I grew up in a very political family - both my father, and later my older brother, were in politics and heavy duty Republicans.
While I will say that my late father was somewhat willing to at least listen to the other side, my older brother followed/still follows every word of the Republican Party platforms.
Having lived through this, and having heard the truly horrible things their friends and cronies said behind closed doors, it became clear they were a party of hate, bigotry and self entitlement. Almost by default, I became the screaming liberal Democrat I am today, at a very early age.
I have voted in every election since I was able to vote, and I have voted for every Democrat running for President, as well as all other Democrats running for the Senate or Congress.
There is a world of difference between Republicans and Democrats - just the social issues alone are about as black and white as you can get. At this stage of the game, to say that you are still “undecided” is an indication you are somewhat clueless, have no empathy for minorities and must be living in a news-free vacuum environment.
These undecided voters are the equivalent of the student who only starts studying for an exam as the final test is being distributed in the classroom; idiot, apathetic slackers who deserve the piss-poor grade (dumbass elected official) they wind up getting.
I have yet to meet an undecided voter - granted, a few cynics who don’t intend to vote for one reason or another, but undecided? Nope.
Of course all the networks will have their focus groups of “undecided” voters watching the debates and weighing in on who “won”. I call bullshit. When they round up people for the group, of course people are going to say they’re undecided- that’s the only way to get picked and get all the attention.
If you truly haven’t decided yet, there’s a good chance you won’t vote and an even better chance that you’ll vote the same party that you usually do.
Made up my mind quite a while ago, and I’d guess that most 'dopers have already done so, one way or the other, as well. But I think that there are a lot of folks still on the fence who are looking to the debates to really jump one way or the other. I know my co-workers were talking about them earlier and several of them seemed to be saying that they would decide depending on how the debates went.
At lower levels I go out of my way to vote for people I think are more capable regardless of party because a County Treasurer’s opinion on abortion is irrelevant. But taken as a whole, there is no compromise with a party that chooses to act and believe in moral absolutes because of a god I do not worship, until that changes I haven’t been able to support the GOP since the late 90’s.
Maybe it’s crazy, but a small part of me is still hoping republicans turn out to be less hateful and stupid than they currently appear to be. If Romney actually stated some concrete plans for economic recovery that made sense I could see myself choosing to vote for something other than 4 more years of not much from Obama. So in that sense I could be considered undecided. I’m a little tired of voting for the lesser of two evils.
Yeah, I saw that. I think it’s a little early to bash undecided voters (if that’s ever actually appropriate). Personally, I do lean one way but I could possibly be swayed in the other direction. I try to keep an open mind watching the debates.
First, I find it ironic that the person who votes for the same party, year in and year out, no matter what, thinks he has standing to call other people clueless or news-free.
Second, yes, the Democrats and Republicans are black and white. So who should a gray person like me vote for then, hmm? The guy that’s lying to me now or the guy that’s been lying to me for the past four years? The guy with policies that won’t work or the guy with policies that haven’t worked? The guy who’s done a terrible job over the past four years or the guy that won’t actually implement the plan he says he will?
You tell me which one I’m supposed to vote for when I don’t like either of them. You tell me what I’m supposed to do when I only agree with half of their platforms. I’d love to hear it.
You vote against the tea-party–against the folks who deny not only that global warming is man-made but that it even exists, against the folks who think it’s acceptable political discourse to agree to a budget but then filibuster only when it’s time to actually pay, against folks who won’t accept 1 part revenue to 10 parts spending cuts, and against the folks who are conspiring to disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters for the other party.
As an extreme liberal lefty, I can’t imagine ever voting R–frankly, it pisses me off to no end that I’m stuck voting D, who are too far to the right on too many issues for me already. But looking at the world from a distance, I can’t imagine that anyone who describes themselves as “moderate” or “grey” could vote Republican in this political climate. Because regardless of why you voted Romney–whether it’s because Obama sucks (and he does) or because you like some of his policies or you just think he’s a good guy–your vote is a de facto endorsement of the toxic, batshit elements that have hijacked the GOP, turning from the noble opposition to a party that threatens the stability of our country.
…sorry, that was probably more at home in the Pit than here. But I nonetheless think it’s clear that any vote for Romney is a vote against moderation.
I have voted for three non-Democrats for president (John Anderson, Bob Dole, and Ralph Nader) as well as a fair number of Republicans down ticket, but, like Ludovic, the sheer insanity of the teahadists has driven me into the arms of the Democratic party. I’ve become a Democratic Committeeman and have been canvassing for Democratic down ticket candidates.
I’ve actually made campaign contributions in the last year, something I never had done in the 40+ years I’ve been a voter.
Under the current circumstances, I doubt I’ll ever vote for a non-Democratic candidate.
