# Ever Change your Mind during an Election Campaign ? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 29, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335 "2011-03-29T02:26:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dano83860](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a4c791/32.png) [@Dano83860](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dano83860)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335/21 "2011-03-30T01:47:38Z")
George Bush Sr lost my vote when he proclaimed that credit card companies should lower their intrest rates so the American people could spend you way out of a slow economy.šŸ˜• My sister has yet to forgive me. šŸ†’ ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335/22 "2011-03-30T10:47:12Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Negatvie commercials usually push me toward the candidate that the ad is targeting. Anyone who slings mud loses my vote (or, at least, the candidate who does it first does). Be careful youā€™re not victimized by a Karl Rove, one of whose famous scams was to distribute very vile fliers against his own candidate just to get the backlash vote you speak of. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335/23 "2011-03-30T11:26:56Z")
Yes for another reason. When I do my research about local candidates in particular I often have to modulate my choice of candidate according to what I turn up. I could care less about their campaign though, track record is what counts. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335/24 "2011-03-30T12:04:57Z")
I was seriously considering McCain in 2008, despite disliking the US PATRIOT Act. If heā€™d picked a moderate VP running mate I may well have voted for him if only to encourage the GOP to move away from the Crazy. When he picked Palin, I ran a country mile. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335/25 "2011-03-30T13:28:16Z")
Yes. Twice during the KCMO citywide elections. The primaries were Feb 22 and the general election was March 22. Between those two times, I had the opportunity to speak with the candidates and attend a few of their debates/panel discussions. I changed my mind on the Mayoral candidate and one of the city council members. I also gained respect for a few other people, but not enough to convince me to vote for them. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335/26 "2011-03-30T13:32:32Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I was seriously considering McCain in 2008, despite disliking the US PATRIOT Act. If heā€™d picked a moderate VP running mate I may well have voted for him if only to encourage the GOP to move away from the Crazy. When he picked Palin, I ran a country mile. To be fair, when he picked Palin I thought it was an act of brilliance. It was once she opened her mouth that I wanted to run a country mile. But as in so many such contests, it was still the lesser evil. ā˜¹ ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335/27 "2011-03-30T17:16:50Z")
Iā€™d like to point out that my ā€œYes because of negative adsā€ vote means that I will change my vote to _against_ people who run unfair negative ads. ---
**Author:** ![Ludy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335/28 "2011-03-30T17:44:09Z")
I voted yes, but only because I waver between the Liberals and the NDP. I will generally vote for the candidate most likely to beat the Conservatives. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335/29 "2011-03-30T18:10:06Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > MA publishes a pamphlet with the text of each initiatives, and, I believe, the ramifications of voting Yea or Nay. California does too, but I wonder how many people read the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335/30 "2011-03-30T18:11:50Z")
Iā€™m not sure how to answer this question, because it would be ā€œnoā€ for general elections but ā€œyesā€ for primaries. For example, early in the 2008 cycle I was for Clinton but towards the beginning of the year I started shifting towards Obama and was definitely in his camp by the time of the California primary. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335/31 "2011-03-30T19:23:43Z")
I can remember one time I was planning on voting third party, but a campaign worker came to my door and changed my mind to vote for the lesser of the two evils. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335/32 "2011-03-31T01:53:10Z")
We have a lot of non-partisan races; the mayor of Seattle is a nonpartisan office. While sometimes, the races are clearly between a Democrat and a Republican, some are between candidates who are remarkably similar. I tend to waffle on those quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335/33 "2011-03-31T02:11:24Z")
I voted ā€œyes, for other reasonsā€. Happily, I miss most of the commercials by not having a television, but because I can be vocal, the incumbants have my email address. Usually it is because of information that has come out during campaigning that I wasnā€™t aware of previously. I try to do my homework. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335/34 "2011-03-31T06:16:00Z")
No, but Iā€™ve only been through a couple cycles. I have made my decision from TV before, but before I saw the ads, I didnā€™t know who I was voting for. And itā€™s never because of attack adsā€“those make me more likely to vote for the person who is being attacked. I find that, in general, people who stoop to mudslinging know they canā€™t win on issues alone. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335/35 "2011-04-01T06:16:24Z")
Most recent American Presidential Election: I liked, and planned to vote for Hillary Clinton. But once things got rolling and Obama became a viable contender, I was bitterly disappointed (and utterly shocked) by Hillaryā€™s disgraceful, sleazy behavior. Even if I hadnā€™t liked Obama, HRC would have driven me to another candidate. Same election: Although I never would have voted for him, Iā€™d always kind of liked and admired McCain, but as the presidential election campaigns progressed, I became less and less impressed by him. When he selected a dangerously ignorant and unqualified running mate, I lost all respect for him. . ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335/36 "2011-04-01T11:47:57Z")
In Holland we have a lot of different political parties, I usually know which party I like the most(GroenLinks:the green left party, or D66 a reform party), but sometimes I vote strategically with the party who has chance of making a working coalition government(PvdA:Labour), If I know that all my choices donā€™t have a chance of getting a coalition mayority I vote for my favorites ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335/37 "2011-04-01T14:24:23Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > i was a MCcain fan until Palin got her clocked cleaned in the VP debate. Pretty much this. Iā€™d kind of liked McCain for a long time and felt he was good competetition for Obamaā€“who was also interesting. When he chose Palin as a running mate I was confused but optimistic. Then she spoke and I knew heā€™d either gone senile or someone else was calling his shots. Either way, the McCain of 10 years ago was gone. It seemed more responsible to take a chance on a new kid with energy over Caribou Barbie (McCainā€™s age made his VP choice VERY relevant). ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335/38 "2011-04-01T15:09:17Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > i was a MCcain fan until Palin got her clocked cleaned in the VP debate. Sarah Palin looked horrible at many points in the campaign, so if youā€™d said you changed your mind after the Katie Couric interview or the Charles Gibson interview (in which she looked wofully unprepared and uninformed), Iā€™d understand completely. But she did NOT ā€œget her clock cleanedā€ in the debate with Joe Biden. Thatā€™s a reflction of the facts that: 1. By the time of the debate, expectations were extremely low for Palin, and she was almost BOUND to exceed them 2. Joe Biden is no smarter than Palin is. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335/39 "2011-04-01T15:23:46Z")
I said yes for multiple reasons - sometimes negative commercials or negative debating has made me vote against the mudslinger, which is not what I think you meant. But Iā€™ve only changed my mind at the US rep level, and one gubernatorial election - never senate nor president. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335/40 "2011-04-01T15:31:42Z")
I voted ā€œNoā€, but I have changed my mind from ā€œintending to voteā€ to ā€œnot intending to voteā€ over the course of a campaign. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-change-your-mind-during-an-election-campaign/576335.md?page=3)