Voting for Gore or Bush because one or the other will win but you don’t believe in what either of them stand for, is a wasted vote.
This is not a popularity contest. I did not vote in the last presidential election because there was not a candidate that truly stood for the things I stand for. Of course I was not aware of the Libertarian party so at that time, by not voting I pretty much stated I didn’t believe in what I thought was available to me as a voter.
By voting for a third party candidate, my party’s candidate, tells the country and the politicians that there are those out there that are tired of politics as usual.
We may be a minority but since when should “minorities” just sit back, not stand up and be counted?
Just FYI Wander, I am a card carrying and registered Libertarian (even carry my Libertarian Party card in my wallet along with my NRA card). I will vote for Harry Browne and not succumb to pressure from those that think my “vote is wasted.”
I am registered as a Republican, but as for who I vote for, well…Hmmmm.
I really do not know who I am going to vote for because IMHO, most of the mainstream politicians are as crooked as a dog’s hind leg. They will say what they think you want to hear. Case in point – “Read my lips, no new taxes”. As far as president goes, my mind (such as it is) says that it is six of one and half a dozen of the other. Mind you, I am not a politician and I do not pretend to know much about politics, but it seems to me that the office of president is more or less just a title, except for the diplomacy involved when dealing with foreign countries. All that said, I will vote for SOMEBODY, but I just haven’t decided on the WHO yet. This I do know, if the candidate hold up a bunch of hand written tables and signs at a table, I won’t vote for him.
Don’t you folks remember the electoral college? Voting at all in the presidential election is throwing your vote away, sort of. In that it doesn’t really decide who wins.
Why not at least make a statement with your vote by voting your choice? Like the people above stated, your vote does say something about what you want in a leader.
Peace,
mangeorge
No big surprise here either. But to clarify for those who don’t know me, I am a Libertarian (OK, technically speaking, I’m still a Republican, but that’s only because I haven’t gotten around to registering with the party I really belong in yet), as can be seen from a great many of my posts in GD. Thus, I’m going with Harry Browne as well.
Besides, as a Massachusetts resident, if I wanted my vote to count, I’d have to vote for Gore. And that would be simply dishonest through and through.
Gore. He’s actually rather bright, and I don’t hold the party sleaze against him. (That kind of sleaze is built into the system, and all participants, well, participate.)
Bush is stupid. Nice guy, but genuinely, frightenly stupid. His record in Texas sucks on just about every basic public policy issue going. (And this is from a skeptical moderate.)
FWIW, I’ve never missed an election, local or national. It still amazes me that people get all hot and lathered over national elections but totally blow off local stuff that actually control immediate issues that have a helluva lot more direct impact on their lives.
That isn’t cynicism; it’s a comment on citizenship.
As far as write-ins and finicking choices, give me a break. The choices are lousy, but they’re the choices. Don’t like the options? And precisely what did you do to ensure better choices? Write in, vote for obvious losers…g’head, hand the decision over to other people. Just reality, folks.
Frankly, I don’t care about horny politicians (what a shock! and am resolved to work within the dismal money climate dictating current choices. None of the options appeal to me, but damned if I’ll vote for stupid and ignorant.
Isn’t it interesting that on this thread we see that the people who support Gore have “not much enthusiasm,” while the supporters of Nader and Browne have a lot of enthusiasm for their chosen candidates?
Actually, mangeorge, you’re wrong about that. The electoral college once had this power, but it doesn’t anymore. The electors are bound by law to vote for the candidate who recieves the majority of the state’s vote. This advantages the smaller states (such as mine, Maryland). Therefore the EC’s vote only reflects the vote of the people.
For example, Maryland has 10 electoral votes, 8 HoR and 2 Senate. There are a total of 536 electoral votes, 435 for the House, 100 for the Senate, and 3 from DC. The candidate must recieve 270 votes to win.
The candidate who recieves the most votes from the people in MD recieves all ten electoral votes.
Oh, I’m voting for Gore. And I have much enthusiasm about it - there is no way I’m letting that panty-waist Bush win. Please. I’d hate to see American turned into some self-righteous dictatorship in which people are free to shoot each other left and right but the right of the unborn child (though not evidenced in the Constitution - ie all natural-born citizens) is sacred.
I have this silly notion that we should concentrate on those already born, living in poverty, dying from gunshot wounds, barely surviving on welfare, struggling to raise children without money or food, before we save the rest of the damn world. IMHO, all Bush and his right-wingers are doing is drawing attention away from the problems society already has that they are helpless to fix or change by concentrating on abortion. Sure, people are dying in the streets, but we have fetsuses to worry about! Score.
I will vote for Gore but Nader seems attractive to me.
I try not to think of a Democratic vote so much as a vote for algore but as a vote for non-fanatical fundamentalist Supreme Court nominees.
Philosophically, Harry Browne is the candidate I’m closest to–I’m a libertarian (small-L, not a member of the party) at heart. And I don’t regard voting for a third party as a wasted vote–it sends a message to the Ds and Rs that they are missing the boat. Browne is my fallback position if my designated lesser evil pisses me off too much.
But…I prefer that my vote be effective for this election, rather than a message for future ones, which leaves Gore and Bush. I disagree with both about equally, albeit on different issues. But Gore has been up to his neck in the current sleazy administration, both participating and defending, and I decline to endorse such things–the Democrats lost my vote when they nominated him. So I will most likely vote for Bush.
But is that enthusiasm for Gore or enthusiasm against Bush? From the rest of your post, it would seem that the latter is more accurate. In which case your post supports my contention that the people on this thread do not have much enthusiasm for Gore.
p.s. Nice use of “panty-waist,” one of my favorite insults.
The economy is in great shape, and Gore shares my concerns about the environment. Bush, on the other hand, thinks we need to “ease up” on enforcement of clean water and clean air laws, and says that the states ought to be left to decide what species are endangered. (What???) I shudder to think of what Bush’s appointees to the Supreme Court, the Department of the Interior and the EPA would do…
I also am not fond of Bush’s plan to eliminate the etate tax (which would benefit only wealthy scions). Guess who would get to make up the lost revenue, next time there is a shortfall? That’s right: Joe and Jane Middle Class. Bush is concerned only about the interests of the corporations that are backing him.
You want to cut taxes, Bush? Then cut income taxes, pro rata, across the board. (I.e., equal percentage tax cuts for all citizens, not just the wealthy, and not just for certain voting blocs.) Otherwise, leave the tax cut issue alone.
Personally, I think we should continue to focus on paying down the national debt and quit trying to buy votes with the tax cut candy.
I understand what you’re saying, Nacho4Sara. And I thank you for your comment. I’m not so sure that smaller states would actually be hurt by direct popular vote, but who knows?
My point is that if there were no EC, and if everyone voted for their true candidate of choice, it would at least be a more interesting election. And more meaningful, imo.
Look at all the folks here who feel compelled to vote their second choice.
Easy to say for someone from California, eh?
Peace,
mangeorge
Gore (sigh.) I’m not wild about him and still less enthused about Lieberman (why didn’t Al just show his true colors and pick a bloody Republican??) but I refuse to vote for Nader because I dislike humorless zealots. And I suppose Gore needs all the help he can get; much good it will do him.
This will probably be the last time I will ever vote in an American presidential election, as the last few months have crystallized my decision to look for a job on the other side of the pond after I get my doctorate. On second thought, I have half a mind to go out in style – anybody want to help me start a write-in campaign for Cecil?
I am a registered Democrat, and will probably end up voting for Gore, but I am seriously considering voting for Nader. If the Greens get a certain percentage of popular votes (I think it’s 5%) they get allocated federal funds, which would be good for a couple reasons: a. I like them and b. it would be good to have more of a multi-party system. This is why I’m happy to see the Reform Party doing stuff, even if I think they’re all psychos (which I do). I don’t like Gore personally all that much (I voted for Bradley in the primaries), but I prefer the Democratic platform to the Republican one, and I have my doubts that Bush is smart enough to be the president. Even if Gore is a boring guy who goes along with the party platform, I prefer that to a charismatic guy who goes with the Republican platform.
Anyway, I think I’ll decide when I see the poll numbers in November. If Gore is leading by enough here in California, I’ll vote for Nader. Even though Bush is ahead of Gore by like 18% popularly, Gore is still 8% ahead of Bush here in CA - which probably means more in the long run.
I’m a Bush guy. Not so much for Bush himself (although I think his record in Texas looks pretty good), but for the fact that I think the Republican Congress represents my viewpoints, and he’s more likely to pass bills by the Republican Congress (assuming it stays in their hands, but if Bush wins, I doubt Congress’ll change hands) than Gore.
<hijack>Does anyone know of a site where I could find the beliefs on the issues of the different presidential candidates. I only know of the one through AOL, and Nader didn’t fill out half the survey…</hijack>
Hey, TechChick, I’ll even put you in my cabinet! You too, CMKeller!
I promise to use NASA to blow up the moon and send the cheese fragments to Africa and China (and everwhere else where food is needed), thus solving the problem of world hunger.
