# How Would You Have Voted In the Past Redux **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 9, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603 "2010-10-09T14:24:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603/21 "2010-10-10T15:56:49Z")
Since I’m bored I’ll do one for British Parliamentery Elections starting with after the Reform Act of 1832. 1832: Earl Grey (Whig) 1835: The Viscount Melbourne (Whig) 1837: The Viscount Melbourne (Whig) 1841: The Viscount Melbourne (Whig) 1847: Lord John Russell (Whig) 1852: Lord John Russell (Whig) 1857: The Earl of Derby (Conservative) [1] 1859: The Earl of Derby (Conservative) [1] 1865: The Earl of Derby (Conservative) [1] 1868: William Ewart Gladstone (Liberal) 1874: William Ewart Gladstone (Liberal) 1880: William Ewart Gladstone (Liberal) 1885: Lord Salisbury (Conservative) [2] 1886: Lord Salisbury (Conservative and Liberal Unionist) 1892: Lord Salisbury (Conservative and Liberal Unionist) 1895: Lord Salisbury (Conservative and Liberal Unionist) 1900: Lord Salisbury (Conservative and Liberal Unionist) 1906: Arthur Balfour (Conservative and Liberal Unionist) 1910 (February): Arthur Balfour (Conservative) 1910 (December): Arthur Balfour (Conservative) 1918: Andrew Bonar Law (Coalition Conservative) 1922: Andrew Bonar Law (Conservative) 1923: Stanley Baldwin (Conservative) 1924: Stanley Baldwin (Conservative) 1929: Stanley Baldwin (Conservative) 1931: Stanley Baldwin (Conservative) 1935: Stanley Baldwin (Conservative) 1945: Winston Churchill (Conservative) 1950: Winston Churchill (Conservative) 1951: Winston Churchill (Conservative) 1955: Anthony Eden (Conservative) 1959: Harold Macmillan (Conservative) 1964: Alec Douglas-Home (Conservative) 1966: Edward Heath (Conservative) 1970: Edward Heath (Conservative) 1974 (February): Edward Heath (Conservative) 1974 (October): Edward Heath (Conservative) 1979: Margaret Thatcher (Conservative) 1983: Margaret Thatcher (Conservative) 1987: Margaret Thatcher (Conservative) 1992: John Major (Conservative) 1997: Tony Blair (Labour) [3] 2001: Tony Blair (Labour) [3] 2005: Tony Blair (Labour) [3] 2010: David Cameron (Conservative) Notes: [1] I can’t support Lord Palmerston’s pro-Confederate stance at all. [2] I am a Unionist and am opposed to Irish Home Rule. [3] I supported Tony Blair’s pro-American foreign policy ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603/22 "2010-10-10T16:09:40Z")
Were I American, and the same age: 1988 - Bush 1992 - Clinton 1996 - Clinton 2000 - Gore, cheerfully 2004 - Kerry, reluctantly 2008 - Obama, though I would have preferred Clinton ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603/23 "2010-10-10T16:18:06Z")
It seems as if many picks are based on hindsight. To be fair, you should only use information that would have been available to you at the time of the election. For example, in 1928, you can’t say that Al Smith couldn’t have prevented the Depression either. In 1928, you wouldn’t have known about a Depression. Same with 2000, you didn’t know that 9/11 would happen, so you can’t talk about Iraq, North Korea, etc. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603/24 "2010-10-10T16:44:13Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Some of your choices, Curtis, look silly, while others are illogical or reprehensible. You credit Lincoln with saving the union in 1860, but of course he had done nothing of the kind yet. I would bet a lot of money that if you had the option in 1860 you would have seen him as a wild-eyed radical, proposing controversial stuff. I’ll give you credit for having the balls to admit that, even knowing what you know now, you would still have voted for Nixon three times.“Gotta go for the man who commits impeachable offenses, yup.” Nixon was an underrated President, and I say that as a guy who by U.S. standards is very liberal. Yes, he was a crook. Hell, they all are, he just got caught in a time when people cared (I don’t think they do anymore, though.) Nixon accomplished big things, though. I’m said it before and will again; detente with China was the greatest foreign policy coup in American history and might well have prevented World War III. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603/25 "2010-10-10T18:25:08Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > > [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > > > Some of your choices, Curtis, look silly, while others are illogical or reprehensible. You credit Lincoln with saving the union in 1860, but of course he had done nothing of the kind yet. I would bet a lot of money that if you had the option in 1860 you would have seen him as a wild-eyed radical, proposing controversial stuff. I’ll give you credit for having the balls to admit that, even knowing what you know now, you would still have voted for Nixon three times.“Gotta go for the man who commits impeachable offenses, yup.” > > Nixon was an underrated President, and I say that as a guy who by U.S. standards is very liberal. Right. Nixon was an Establishment Conservative, perhaps the _last_ Establishment Conservative to hold that much power before the Movement Conservatives swept in under the auspices of Amon-Reagan the Holy and Powerful. He wasn’t afraid of a certain degree of social progress, he wasn’t completely opposed to non-military government spending, and, most shockingly, he was willing to _end a war._ Get a Nixon in office now and Fox News would tar him as a Communistic Socialist hard-core Liberal. Hell, even _Chomsky_ thinks he was liberal! > [@](#): > > Yes, he was a crook. Hell, they all are, he just got caught in a time when people cared This is just lazy thinking at best, unfalsifiable conspiracy thinking at worst. > [@](#): > > (I don’t think they do anymore, though.) They still care. They even still demonstrate. Don’t you watch the news? > [@](#): > > Nixon accomplished big things, though. Him and Johnson will forever be redeemed, to the extent they can be, by the fact they made decisive, meaningful progress on the issue of Civil Rights. > [@](#): > > I’m said it before and will again; detente with China was the greatest foreign policy coup in American history and might well have prevented World War III. Defend this statement, please. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603/26 "2010-10-10T18:30:55Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > Since I’m bored I’ll do one for British Parliamentery Elections starting with after the Reform Act of 1832. I’d be too busy plotting against the monarchy to vote in elections. Can you rephrase the question to “Which of these people would you not try to poison?” > [@](#): > > [2] I am a Unionist and am opposed to Irish Home Rule. Because…? What haven’t the Irish the right to rule themselves? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603/27 "2010-10-10T18:35:32Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > > [@gonzomax](#): > > > > We know the kid is a republican ,but his defenses are weak. > > My first campaign was for Stevenson. He was an extremely intelligent and articulate man. The press called him an egghead. He was badly treated by the TV and newspapers who as always want the repub. > > Through most of the recent years the major papers have taken a centre-left position. Nothing like MSNBC liberalism but still in general support liberal policies and endorse Democrats (for instance the Times of LA endorsed voting against Prop 8). They are corporate arms. They are unabashedly pro war and pro big, big business.Just go to “whoownswhat” to find out that huge conglomerates own the new and TV now. I took a college course in journalism that focused on the Stevenson /Ike race. It showed news pictures from front pages that made Adlai look awkward . It showed Ike with a big confident ,fatherly grin. They had many examples of press slant. It has always been a problem. But that does not mean that righies won’t make the claim that it is a liberal media. It is just not true. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603/28 "2010-10-10T18:36:52Z")
Nixon also brought us Spiro Agnew who took bribes ,in the White House ,while in office as Vice President. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603/29 "2010-10-10T19:27:24Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Defend this statement, please. If I find time, I’ll do so in detail, but really, Google’s your friend. The change in tone in US-Soviet and US-China relations, as well as the impact on the Vietnam War, is not a hard thing to find on your own. It’ll take me at least an hour to put together a good post on it, so maybe I’ll get back to this. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603/30 "2010-10-10T20:38:11Z")
[QUOTE=Skald the Rhymer;13009726 Because…? What haven’t the Irish the right to rule themselves?[/QUOTE] The Liberals at that time wanted Home Rule for Ulster too. > [@gonzomax](#): > > > [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > > > Through most of the recent years the major papers have taken a centre-left position. Nothing like MSNBC liberalism but still in general support liberal policies and endorse Democrats (for instance the Times of LA endorsed voting against Prop 8). > > They are corporate arms. They are unabashedly pro war and pro big, big business.Just go to “whoownswhat” to find out that huge conglomerates own the new and TV now. > I took a college course in journalism that focused on the Stevenson /Ike race. It showed news pictures from front pages that made Adlai look awkward . It showed Ike with a big confident ,fatherly grin. They had many examples of press slant. It has always been a problem. But that does not mean that righies won’t make the claim that it is a liberal media. It is just not true. Not too many of them supported the Iraq War (see Joe Klein’s fanatically antiwar piece on Time) although virtually everyone mainstream supports the Afghan War. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603/31 "2010-10-10T20:44:02Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > > [@Derleth](#): > > > > Defend this statement, please. > > If I find time, I’ll do so in detail, but really, Google’s your friend. The change in tone in US-Soviet and US-China relations, as well as the impact on the Vietnam War, is not a hard thing to find on your own. It’ll take me at least an hour to put together a good post on it, so maybe I’ll get back to this. Really, I just want a good refutation to my post on this topic above, if anyone can do it. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603/32 "2010-10-10T21:03:48Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > Since I’m bored I’ll do one for British Parliamentery Elections starting with after the Reform Act of 1832. Now starring in Short Attention Span Theatre . . . But as long as I’m here - how would you feel about voting to elect a Member of Parliament that you personally despised, that you thought was a criminal, a moron, a dweeb, or whatever, simply because he was a member of the party whose leader you wanted to be Prime Minister? ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603/33 "2010-10-10T21:08:30Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > > [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > > > Since I’m bored I’ll do one for British Parliamentery Elections starting with after the Reform Act of 1832. > > Now starring in Short Attention Span Theatre . . . > > But as long as I’m here - how would you feel about voting to elect a Member of Parliament that you personally despised, that you thought was a criminal, a moron, a dweeb, or whatever, simply because he was a member of the party whose leader you wanted to be Prime Minister? That’s the bad thing about a Parliamentary system but yes I would. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603/34 "2010-10-11T03:11:11Z")
Germany this time. 1871: German Progress Party 1874: German Progress Party 1877: German Progress Party 1878: German Progress Party 1881: German Progress Party 1884: German Freeminded Party 1887: German Freeminded Party 1890: German Freeminded Party 1893: Freeminded People’s Party 1898: Freeminded People’s Party 1903: Freeminded People’s Party 1907: Freeminded People’s Party 1912: Progressive People’s Party 1919: German Democratic Party 1920: German Democratic Party 1924 (May): German Democratic Party 1924 (December): German Democratic Party 1928: German Democratic Party 1930: Social Democratic Party of Germany 1932 (July): Social Democratic Party of Germany 1932 (November): Social Democratic Party of Germany [1] 1933 (March): Social Democratic Party of Germany [1] 1933 (November): Invalid vote 1936: No 1938: No 1949: Christian Democratic Union 1953: Christian Democratic Union 1957: Christian Democratic Union 1961: Christian Democratic Union 1965: Christian Democratic Union 1969: Christian Democratic Union 1972: Christian Democratic Union 1976: Christian Democratic Union 1980: Christian Democratic Union 1983: Christian Democratic Union 1987: Christian Democratic Union 1990: Christian Democratic Union 1994: Christian Democratic Union 1998: Christian Democratic Union 2002: Christian Democratic Union 2005: Christian Democratic Union 2009: Christian Democratic Union [1] Best bet against Nazis or Communists ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603/35 "2010-10-11T03:15:12Z")
Presidential Elections of Germany 1925 (First round): Willy Hellpach (German Democratic Party) 1925 (Second round): Wilhelm Marx (Zentrum) 1932 (First round): Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (write-in) 1932 (Second round): Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (write-in) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603/36 "2010-10-11T03:16:32Z")
Klingon Chancellors of the High Council I would have assassinated: [ul] [li]Chancellor [Mow’ga](http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mow%27ga&action=edit&redlink=1) (2nd Empire - approximate Earth dates not known)[/li][li]Chancellor [Mereck](http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mereck&action=edit&redlink=1) (c. 2154)[/li][li]Chancellor [Gorkon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorkon) (? - 2293) - Began the peace process with the Federation after the explosion of [Praxis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praxis_(moon)#P). Assassinated by Federation and Klingon officials opposed to the peace process.[/li][li]Chancellor [Azetbur](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azetbur) (2293 - ?) - The daughter of Gorkon, named Chancellor after Gorkon’s assassination.[/li][li]Chancellor [K’mpec](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%27mpec) (? - 2367) - The longest serving Chancellor.[/li][li]Chancellor [Gowron](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gowron) (2367-2375) - Killed in a duel by [Worf](http://boards.straightdope.com/wiki/Worf). The council members wanted him to become Chancellor, but Worf proclaimed Martok the new Chancellor.[/li][li]Chancellor [Martok](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martok) (beginning 2375)\*[/li][/ul]\*still alive, but just on general principles. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603/37 "2010-10-11T04:01:44Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > I think this thread asks an excellent question. One which I don’t think I, nor any of us can honestly or objectively answer. > > After all, how can any of us judge the candidates from an era that we didn’t live in? … > > Grant me eternal life and a time machine and I could honestly answer the OP’s question. Further, does this first original question assume that we do, or don’t know what we know now, and how accurate is our own knowledge of history as it really happened vs how much was just written by the victors. the only answer I can come up with is “hell if I know”. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603/38 "2010-10-11T06:50:55Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] - how would you feel about voting to elect a Member of Parliament that you personally despised, that you thought was a criminal, a moron, a dweeb, or whatever, simply because he was a member of the party whose leader you wanted to be Prime Minister? [/QUOTE] With a bit of political terminology tweaking that’s exactly what I did in 2000 with Gore and 2004 with Kerry. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603/39 "2010-10-11T11:36:19Z")
The suspense is killing me! Would Curtis have supported Charlemagne? What would have been his historical picks for Chile? ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603/40 "2010-10-11T16:19:15Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Plus in most southern states (Lincoln) wasn’t even on the ballot and write-in votes were largely disregarded (not that he got many- in Virginia, where he _was_ on the ballot, he got only 1% of the vote). Nitpick–nobody was on the ballot in 1860. There were no ballots. The parties printed and circulated electoral tickets which voters dropped in ballot boxes. In the ten deep South states, nobody bothered to nominate Republican electors or print or circulate Republican tickets, which besides being an exercise in futility, might well have been unsafe. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-have-voted-in-the-past-redux/556603.md?page=3)