall but had hate Bush Jr.
I voted for Kerry last election and that was painful. But I decided an incompetent liberal was better that any more Bush/Cheney.
I thought Colin Powell was the only member of the cabinet that was a member of my republican party.
John McCain & Rudolph Giuliani are my favorite politicians. I liked Howard Dean.
You’re probably a somewhat libertarian leaning Republican who’s uncomfortable wiith the social conservatives and and the Religious Right that make up a big chunk of that party. The main reason I say you’re a Republican rather than a Democrat is your stance on the Iraq war.
Being pro Iraq war probably has a lot to do with my participation in GW v1 but I think it has more to do with my belief that eventually we would of had another go in Iraq regardless of who was President, eventually.
What Max the Immortal said. You’re an individual. I might argue some points with you but that’s what makes a society great. The free exchange of ideas. You probably see yourself as someone who will never be too old to learn something new. If you’re under 30 I suspect a couple of your views will change as you pass that mark.
Party platforms change over time so you should look at the things you think are important today. I look at things such as security, the economy, energy management, resource management, education and the environment. I’m also concerned with such recent events as eminent domain.
My list is similar to yours so I would add:
I’m for the further development of ANWAR - We’re already there. It’s only a few miles further than current drilling and I think it’s hypocritical of us to exploit 3rd World Countries for their oil when we are the end users. We should take environmental responsibility for our current resource needs and invest in technology for future needs. This ties in nicely with University funding. We should get as much bang for the buck by funding research that affects us the most.
The United States has the luxury of learning from past failures in economics. We’ve tried wage/price controls and it failed because the market cannot not be dictated to. It’s not rocket science to use tax reductions and changes in the prime rate to grow the economy or temper inflation. If people had more access to their money they wouldn’t need handouts.
Our power grid requires upgrading - California was aware of it’s power shortage and did nothing until the crap hit the fan. They then built a bunch of peak-use generators and proudly declared the situation under control (which it’s not). This is not acceptable because we all suffer from the financial losses of a state. It is critical that petty environmental bickering give way to reasoned additions to the power grid.
Education is one of the foundations of a great country. It is neither dependent of money nor independent of it. The proper resources necessary to provide a good education are quantifiable as is the social interaction needed to make it happen. Measured academic achievement should never have been removed from a system that is designed solely for that purpose.
Environmental concerns are quantifiable and should be measured against economic disruption. It does no good to cause a billion dollars worth of damage to the environment for the sake of a few thousand jobs. It also does no good to prevent $100,000 of damage for 10 billion dollars worth of income. A political party should manage the concerns of both Environmentalists and Capitalists.
i’m dead set against the Supreme Court creating new law from the bench. That is the function of Congress (who is accountable to the people). We have a history of how eminent domain was interpreted and such issues should reflect the desires of the people. The same could be said for Roe versus Wade. the areas of personal freedom (and the sanctity of life) are not set in stone with this issue. I think there is greater acceptance of laws (like abortion and eminent domain) in countries that enact them through representative vote.
No party does everything perfectly. If you’re in a state that requires party registration to vote in a Primary than pick the party that represents what you think is currently relevant. This will help ensure the best candidate is in place for a national vote.
Well, if you want to be labeled, I’d say you are definately a Republican.
Your anti gun control, anti big government (these were you first two items!) and pro Iraq war feelings out-weigh all other things (like pro-civil rights).
Your pro choice feelings were actually accepted by mainstream Republican’s back the 1960s and 1970s before the Christian fundamentalists took over.
Plus, if Bush doesnt seem worse than Clinton, your are NOT a Democrat.
Don’t bother aligning yourself with any party. When the elecetions come around, do a bit of research to see what the candidates are for, and vote for the one that you agree with the most, on the subjects that matter to you the most. If there’s no clear winner, then don’t bother and save yourself a trip.
This is what ALL people should do, IMHO, regardless of whether they feel they have a party affiliation or not.
You’re anti-big government. If that means controlled spending then Debaser’s reading of you as a Republican is wrong.
You are neutral on abortion except that you believe in parental notification. That means Debaser’s reading of you as a Republican is wrong. From the Republican Party Platform of 2004: (Warning: PDF)
Note quite neutral with parental notification.
You sided with Michael Schaivo. Debaser claims this means you lean Republican. However, it was the Republican’s who moved heaven and earth (and the President back from his vacation) to prevent Michael Schaivo from carrying out what he stated to be his wife’s wishes. I seem to recall that even at the end Florida Governor (and Republican) Jeb Bush stated that he wished he could intervene more but the courts wouldn’t allow it.
Etc, ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
You sound not like a Republican or Democrat but a typical middle of the road American who would be uncomfortable with either party in some areas and comfortable in others. Vote each candidate as they stand and when someone asks you to which party you belong shout out ‘Hurricane Party…where’s the booze?’
Its bigger than all this. For instance, do you think fiscal or monetary policy works better? How important do you think global trade is? Are you protectionist? Do you believe in progressive taxation? What roles do you think its appropriate for the government to have?
And even once you answer these questions, you are probably an independant, capable of voting for the candidate the most accurately reflects the issues you hold most dear at the moment in time you vote.
I don’t know exactly what you mean but I will explain what I mean a little bit. So few things piss me off more then reading about government “crutches” for multi-billion dollar companies. Thats the big government in all her glory. Throwing money into a business where the CEO’s are worth enough to feed a third world nation.
If a little store would fail, they make it hard to go belly-up, but this multi-billion dollar company cannot manage on its own lets throw tax dollars at the ravenous money eating company.
Generally speaking, republicans are less of spenders than democrats. Democrats also tend to be the party of “big government”. Socialized medicine, Social Security, and an even bigger drug benefit are all things that Democrats support.
Republicans current view on abortion is “neutral” IMHO. They don’t like it, but the party hasn’t made any efforts to ban it and wont any time soon. It’s political suicide and they know it. Republicans control both houses of congress and the presidency. All they have done on the abortion front is to work to banning partial birth abortions and keep parental consent for minors. This is in line with the opinion of the OP, IMHO. Democrats are against parental notification generally, which is not in line with the opinion of the OP.
I stand corrected. I meant to say “Democrat” for this one.
Agreed. Vote for the better candidate and based on whos ideology you agree with the most. Register independant and you can vote in either parties primaries. Keep an open mind. (Lots of posters are saying this and it’s good advice. I just thought I’d actually address the list from the OP since nobody seemed to be doing that.)
Why do you need to label yourself at all? I am bemused by the degree to which Americans feel the need to identify themselves with a specific political party, wrap themselves in the applicable animal skin, thunder “My party, right or wrong!”, and then trash talk the other party. (I usually vote in support of the Liberal candidate in elections, but by no means consider myself a “Liberal”, and I think the same is true of the majority of Canadian voters.)
Depending on where you live, the only real advantage in deciding whether you’re a Republican or Democrat is if you have a “closed primary” and you want to shape which candidates will become nominees for a particular office. (A closed primary means that only registered Republicans may vote on who will become the Republican nominee for an office, an open primary means that anyone can vote in a party primary election – these things vary by state, and I don’t know where you live).
If you tend to vote in primary and general elections, and you live in a state with a closed primary, my advice to you is that you’ll probably find resgistering Republican to be worth your time. You seem to be toward the moderate end of the Republican spectrum, and your vote in primary elections would, in a small way, help shape the party in your area.
OTOH, if you live in a place with an open primary, or you don’t vote in primary elections, there’s really no reason to say that you’re a Republican/Democrat/Libertarian. In fact, you’ll probably get less flack at cocktail parties by saying you’re an independent, like most Americans are. Otherwise, you open yourself up to those pointed questions like, “As a Republican, how can you defend Dick Cheney doing thus and so?” Or, “As a Democrat, how can you defend Bill Clinton’s lying to the world about Monica?”
sigh
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