# Dumbest reason you've heard why someone chose to vote for (or against) a given candidate **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 29, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240 "2016-07-29T23:59:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240/1 "2016-07-29T23:59:02Z")
Within the past week, one of my Facebook friends, who is very politically conservative, said that one of the reasons he wants to vote for Trump (and he’s the first of my FBFs to admit leaning this way) is because Trump’s family is more physically attractive than Clinton’s, or Sanders’ for that matter. (what the everloving F?) He then admitted that he knows it’s a silly reason but to him, it’s as good as any. :smack: This man is old enough that I wonder if it could be a manifestation of early-stage dementia ☹ , and whether it is or not, if that’s his motivation, I hope he just plain old does not vote. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240/2 "2016-07-30T00:27:25Z")
I know someone who hates Hillary because she defended a child rapist. And admires Trump for being a “good businessman.” ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240/3 "2016-07-30T00:34:19Z")
I have Facebook friends that say they plan on voting for Trump to punish the Democratic party for stealing the primary from Bernie. I hope they’re only lashing out and won’t actually do it but it wouldn’t shock me if they did. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240/4 "2016-07-30T00:35:19Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > I know someone who hates Hillary because she defended a child rapist. She defended Trump? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240/5 "2016-07-30T00:43:19Z")
Man, I’m really uptight about my Facebook friends. I don’t mind dropping people, but almost all of them are people I can’t imagine saying or doing something that would warrant dropping. This must be a function of having a family that generally agrees with me politically, since they’re much harder to drop than friends… ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240/6 "2016-07-30T00:53:05Z")
Wow. I know someone who claims to have flipped a coin, and that doesn’t strike me as equally stupid. Besides, I’m not sure I believe him. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240/7 "2016-07-30T03:07:33Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > I have Facebook friends that say they plan on voting for Trump to punish the Democratic party for stealing the primary from Bernie. I hope they’re only lashing out and won’t actually do it but it wouldn’t shock me if they did. For me, no Facebook friends (yet, anyway) but there are some people on a sub-forum of another website who have said that they oppose Hillary that strongly. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240/8 "2016-07-30T03:16:22Z")
I know Thais who have voted for someone purely because they’ve seen him driving past their home every day. Really. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240/9 "2016-07-30T03:16:30Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > I have Facebook friends that say they plan on voting for Trump to punish the Democratic party for stealing the primary from Bernie. I hope they’re only lashing out and won’t actually do it but it wouldn’t shock me if they did. Stephen Colbert had a good joke about that: > [@](#): > > Makes sense. If his supporters can’t have Bernie, they’ll go to Trump. Kind of like if you ask for a Coke but they don’t have it, you say, ‘Then just fill my mouth with bees.’ ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240/10 "2016-07-30T03:27:41Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I know Thais who have voted for someone purely because they’ve seen him driving past their home every day. Really. A local office, I assume? My dad disagreed with almost everything this person stood for politically when he ran for Congress, but voted for him anyway because several years earlier, he got up in the middle of the night and sewed up my brother’s face after it collided with the business end of a bar stool, and the ER doctor knew that s/he couldn’t repair it. I’m sure he thought, “Another $%^& drunk…” but he was very professional and did an excellent job. Plus, he didn’t like the other guy either. > **[Greg Ganske](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Ganske)** > > John Greg Ganske (born March 31, 1949) is an American politician, plastic surgeon, and retired U.S. Army reserve lieutenant colonel from Iowa. He served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003 and was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Iowa in 2002. > Ganske was born in New Hampton, Iowa to parents Victor and Mary Jo Ganske. He earned honors in wrestling in high school, and was an American Field Service exchange student to Cost... ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240/11 "2016-07-30T03:41:34Z")
I’ve known voters who said they voted for or against a particular candidate based upon the candidate’s race or gender. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2016, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240/12 "2016-07-30T03:47:26Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > I’ve known voters who said they voted for or against a particular candidate based upon the candidate’s race or gender. There was an awful lot of that in 2008, for or against both major parties. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240/13 "2016-07-31T00:29:42Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I know Thais who have voted for someone purely because they’ve seen him driving past their home every day. Really. > [@nearwildheaven](#): > > A local office, I assume? No, not at all. This is Bangkok, so many of the figures vying for national office live here. I’m talking about Members of Parliament and Senators, ultimately Prime Minister (no Presidents in Thailand). ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240/14 "2016-07-31T00:39:56Z")
The first one I remember was quite a few relatives voting against JFK because he was Catholic. From that time on I have found most reasons for voting against (or for) someone to be fairly dumb. My own reasons excepted ---- of course. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240/15 "2016-07-31T00:44:06Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Within the past week, one of my Facebook friends, who is very politically conservative, said that one of the reasons he wants to vote for Trump (and he’s the first of my FBFs to admit leaning this way) is because Trump’s family is more physically attractive than Clinton’s, or Sanders’ for that matter. Where did he come down on [George and Barbara Bush](http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--ywKlgBsU--/18m7od5g0y7pcjpg.jpg) vs. [Michael and Kitty Dukakis](https://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_960w/Boston/2011-2020/2015/02/10/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/still3.jpg)? ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240/16 "2016-07-31T00:53:20Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > I’ve known voters who said they voted for or against a particular candidate based upon the candidate’s race or gender. Jeez oh man, yes. Mostly against, though. Not only were they angry, they felt personally affronted that the candidate had the temerity to even run, as though something was being taken away from them. ETA: This is what I think of whenever I hear someone say they want to take their country back. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240/17 "2016-07-31T01:01:33Z")
I once knew a young woman ( would have been around 19 or 20, I think ) who decided she didn’t want to vote for Dukakis because he had “big ears.” I liked her, she was a sweetheart of a person, but…what do you say to that :D? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240/18 "2016-07-31T02:07:27Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I once knew a young woman ( would have been around 19 or 20, I think ) who decided she didn’t want to vote for Dukakis because he had “big ears.” I liked her, she was a sweetheart of a person, but…what do you say to that :D? “Wanna go to bed?” ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240/19 "2016-07-31T02:13:51Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Where did he come down on [George and Barbara Bush](http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--ywKlgBsU--/18m7od5g0y7pcjpg.jpg) vs. [Michael and Kitty Dukakis](https://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_960w/Boston/2011-2020/2015/02/10/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/still3.jpg)? I didn’t know him at the time. I walked into the polling place, with the new R.E.M. cassette “Green” playing on my Walkman, not having decided who I would vote for; I really didn’t care for either of them, but I did vote for Dukakis. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240/20 "2016-07-31T02:20:55Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I didn’t know him at the time. > > I walked into the polling place, with the new R.E.M. cassette “Green” playing on my Walkman, not having decided who I would vote for; I really didn’t care for either of them, but I did vote for Dukakis. I guess you preferred to talk about the weather, rather than, you know. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbest-reason-youve-heard-why-someone-chose-to-vote-for-or-against-a-given-candidate/761240.md?page=2)