# I can hardly stand the suspense! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 5, 2012, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943 "2012-11-05T09:58:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943/21 "2012-11-05T16:17:32Z")
Hey, “Obamaniac” is pretty darn clever! People say they don’t have much sense of humor, but look right there! ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943/22 "2012-11-05T16:43:07Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Hey, “Obamaniac” is pretty darn clever! People say they don’t have much sense of humor, but look right there! [He stole it from our side.](http://www.zazzle.com/obamaniac+gifts) Next time I tell the right has no sense of humor, will you just believe me? ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943/23 "2012-11-05T16:53:11Z")
Maybe Ann Coulter mistook the OP for Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943/24 "2012-11-05T16:57:07Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > In the United States, we have a choice between two (major party) candidates. Bullshit. Yours is not the vote that will make the difference between an Obama victory and a Romney victory, so voting for one war criminal out of fear of a slightly worse war criminal is stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943/25 "2012-11-05T17:00:27Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Bullshit. Yours is not the vote that will make the difference between an Obama victory and a Romney victory, so voting for one war criminal out of fear of a slightly worse war criminal is stupid. By this reasoning, a single vote also will not make the difference in the symbolic support for a third party candidate, either. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943/26 "2012-11-05T17:00:27Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Bullshit. Yours is not the vote that will make the difference between an Obama victory and a Romney victory, so voting for one war criminal out of fear of a slightly worse war criminal is stupid. My vote could be the one to make the difference, even if it’s very unlikely. If I vote third party, my vote is guaranteed to make no difference- and it was just a few hundred people in FL that voted third party and allowed a Gore loss. America would be in a better place now if Gore had won. And (IMO) America will be in a better situation in 4 years if Obama is elected rather than Romney. That’s just how it works, for me. I choose between the two candidates. Obama is better than Romney, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943/27 "2012-11-05T17:12:19Z")
Duty. Its your duty to vote, its your duty to make hard choices. You are a citizen in the greatest experiment in human governance in history. If you have to choose between two clapped out old whores, pick the one with the least obvious STD sores and weeping pustules. It’s your duty. Good men and women have fought and died for this, and no one is asking you to take a bullet. But _choose_, goddamit! Its your duty! (This is why I prefer sarcasm. Sincerity makes me preachy.) ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943/28 "2012-11-05T17:12:50Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Bullshit. Yours is not the vote that will make the difference between an Obama victory and a Romney victory, so voting for one war criminal out of fear of a slightly worse war criminal is stupid. Ralph Nader supporters in Florida were more than the difference between a Bush victory and a Gore victory in 2000. If you don’t think the difference between Bush’s administration and Gore’s (hypothetical) administration would have been that one was a ‘slightly worse war criminal’ I’d just as soon you not be allowed to vote. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943/29 "2012-11-05T17:18:25Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > I find the whole last-minute “revenge” motif that Romney is running with pretty bizarre. Is this really motivating the right-wing to vote? The fact that Obama used the word revenge in relatively benign off-the-cuff comments? It’s shocking when you see all the right-wing stuff that doesn’t rise to the level of endorsement from Romney. For instance, over the weekend a Facebook friend circulated a photo of Obama carrying a book entitled “The Post American World” with the comment “Post American ?? Seriously ?!?!??!??!?” This is a book by Fareed Zakaria, who in any reality oriented world would be considered a conservative. The right has sunk to literally judging a book by its cover. ---
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943/30 "2012-11-05T17:24:18Z")
Wait … there’s an election? ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943/31 "2012-11-05T17:27:34Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > By this reasoning, a single vote also will not make the difference in the symbolic support for a third party candidate, either. Whether Romney wins or not is a binary choice - either he becomes President or he doesn’t. I pointed out that your methodology will not stop him becoming President. Voting for someone who does not support committing war crimes in Pakistan, detaining and murdering US citizens without oversight or recourse and persecuting whistleblowers to protect torturers is a moral choice, justified by its own merits even if it does not prove successful. If Obama loses, can you say the same of your support for him? Will you say “Gee, Obama lost, but at least I showed my support for the administration that murdered a 16 year old human rights activist in cold blood!” > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > …it was just a few hundred people in FL that voted third party and allowed a Gore loss. Al Gore couldn’t even win his own home state, and yet Democrats think it’s Nader’s fault that he lost the election? Hell, all the Democrats needed to do to win Florida was teach their voters how to not fuck up the simple process of filling out a ballot. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943/32 "2012-11-05T17:34:22Z")
My morality dictates that actions are more important than empty symbols. And so even if I were a single issue voter, I still would not help Romney by voting for a third party. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943/33 "2012-11-05T17:35:22Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Whether Romney wins or not is a binary choice - either he becomes President or he doesn’t. I pointed out that your methodology will not stop him becoming President. There’s a non-zero chance that it could. > [@](#): > > Voting for someone who does not support committing war crimes in Pakistan, detaining and murdering US citizens without oversight or recourse and persecuting whistleblowers to protect torturers is a moral choice, justified by its own merits even if it does not prove successful. It’s not a moral choice, IMO, because it increases the chance (by a very small amount) that a president who is far worse could be elected. I voted for Obama because it’s the most moral choice of the ones I faced, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943/34 "2012-11-05T17:48:53Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > It’s not a moral choice, IMO, because it increases the chance (by a very small amount) that a president who is far worse could be elected. [Will Romney see 93% of all income growth go to the top 1%?](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-02/top-1-got-93-of-income-growth-as-rich-poor-gap-widened.html) [Will he exile US citizens without trial?](http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/nov/05/muslim-no-fly-qatar) ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943/35 "2012-11-05T17:51:56Z")
Almost certainly. What possible reason would you have for believing otherwise? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943/36 "2012-11-05T17:56:31Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > I even get to tell people they have to turn their Obama or Romney T-shirts inside out before coming in. Really? Are you not allowed to wear any paraphernalia that shows whom you support to a polling station? Is that a local thing where you live or is it everywhere? I suppose I just never noticed stuff like that before. I go in, I vote, I leave. > [@Grumman](#): > > “Gee, Obama lost, but at least I showed my support for the administration that murdered a 16 year old human rights activist in cold blood!” Wait…what? Is this some real event you a referencing or is this hyperbole? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943/37 "2012-11-05T18:01:53Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > Bullshit. Yours is not the vote that will make the difference between an Obama victory and a Romney victory, so voting for one war criminal out of fear of a slightly worse war criminal is stupid. Göring and Goebbels are running for POTUS? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943/38 "2012-11-05T18:12:11Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Really? Are you not allowed to wear any paraphernalia that shows whom you support to a polling station? Is that a local thing where you live or is it everywhere? The FEC prohibits campaigning within 100 feet (or yards, maybe) of a polling station. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943/39 "2012-11-05T18:17:54Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > The FEC prohibits campaigning within 100 feet (or yards, maybe) of a polling station. This has not been interpreted to include wearing campaign paraphenalia if you are a voter. (Actually, not sure if there’s a federal rule at all, but most states permit so-called “passive electioneering.”) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943/40 "2012-11-05T18:20:07Z")
Hmm. You’re right. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-can-hardly-stand-the-suspense/639943.md?page=3)