# American Election **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 4, 2012, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-election/633632 "2012-09-04T11:20:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-election/633632/41 "2012-09-05T17:35:16Z")
> [@Esox\_Lucius](#): > > I say that you win the thread, but it isn’t much of a thread… Yeah, but I’m not much of a poster. I’ll take the win. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-election/633632/42 "2012-09-05T22:33:40Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > I have noticed the Republicans no longer use the cute accident of calling him Barack O **s** ama anymore…wonder why they stopped doing that? Keep watching, you may hear his middle name flung about by the hardcore, though its impact seems to have waned. I have also seen some of them refer to him as “Barry Soetero”, but they are like fringe. Personally, I enjoy “Willard”, because it sounds even dorkier than “Mitt” but mostly because it evokes that King of the Rats image. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-election/633632/43 "2012-09-05T23:09:01Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I haven’t bothered to vote since 1988, and I probably never will again because (a) I recognize what a farce the system is . . . So? Can you think of a better? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-election/633632/44 "2012-09-06T02:16:09Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > So? Can you think of a better? My representative in Congress is a sort of decent guy, but in the end, he does not represent me. He might even read my letters and give them due consideration, but he belongs to his party, which has gone entirely wrong in the past few decades. So, yeah, I get to vote against a decent guy, in favor of someone I think will give my ideas and ideals more weight. But that person would still not quite represent me (assuming half of the district plus one would not be voting in opposition to me) because they are still pretty beholden to the money. There is always the third or fourth person on the ballot, perhaps a little closer to my views, but that kind of vote works out to little more than shouting at the desert. Look at the Coleman/Franken race of '08: almost exactly half of Minnesota were displeased with the result. Why not just toss a coin? Or occasional ties in the legislature, where they are so bound to their parties that no Speaker could be chosen for the house. From here, those things look to me like some kind of sporting event, not really much better than the coin toss. If I want to vote for the Independent, or the Libertarian, or the Green, I think I should get something more for that than a “you lose, but thanks for playing”. I want to see more, diverse representation, even if that means, say, the top three or five candidates from a single slate leads to seats going to LaRouchies, Communists, Tea-Shirts and Greens, because we gain from opening up the process. The extremists will never get full sway, at least as long as we build in safeguards, but some of what they would bring to the table will almost certainly have some value. And you surely cannot argue that the crapfest we have now is actually working, maybe a dose of extremism would help. ---
**Author:** ![Zep\_Tepi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/59ef9b/32.png) [@Zep\_Tepi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zep_Tepi)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-election/633632/45 "2012-09-07T11:14:42Z")
I must say that I feel sorry for the US of A if these two are the best you can find out of your entire population. My feeling is you are between a rock and a hard place. Neither would attract my vote. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-election/633632/46 "2012-09-07T12:00:16Z")
> [@Zep\_Tepi](#): > > I must say that I feel sorry for the US of A if these two are the best you can find out of your entire population. > > My feeling is you are between a rock and a hard place. > > Neither would attract my vote. Care to elaborate? All I’ve gotten from your posts here is “Do Not Want!”. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-election/633632/47 "2012-09-07T12:04:43Z")
> [@Zep\_Tepi](#): > > Just in passing - If I were Mitt Romney I would be shouting from the rooftops at every rally “No You Didn’t” What’s he supposed to say: “It was me!”? Well, maybe not from the rooftops. Maybe when he exits the elevator. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-election/633632/48 "2012-09-07T12:16:42Z")
> [@Zep\_Tepi](#): > > I must say that I feel sorry for the US of A if these two are the best you can find out of your entire population. > > My feeling is you are between a rock and a hard place. > > Neither would attract my vote. Given your contributions and suggestions here, I don’t think we’re missing out on much. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-election/633632/49 "2012-09-07T17:01:55Z")
> [@Zep\_Tepi](#): > > I must say that I feel sorry for the US of A if these two are the best you can find out of your entire population. > > My feeling is you are between a rock and a hard place. > > Neither would attract my vote. Are we supposed to be jealous because we don’t have a President like Jacob Zuma? ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2012, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-election/633632/50 "2012-09-07T20:38:27Z")
> [@Zep\_Tepi](#): > > Neither would attract my vote. Somehow I think neither of them would have a problem with that. You _could_ always vote for Roseanne. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-election/633632.md?page=2)