(for those previously on the fence) I've decided to vote for....

Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
#1

I’m not sure if this is an appropriate question to ask people, but thought I’d give it a shot anyway…has anyone previously undecided come to any conclusions in the last week or so and decided on who to vote for?

I’ll start…while I don’t agree with a lot of his economics or social policies, I’ve decided to vote Obama in November. This is not my optimal choice, but I simply can’t bring myself to vote for McCain due to the fact that I think he’s completely clueless about the economy…and due to his stances on several of the quasi-religious issues that I loath. And…frankly casting my vote for the Libertarian candidate as I usually do is just a frigging waste.

Besides, it would be nice to be on the winning side once in my lifetime (well, twice…I actually voted for Clinton in his second term). And New Mexico is actually in play.

In any case…any other undecideds out there figured out what you are doing?

-XT

#2

I’m definitely not undecided, but thank you for actually considering your vote carefully, and not being one of the people who says “OMG Obama is teh Muslims oh noes!!!111!” or “OMG McCain is Bush oh noes!!!111!”.

#3

Sorry to butt in, I’m not undecided-- but notice that you voted for Clinton in his second term. That, coupled with your decision today, means quite a bit. Sometimes we make assumptions about people on this board by their posts. Sometimes we think someone is an unrepentant Commie/Liberal, sometimes an unrepentant Fundie/Far Right Winger.

You, sir, have proven that mindless assumptions don’t always apply.

#4

I am left-leaning but was undecided because I was unsure about Obama’s tax policy. But when McCain picked Sarah Palin as a running mate, that week I decided I must vote for Obama.

#5

I was pretty thrilled about Obama early on. Then FISA immunity, Patriot Act Biden, et al. has put a bit of a damper on my enthusiasm. If it wasn’t for Palin I’d probably be giving McCain more consideration, but I’m not particularly thrilled with voting for either of the major party candidates. We’re reaching the point where “the lesser of two evils” is too evil.

The recent function of third parties is to attract attention to topics currently neglected by the major party. Eventually, one of the major party candidates will adopt the issue to try to win back those votes. I’ve never understood the “He can’t win. Don’t waste your vote.” reasoning. If you vote for a candidate who you don’t think will do the best job of representing you, even if he wins, you lose.

If you’re voting for a minor party candidate in the hopes he’ll win, you’ll be disappointed, but the vote isn’t “wasted” because you’re applying pressure on the major party to embrace the principles of the minor party to win back your vote.

If you vote for a major party candidate because they have a chance of winning, despite your dissatisfaction with them, that is wasting your vote. If the standard for winning an election is “I’m not as evil as the other guy!” we shouldn’t be surprised if the major party candidates keep getting worse and worse. So long as we vote for “the lesser of two evils” there’s no pressure to prevent the winning candidates from getting more evil election-to-election. Like I said, eventually even “the lesser of two evils” is too evil.

I’m not voting McCain. Minor party candidates are nice because I don’t have to worry about what they’d do if they won. I can’t decide if Virginia is close enough to being a “swing state” to warrant voting for Obama/Biden or to pick a minor party candidate (probably Barr at this point).

#6

This seems about a good a place as any to post this clip about politics from the Howard Stern Show. I don’t listen to that show, but found this clip rather interesting.

Sal(some guy from the show) went to Harlem to ask why people are voting for Obama or McCain. He reversed their positions and found people would support anything.

By the way, it’s NSFW because of a few “F Bombs”. I’ll break the link below so you don’t open it at work.

http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5p3OB6roAg

I’m glad to see you have considered your vote carefully.

#7

Well, went to the polls today (early vote in New Mexico was today) and voted with my wife and son (his first time voting!). My son and I cast our votes for Obama (he was pretty much instrumental in bringing me down off the fence…he had decided to vote Obama months ago). I was very proud of him for taking his citizenship seriously and really thinking through his decision. My father has been working on him for months to change his mind, telling him all kinds of anti-Obama tall tales (and even some that hit closer to the mark), and yet my son remained calm and collected, did his research, and rebutted the things that were flagrantly wrong or spoke to the ones that were closer to the truth. Myself, I pretty much stayed out of it…my dad considers me a flaming liberal (funny, ehe?) and in the past our political arguments were the stuff of legends. Besides, I wanted to see how my son would handle it…as, at least in my family, this is almost a coming of age thing. The political fights in my extended family are…fierce.

So…it’s over and done for good or ill. I hope for good and I think this country needs a boost in morale and in confidence…and really there is only one candidate that could give it such a boost IMHO. I think, FWIW, that Obama is the better choice for what we need right now, despite my reservations on his economics stance. I think, rather than a narrow, vertical issues candidate though what we need is a leader with a strong personality…and I think that Obama fits the bill. With flying colors.

Sorry if I rambled there…still a bit hung over this morning and perhaps not at my most coherent…such as it is. In any event feel free to do with this thread as you like or let it die in obscurity.

-XT