It’s probably just confirmation bias, but lately I’ve noticed that when I see a car with a campaign bumper sticker, it’s likely that they’re going to do something to piss me off. On the way home from work today, I was behind two left-lane bandits who thought they were entitled to live in the passing lane because they were going exactly the speed limit. One had an Obama sticker right in the middle of the rear window, surely improving visibility. And the douchebag in the pickup had a McCain sticker right on his giant chrome bumper.
The way I see it, trying to promote a message while simultaneously engaging in behavior sure to piss off the recipients of that message is a bit counterproductive. Don’t turn yourself into a rolling advertisement and then work to do a disservice to your candidate by being an idiot.
As far as the presidential election goes, my vote appears to be especially valuable this year. I’m an undecided voter in the all-important swing state of Ohio. Hell, if things get crazy enough, I could single-handedly decide this year’s election with my one up-in-the-air vote. And what have I decided to do with that serious civic commitment? I’ve decided to cast my vote for the candidate whose vehicular supporters piss me off the least in the next month.
Everytime I catch a driver doing something moronic on the road, and that driver has a campaign bumper sticker, their candidate gets a point. If it’s especially dangerous behaviour (based on my sole discretion), that’s a bonus point. If the driver is on a cell phone while doing it, that’s also a bonus point. Whoever has the fewest points on Nov 4th gets my vote.
So there you go…the fate of the world depends on the good behavior of Ohio drivers. Wow…when you put it that way, I think we’re fucked.
This is why I hate living in a non-swing state. I read up on both candidates, watch debates, avoid letting attack ads bias my thinking and at the end of the day my vote won’t change things one wit. Then you have retards like the OP choosing their candidate based on counting bumper stickers. George Bush’s two terms are starting to make a lot more sense.
Well, I can’t really factor him in. Since I’m likely to see fewer Nader stickers than anyone else’s, he would almost win by default. Since McCain and Obama are close to 50/50, it’s a fair contest.
And seriously, how can you argue with my logic?
Driving behavior is an indisputable reflection of intelligence and ability to make good decisions.
Poor drivers are therefore stupid and make bad decisions.
If such a person supports a candidate, that candidate must be the wrong answer.
I’ll vote for the guy with less evidence of being the wrong answer.
If there are logical fallacies or flawed premises in that train of thought, I sure as hell don’t see 'em.
I can guarantee that you will see no campaign stickers supporting my election. Therefore, I think you should do a write-in vote for me.
A stupid individual can still come to the correct decision by chance, even if his reasoning is flawed. For instance, if said idiot decides that the driving behavior of a small fraction of a candidate’s supporters is a valid means to decide who to vote for, they may still vote for the correct candidate, even if he is basing his decision on the decision-making process of other idiots (a more distilled kind of stupidity than his peers) instead of their suitability for the job.
Wow. I really thought I was making that statement as transparent as possible. I swear, after 8 years, I still haven’t figured out quite where this board’s whoosh threshold lies. I’m still gathering data points though.
It’s a bipartisan effort. The kind all drivers with high blood pressure can get behind. It’s also an initiative that we’d all like to pass. Whatever you do, don’t bailout at freeway speeds. These kinds of drivers are taxing. The opposite of progress on the freeways is Congress.
The OP was tongue-in-cheek, and I was really expecting that to be obvious. It was meant to be something to have a little fun with. Pit threads shouldn’t have to all be so serious. So of course that’s not how I’m going to decide my vote. I’ll make an informed decision based on the facts. Or, at the very least, with a coin toss in the voting booth.
But foolishness aside, I was actually trying to make a point. You can find that point in the second paragraph, which I meant in all seriousness. If you choose to make yourself a mobile advertisement, don’t undo your efforts by being a jackass at the same time.
I would, understandably, get a negative impression of John McCain if one of his campaign volunteers punched me in the face when I opened the door, right before offering me some literature and a yard sign. And the asshole who cuts me off in traffic with a big Obama sticker is basically the same in my eyes. Does he mean to be negatively impacting the cause? Probably not. But even so, people should be aware of how their actions are perceived.
(Although maybe he’s a clever McCain supporter who knows damn well what effect that will have, and it’s trying to sabotage the campaign.)
Sadly, the proliferation of actual morons in the world makes it hard to spot that sometimes. So these days I tend to just ask if people are serious or not.
Remember, anyone who slaps bumper stickers on his car has already proven they don’t care about its appearance and probably not for its overall condition or long-term value. Which means they are likely
Ok, that’s a little leap in logic but just try to prove me wrong, you buck-toothed moron! And there are far more improtant things to do, so back of funtil you solve golbal warming and darfur, and your argument makes no sense anyhow!
Remember, anyone who slaps bumper stickers on his car has already proven they don’t care about its appearance and probably not for its overall condition or long-term value. Which means they are likely to be less concerned about getting into accidents and fender-benders!
Ok, that’s a little leap in logic but just try to prove me wrong, you buck-toothed moron! And there are far more improtant things to do, so back of funtil you solve golbal warming and darfur, and your argument makes no sense anyhow!
