Convince me to vote for your candidate

Great Debates
1

Okay, quick aside, i hate all politicians, they’re all two faced weasels who will say whatever it takes to get elected, i don’t like either one of them, and Nader is an also-ran

that said, give me a reason to vote for Bush or Kerry

here’s my personal hot issues;

i don’t want tax increases
i’m opposed to firearms bans
we need to find a way to fix the mess we made in iraq, we broke it now we need to fix it, cutting and running is not an option
i’m opposed to big government, Ben Franklin said it best “the government is best that governs least”
the government needs to stay out of people’s bedrooms, what two consenting adults do in their own home is of no concern to the government (i’ll leave my personal views on this issue out as they’re irrelavent to the debate)
patriot act, lose it

the biggest problem i have with bush is his incompetence
the biggest problem i have with Kerry is his history of tax increases and his inability to deliver any message other than “i’m not Bush, vote for me”

yes, i saw the debates, all 3 of them, but when you consider a politician can say anything in a debate just to get votes and then change their position…

so, why should i cast my vote for your candidate?

2

1 would likely lead to a Bush vote.
2 would likely lead to a Bush vote.
3 would likely lead to a Bush vote if you don’t want us to cut and run. 3 would likely lead to a Kerry vote if you believe Bush can’t fix things.
4 should lead to a Bush vote but he hasn’t done a very good job in this regard. At the same time, Kerry hasn’t really given any indication minimizing the role of government is in his plans.
5 would likely lead to a Kerry vote, although Kerry wouldn’t necessarily handle this through a hands off method. It would likely be a governmental decree that certain things are allowed.

In sum, that is no help. So, if you vote for Bush, he’ll give you a pony.

3

If I were you, I would do a lot of research at factcheck.org, which cuts through a lot of the distortion on both sides so you can figure out where the candidates truly stand.

I’m for Kerry, and I see your biggest problem with him is his (supposed) history of tax increases. FactCheck addresses that - it’s a Republican distortion. Unless you make more than 200 grand a year, your taxes will not go up under Kerry.

If you decide to go Bush, not only will pay the same income tax, your future tax burden will be increased, because of the damage he’s doing to the standing debt. Think of the standing debt as money you’ve got to pay back some time in the future.

For Kerry’s message besides “I’m not Bush,” you might want to read his economic plan (warning - PDF), his Homeland Security plan, and other information at his website. He has an actual positive strategy for those who care; he just campaigns on “I’m not Bush” because it works. I wish politics was less negative too.

4

well, now you see my dillema, i’m an independent with more “republican” leanings, problem is, in my opinion, bush 2.0 isn’t a true republican, he tends to favor big government programs more than the classic repub

plus the fact that the man is incompetent, he totally frelled up the Iraq war and we’re paying the price now

problem is, kerry comes across as “slimy and smarmy” to me

financially, i’m under kerry’s tax cut cap, but i still don’t trust that a democrat would ever cut taxes

screw it, i’m voting for Kodos…

5

I beg you to read the statement from former Michigan Republican Governor William Milliken who has endorsed Kerry. Where have all the good Republicans gone?

God bless you, Governor Milliken. We in Michigan remember you fondly.

6

Vote for Kerry. I’m holding your mother hostage.

7

it has been this Doper’s position to not negotiate with kidnappers…

i made a “dislike grid” of both candidates, bush won that contest, but still, kerry just feels…wrong, it’s that “i’ll say anything to be elected” vibe, of course on the other side of the coin i get the “i’m too stupid to run this country” vibe from bush, neither one appeals to me, but i’m not going to not vote, i have to determine the lesser of two evils…

8

How about this one: Kerry certainly can’t do worse than Bush.

9

Neither candidate currently plans to cut taxes (personal income taxes anyway). Both plan to leave the Bush tax cuts in place for lower and middle income workers, Kerry plans to revoke the cuts for people earning $200,000+ pa. In terms of corporate taxes, I believe Kerry plans to close tax loopholes that he says leads to more outsourcing and provide a small corporate tax cut across the board. The links provided above should give you some more info.

10

Sure, I’ll take a go of it.

– taxes and the economy –

You ever have a credit card? Visa, American Express, MasterCard? OK, you know the deal, right? Run up a debt and at the end of the month you’ve got to make at least a minimum payment. Pay only the minimum payment and you just tread water, you’ll still owe all that principal next month, and if you make yet more purchases it gets still more imposing (and so does the minimum payment).

Now, no one wants to pay higher taxes, any more than they want to pay bigger monthly payments on their credit cards, but if you’ve run up a lot of purchases on your credit card already it’s damned irresponsible to take the attitude “I don’t want to make any bigger payments on those credit cards than I absolutely have to”.

In the case of Federal spending and taxing, let’s not even pretend that we’re approaching actually paying off some of the debt. The realistic goal there is just to keep from running up more purchases than we pay for. We can do that by spending less than we tax, or by taxing more than we spend… umm, actually we can only do it by doing both of those things because they are the same thing. Taxation must exceed spending.

Kerry isn’t going to hoist your taxes sky-high. I have hopes that he will raise overall taxes enough to put us back on a fiscally responsible track. Congress isn’t going to let him do a bunch of runaway spending on expensive new programs. Bush, meanwhile, already has a track record of causing the US to spend lots of money it doesn’t have. Ask your conservative friends. Check the record. He’s spending like a speed-shopper on crack let loose in Bargain Barn. His policies mean that every year a bigger portion of the Federal budget will have to go to service on existing debt, leaving less to pay off current spending. That’s fiscally irresponsible.

– firearms bans –

Neither candidate is going to ban guns. Kerry supports the status quo ante, the terms of the assault-weapon ban that just expired.

– Iraq –

Bush is incompetent and hasn’t set clear policy. Kerry is the better candidate for fixing the mess we’re in. And he’s right about international credibility on the issue. We’ll get damned little serious help from other nations until Bush is out of office, and a successful resolution, on the ground in Iraq, pretty much necessitates having a world force to help put things right, not a specifically American force. The Iraqis are not going to work with us.

– big government –

We can’t afford big government, we’re broke. Bush has been spending like crazy and Congress rubber-stamps his initiatives. Kerry is more likely by far to keep spending below tax revenues (It may seem funny to you, but of the two of them, Kerry is the fiscal conservative). Meanwhile, Congress will help keep a lid on what he can spend.

– government in people’s bedrooms –

You already know the answer here. Bush represents serious invasions of personal privacy on many levels, and Kerry does not. No-brainer on this one.

Vote for Kerry. The current guy needs to be fired. We need to fire him. We really need to send a message that says “If you fuck up this badly, you’re out of office”. If you can’t bring yourself to vote for Kerry, for God’s sake vote Badnarik or something. George W. Bush does not deserve your vote.

11

<Karl Rove>

“See? I told you! Negative campaigning always works!”

</Karl Rove>

12

My candidate is good for America. He’s a man of integrety, says what he means and means what he says. He reflects our values.

He will make the country stronger by balancing the budget, giving tax cuts and government benefits to those like me who deserve them.

He represents what the public wants and does the right thing even when public opinion is against him.

And jobs? He’s all for good high paying jobs, so every person can have a good high paying job, good insurance, the best education for one’s children and live in a safe neighborhood.

That pretty much wraps up who everone is voting for.

13

Kerry is a Mac user. :slight_smile:

14

My father once gave me sage advice. He said that there will be elections where I have a clear choice, a clearly better candidate, whom I should support. He said that, in other elections, if I was in doubt or uncertain, he had a philosophy that worked well. His philosophy was: "Throw the rascals out!"

That is, most (all?) politicians are “two faced weasels who will say whatever it takes to get elected” (to quote the OP). Hence, if the two candidates are more or less equal in your eyes, vote against the incumbent.

The point here is that they’re two-faced weasels who become entrenched. They think it’s their natural right to be elected, to have power, etc. Power is a habit – and on both sides. People like Ted Kennedy or Jesse Helms hold/held power way too damn long.

My father’s advice has helped me be decisive in many elections.

15

Except for the “not running from Iraq” part, Badnarik is the logical choice.