# US voters: Are you afraid of the other side, and to what extent? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 1, 2021, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659 "2021-11-01T23:43:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/141 "2022-09-06T13:29:27Z")
Somebody got real tired of cars hitting his mailbox. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/142 "2022-09-09T15:45:47Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I am surprised to not see more [AK-47’s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-47) cheep and abundant. And just about any idiot can spray and pray with it. Any idiot can spray and pray with any semi-automatic rifle. The AK-47 was designed for an army of uneducated conscripted peasants and it’s a fine rifle for them. But the AR variants aren’t all that expensive these days and ammunition is a little easier to come by. Also, think of the AR variants are Barbie dolls. You can customize your Barbie with whatever clothing and accessories you like moreso than you can with your AK-47. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/143 "2022-09-09T15:58:35Z")
Sure. And an AR will be more accurate with tighter tolerances. Tolerances that made the M-16 difficult in Viet Nam. The AK is meant to be abused, which is what happens in war, or by anyone that really has no clue WTF they are doing. Never shot one myself. I have shot an AR once. ---
**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:** [September 21, 2022, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/144 "2022-09-21T20:33:20Z")
AR-47? Maybe he meant [AK-15](https://who13.com/news/grassley-warns-iowans-of-irs-agents-with-ak-15s-ready-to-shoot-business-owners/). ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/145 "2022-09-23T20:49:13Z")
Of course. But you need to be clear and knowledgeable when talking about stuff and trying to make public policy and laws. I suspect he has not a single clue. About anything. I have no dog in the fight about semi-auto rifles. Don’t own one, but I know what they are. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2022, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/146 "2022-09-23T20:55:15Z")
Yes, terrified. There are domestic-terrorism recruitment flyers nailed to trees around town. Multiple people with flags bearing the images of weapons of war. They’re itching for a fight. And I’m one of the ones they’ll gleefully kill the first time they think they can get away with it. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2022, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/147 "2022-09-24T00:34:28Z")
It’s almost as if we should take their “Second Amendment solutions” statements and their “When do we get to use the guns?” questions of their self appointed leaders seriously. > **['When do we get to use the guns?': Attendee shut down at right-wing event |...](https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2021/10/27/charlie-kirk-denounces-violence-mh-orig.cnn)** > > At a speaking event in Idaho, one man asked right-wing activist Charlie Kirk about using violence against democrats. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2022, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/148 "2022-09-24T13:52:38Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > their “When do we get to use the guns?” questions of their self appointed leaders seriously. If you’ve been stockpiling guns for the better part of the last two decades, wouldn’t you want to know when you are finally going to get to use them? It’s quite an investment they have made in preparing for the revolution, sure’d be a shame if they never got the pay-off. What else are they going to do with them, sell them to criminals? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2022, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/149 "2022-09-24T14:18:46Z")
I fear for the country’s future, especially for my grandkids. I’m not afraid of the right as individuals: I’m a gun-owning lefty and I got my training in 20 years of military service. So bring it on, assholes. 😃 [The latest gathering of the crows](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/23/us/politics/mccarthy-gop-agenda.html) set their agenda for their presumptive win in this coming election. They apparently have consulted with Newt Gingrich, assuming that nobody will remember the disaster that was Newt’s “Contract With America”. First up, get rid of negotiated drug prices and “let the market determine the cost” 🙄 Secondly, fire the 87,000 IRS agents that are presently being hired to track down tax fraudsters and dodgers; gee, I wonder why. Kevin McCarthy’s lust for the Speaker position knows no bounds, and he is pandering to the worst elements of the electorate while avoiding mentioning the worst parts of their agenda. So yeah, I’m afraid that enough morons and assholes will vote for the worst candidates possible and trash our constitution. ---
**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:** [September 24, 2022, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/150 "2022-09-24T14:36:21Z")
I’m a bit worried about my own side, at least the character who’s the Democratic nominee for Congress in my district. This guy (Geoff Y☮ung, and yes, that’s how he spells it in campaign literature), wants to impeach “the six crooked, woman-hating Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade” _and_ impeach President Biden, because Biden is a “war criminal”. Y☮ung’s platform includes stopping aid to Ukraine, ending economic sanctions against all countries and individuals and closing all U.S. military bases around the world. This geek would have trouble getting onto the ballot in Manhattan, but in red state Kentucky he stands a snowball’s chance in an incinerator come November. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2022, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/151 "2022-09-24T14:53:08Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Geoff Y☮ung Sounds like the Democratic party isn’t very supportive of him, and it doesn’t sound like the party even really bothered with the district at all. The district has been held by Republicans since 2012. Interesting in digging around, Fayette County, which is actually relatively blue, went for Preece, but the red rural counties around it tipped the scales for Young, with the greatest support percentage support in Nicholas County, which went 95% for Trump in 2020. Sounds like there was a Republican effort to cross the primary aisles to nominate the worse candidate. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/152 "2022-09-25T00:17:22Z")
Does Kentucky allow cross-party voting in the primary? ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2022, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/153 "2022-09-25T02:51:40Z")
No, KY has closed primaries. It’s even worse in my district, where Hal Rogers has been our rep since 1981. He’s 84 and just rolls himself out to cast a party line vote now and then, but no one will seriously challenge him and he won’t retire. His Dem challenger this time is a 30 year old nonentity who graduated from law school earlier this year. He barely has a functional web site, and I’m not even sure he has much of a connection to the district. When Rogers does go I shudder to think what kind of moron reactionary we’ll replace him with. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2022, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/154 "2022-09-27T13:10:51Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Does Kentucky allow cross-party voting in the primary? > [@DoctorJ](#): > > No, KY has closed primaries. Closed primaries does not mean that only Republicans can vote in Republican primaries, nor that only Democrats can vote in Democratic primaries. It just means that you have to register for that party in advance, rather than choosing at the polling place. In Kentucky’s case, this is by the end of the previous year. > [@DoctorJ](#): > > His Dem challenger this time is a 30 year old nonentity who graduated from law school earlier this year. He barely has a functional web site, and I’m not even sure he has much of a connection to the district. I live in a pretty red district, and the Democrat who runs is often someone recently out of college with a poly-sci or law degree. Doing it more for the “experience” than to actually win. They get no funding from the state or national party, and usually are running entirely on facebook and twitter. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2022, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/155 "2022-10-04T22:41:00Z")
> [@MethidManTMA](#): > > All of you who are afraid of these people need to man up. Don’t you realize that your fear is only going to embolden them further? This. When I see someone strutting around with a firearm, especially a rifle when they’re just going to the local grocery store, I just see someone who lacks the maturity to go out in public unsupervised. They are children and can be treated as such. Yeah, rarely one might lose his mind, blow your head off, and end up doing time for murder (and frankly, if they’re that unstable, then you’ve effectively disarmed a landmine before it unloaded into a school or a concert so good on you!). But more often than not they are easily shamed for being too afraid to go out in public without their gunses, or by making a large to-do about themselves because if they didn’t nobody else would even look at them. > [@MethidManTMA](#): > > If anything, we need _them_ to be afraid of _us_. They are. Hence the guns, walls, and wars. ---
**Author:** ![SlipperyPete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@SlipperyPete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlipperyPete)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2022, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/156 "2022-10-05T20:10:12Z")
I’m not really afraid of THEM individually, but I am afraid that our country could easily slip into a fascist authoritarian theocracy if they gain just a little more influence. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/157 "2022-11-02T14:03:13Z")
It is election season here in Texas and I decided to remind my neighborhood what sort of people republicans are and who they are voting for: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52471663372_72564a9c8e_b.jpg "20221102\_085706") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/68782016@N08/52471663372/) [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52471663347_e4fb53c401_b.jpg "20221102\_085714") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/68782016@N08/52471663347/) I have 2 more white poster board signs remaining. Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/158 "2022-11-02T14:07:04Z")
“Asshole boss”? ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/159 "2022-11-02T15:25:46Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Any suggestions? Just off the top of my head … CONSPIRACY NUT (R) INSURRECTIONIST (R) WHITE SUPREMACIST (R) PUTIN PUPPET (R) ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2022, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659/160 "2022-11-02T18:36:16Z")
Yes, I’m afraid of the other side. We’re blue, in a red county. First it was Democratic campaign signs getting stolen, and Republicans getting caught on security cameras doing it, and our campaign signs never lasting more than a couple days. Then the 2008 election season, and Ms. Napier put an Obama bumper sticker on her car, and got run off the road a couple days later by a pickup truck. Then my very publicly blue friend lost several of his dogs to poisoned meat thrown over his fence. At at the most recent election, nobody enforcing rules against wearing campaign tee shirts and hats inside the polling place, so I suspect authorities aren’t being rigorous. So, no campaign signs, no bumper stickers, and I watch what I say in public. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-voters-are-you-afraid-of-the-other-side-and-to-what-extent/953659.md?page=9)