# Oi, America! Get off your arses and go vote! **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 6, 2018, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067 "2018-11-06T13:17:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067/21 "2018-11-06T16:30:35Z")
I never vote a “straight ticket”. I go through the ballot candidate by candidate and vote accordingly. I usually vote for all dems, but I never just click on the straight party one-click thing. Republican rep Jeff Pyle ran unopposed. I wrote in “anyone but Pyle”. I told my gf I did that and she copied me. Go, anyone but Pyle!!! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067/22 "2018-11-06T16:32:45Z")
Long line at my polling place when it opened at 6:30 this morning. I would have voted this past weekend at the Bd. of Elections but the line stretched for blocks. Oh, and furriners should shaddup on what Americans must do. Scrape off your own warts, as John Tortorella would say. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067/23 "2018-11-06T16:38:21Z")
I’ll be going right after work. Promise. Did some phonebanking last night for the state Dems (my third time this fall). Hope it did some good. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067/24 "2018-11-06T16:43:25Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Voting a straight Republican ticket. > > Happy? 😃 Happy that you’re voting, yes. Voting is good. I would rather lose but have most people actually voting in a free and fair system than win by suppressing voting by people likely to vote the other way. > [@steronz](#): > > Yeah, I’ve wised up. I used to pride myself on voting for the best candidate regardless of party, and where I live that generally meant about 60% of ballot races were between extremely well qualified Republicans and moderately qualified Democrats. So I’ve voted Dem on national races, and end up voting Rep on a lot of local races. But I’ve now lived a good chunk of my adult life under minority rule, and I’ve finally caught on, like Republicans did in 2010, that these piddly local races have an exaggerated effect on national politics, because of things like gerrymandering and voter suppression. > > First time in my life voting straight Democrat. I’d love to go back to voting for the best person, but as long as Republicans are willing to play by the rules of a broken system to their own advantage, I need to as well. If there was a Republican on the ballot I thought would act in the best interest of his or her constituents more than any of the alternatives, I’d fill in that oval. But the GOP have purged themselves of pretty much all the reasonable Republicans, and the inmates are running the asylum and the country right now. I don’t vote Democratic for tribal reasons; I vote Democratic because they’re the least worst available option right now. I’d love to have the luxury of a better choice, but that isn’t happening. And I voted absentee this year so it’s already sent, received and presumably counted. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067/25 "2018-11-06T17:02:29Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Happy that you’re voting, yes. Voting is good. I would rather lose but have most people actually voting in a free and fair system than win by suppressing voting by people likely to vote the other way. > > If there was a Republican on the ballot I thought would act in the best interest of his or her constituents more than any of the alternatives, I’d fill in that oval. But the GOP have purged themselves of pretty much all the reasonable Republicans, and the inmates are running the asylum and the country right now. > > I don’t vote Democratic for tribal reasons; I vote Democratic because they’re the least worst available option right now. I’d love to have the luxury of a better choice, but that isn’t happening. > > And I voted absentee this year so it’s already sent, received and presumably counted. If you truly think that there are no Republican candidates who are willing to act in the best interests of their constituents, then either your views of what are the “best interests” are so skewed to the “left” that no Republican can fill the bill, or you simply are pre-biased against the candidates because of the label they choose, and that seems to me the essence of tribalism. On my ballot were some Republicans who are, in my opinion, not particularly worried about anything but slashing taxes and removing regulations on business, while promoting a “conservative” social agenda, some Republicans who are quite willing to give and take to try and solve our state’s problems, and some Republicans who, simply put, are decent people, with decent morals, good intelligence, and a willingness to listen to their constituents. There was at least one Democratic candidate who’s comments during the campaign made clear had no idea how state government finances work, and who’s ideas about what to do to solve problems were not shockingly disconnected from the reality of how finances work. Needless to say, she did not appear to me a really viable option in her race. Thus, my ballot was certainly not “straight ticket” in any sense of the word. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067/26 "2018-11-06T17:07:31Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > If you truly think that there are no Republican candidates who are willing to act in the best interests of their constituents, then either your views of what are the “best interests” are so skewed to the “left” that no Republican can fill the bill, or you simply are pre-biased against the candidates because of the label they choose, and that seems to me the essence of tribalism. > > On my ballot were some Republicans who are, in my opinion, not particularly worried about anything but slashing taxes and removing regulations on business, while promoting a “conservative” social agenda, some Republicans who are quite willing to give and take to try and solve our state’s problems, and some Republicans who, simply put, are decent people, with decent morals, good intelligence, and a willingness to listen to their constituents. There was at least one Democratic candidate who’s comments during the campaign made clear had no idea how state government finances work, and who’s ideas about what to do to solve problems were not shockingly disconnected from the reality of how finances work. Needless to say, she did not appear to me a really viable option in her race. Thus, my ballot was certainly not “straight ticket” in any sense of the word. I am not aware of any Republicans in office (and running for reelection) who have forcefully condemned the asshole in the White House or taken steps to reign him in for the good of the country (and the world). Failure to do so is a moral failing that, in my opinion, makes one unsuited for elective office. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067/27 "2018-11-06T17:09:17Z")
Don’t vote. If you are really worried about it, find someone who was going to vote opposite you and form a pact to stay home. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067/28 "2018-11-06T17:12:00Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I am not aware of any Republicans in office (and running for reelection) who have forcefully condemned the asshole in the White House or taken steps to reign him in for the good of the country (and the world). > > Failure to do so is a moral failing that, in my opinion, makes one unsuited for elective office. Amazingly, when the “Republican” you are considering happens to be running for, say, County Sheriff, or state Assemblyman, or even State Superintendent of Schools, their viewpoint on the President of the United States is hardly what you should be focused on. Or, at least, so I apprehend things to be; if you want to be a one-issue voter, be my guest. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067/29 "2018-11-06T17:15:58Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Amazingly, when the “Republican” you are considering happens to be running for, say, County Sheriff, or state Assemblyman, or even State Superintendent of Schools, their viewpoint on the President of the United States is hardly what you should be focused on. Or, at least, so I apprehend things to be; if you want to be a one-issue voter, be my guest. :rolleyes: The problem is that those low level civil service jobs can be stepping stones to more important jobs. It looks good on a resume, and rightly so. So the Republicans who gerrymandered my state’s districts 8 years ago may have gotten their start in those nondescript jobs 25 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067/30 "2018-11-06T17:17:34Z")
I’ll be heading over to vote shortly. I’ll be voting Democrat or entering no vote. I will not vote Republican for any race or position. At this point, the party itself very much needs to get a message that they have veered widely away from acceptable standards.\* They won’t get that message if people vote for their local favorite Republicans. Also, fuck those guys. \*What standards? Any. All. Ethical. Political. National. International. They are not fit to govern. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067/31 "2018-11-06T17:20:43Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > Amazingly, when the “Republican” you are considering happens to be running for, say, County Sheriff, or state Assemblyman, or even State Superintendent of Schools, their viewpoint on the President of the United States is hardly what you should be focused on. Or, at least, so I apprehend things to be; if you want to be a one-issue voter, be my guest. :rolleyes: There is a time to be a one-issue voter. That time is now. But, you’ll be happy to hear, I voted for a friend of mine to be reelected as county commissioner. He’s a Republican, but doesn’t like Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067/32 "2018-11-06T17:22:17Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Don’t vote. If you are really worried about it, find someone who was going to vote opposite you and form a pact to stay home. No. Even if I could guarantee that the person on the other side will honor that agreement and won’t simply sneak off and vote anyway, I view voting as a sacred secular ritual I get to participate in. It’s also a way to affirmatively repudiate Trumpism. This morning I ritualistically poured my cup of water into the Blue Wave. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067/33 "2018-11-06T17:22:26Z")
Voted. In my skirt, symbolizing whatever solidarities and 'tude possible. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067/34 "2018-11-06T17:25:23Z")
A State Superintendent of Schools might not be negotiating foreign policy, or setting tax rates. But I really don’t want a school superintendent who chooses to identify with the party that puts children in cages. There’s a reason they call themselves Republicans, and nowadays it’s really hard to find _good_ reasons to do that. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067/35 "2018-11-06T17:34:59Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > If you truly think that there are no Republican candidates who are willing to act in the best interests of their constituents, then either your views of what are the “best interests” are so skewed to the “left” that no Republican can fill the bill, or you simply are pre-biased against the candidates because of the label they choose Or I actually went through my ballot and looked at each candidate’s positions on various issues and their willingness to support bad behavior within their own party, and made individual decisions that, in the end, resulted in me casting no votes for Republican candidates. I did vote for some small-C conservative state/district judges who, to the extent I could ascertain, seemed to be doing their jobs fairly and competently but those were technically non-partisan elections. > [@](#): > > and that seems to me the essence of tribalism. Unlike the assumption that, because I didn’t vote for a Republican, I must be biased against them based on their label rather than on my consideration of their individual merits? Yes, my policy positions are mostly left of center - but then surely voting for candidates that are more likely to enact or enable legislation I prefer and less likely to enact or enable legislation I don’t is the entire fucking point? That’s not “tribalism” in any sense. I mentioned elsewhere that I was once a registered Republican and Bob Dole voter. It isn’t the Bob Doles of the party that are preventing me from voting GOP this year, largely because most of the Bob Doles have long since been purged. I mean, I’m now registered Independent for a reason, that being that I no longer offer unconditional support to any political party. If either party want my vote, they need to either attract it or at least not actively repel it. And if neither are ideal, I’ll go for the least worst option. > [@](#): > > On my ballot were some Republicans who are, in my opinion, not particularly worried about anything but slashing taxes and removing regulations on business, while promoting a “conservative” social agenda, some Republicans who are quite willing to give and take to try and solve our state’s problems, and some Republicans who, simply put, are decent people, with decent morals, good intelligence, and a willingness to listen to their constituents. There was at least one Democratic candidate who’s comments during the campaign made clear had no idea how state government finances work, and who’s ideas about what to do to solve problems were not shockingly disconnected from the reality of how finances work. Needless to say, she did not appear to me a really viable option in her race. Thus, my ballot was certainly not “straight ticket” in any sense of the word. Well, clearly you had a more diverse range of choices than the stolid Trump-thumpers and lying assholes of my area. My Congressman is probably a nice guy but he’s a hard-right party-line kind of guy who usually wins by a landslide so he’ll happily continue to be so whether I vote for him or not. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067/36 "2018-11-06T17:40:09Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > No. Even if I could guarantee that the person on the other side will honor that agreement and won’t simply sneak off and vote anyway, I view voting as a sacred secular ritual I get to participate in. It’s also a way to affirmatively repudiate Trumpism. This morning I ritualistically poured my cup of water into the Blue Wave. But when you vote, it just encourages The State. If nobody voted, nobody would win, and… something something something… PROFIT!!! You also might be handed a congratulatory sticker by a Boomer, and that’s some scary shit. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067/37 "2018-11-06T17:53:20Z")
> [@Blalron](#): > > No. Even if I could guarantee that the person on the other side will honor that agreement and won’t simply sneak off and vote anyway, I view voting as a sacred secular ritual I get to participate in. It’s also a way to affirmatively repudiate Trumpism. This morning I ritualistically poured my cup of water into the Blue Wave. Yes. I assumed religion had a role to play. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067/38 "2018-11-06T17:58:11Z")
I got off my arse and voted more than a week ago (early voting, Texas). > [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Don’t vote. If you are really worried about it, find someone who was going to vote opposite you and form a pact to stay home. Maybe you think your point is self-evident, but could you help out those who are not such intellectual giants and maybe explain what you think the above is supposed to accomplish? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067/39 "2018-11-06T18:01:46Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Maybe you think your point is self-evident, but could you help out those who are not such intellectual giants and maybe explain what you think the above is supposed to accomplish? Piss off the libruls? ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2018, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067/40 "2018-11-06T18:08:41Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > I’m preaching to the converted here, of course. But Trump really does need to be shown your displeasure. How is this not a foreign power attempting to influence our elections???🙂 I’m 99% kidding. But there have been a huge number of Brit and Canadian celebrities the last two years trying to get people to vote a certain way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oi-america-get-off-your-arses-and-go-vote/824067.md?page=3)