# What are the three most important issues to you in the presidential election? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 3, 2008, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836 "2008-09-03T07:07:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836/21 "2008-09-03T13:11:11Z")
I remain undecided. 1. Troops out of the Iraq/Afghanistan along with a vow to reserve the military for defense only. 2. Smaller government, balanced budget. 3. No socialization of medicine. 4. An end to prosecution of people who commit victimless crimes. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836/22 "2008-09-03T13:21:41Z")
1 - Universal health care 2 - Fighting corruption - Campaign finance reform, making all PACs and lobbyists publicly admit who funds them, transparency, etc. 3 - Civil rights for all - e.g. gay marriages Supporting Obama. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836/23 "2008-09-03T18:05:05Z")
Obama voter. [ol] [li]End to the war in Iraq.[/li][li]Civil rights for all GLBT.[/li][li]Keeping abortion safe and legal.[/li][li]True, accountable global interaction.[/li][/ol] ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836/24 "2008-09-03T22:35:30Z")
1. More than just an end to the war in Iraq: a return to responsible foreign policy, thus excluding “We’re invading you because our think tanks want us to” from the discussion. 2. More than shooting down creationism as valid in a science class, and more than a sound energy policy, and more than improving our schools: embracing education as a whole, not just in classrooms but in government and industry. 3. A recommittment to the middle class. If you graduate from college, you should not have to work more than a full-time job to make ends meet. ---
**Author:** ![Kalea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b487fb/32.png) [@Kalea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalea)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836/25 "2008-09-03T22:43:07Z")
Obama voter here as well. He’s not perfect but he’s better than the alternative… 1. Human rights. This means an end to trying to legitimize torture, legislate love, or control reproductive rights. 2. Protect the environment. This means reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, tax breaks for carbon neutral corporations and private citizens, and participation and partnership in the global community. 3. Mind our own damn business. This mean turn Iraq over to her government, stop riling things up in Georgia, get out of Afghanistan, and stay out of Iran. The US is not the police of the world - stop acting like it. 3a. Start working on domestic issues. Health care, education, welfare, and social security reforms all need to be addressed NOW. If we stop spending $1B a month on war, we can start spending it at home. How’s that for some opinion? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2008, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836/26 "2008-09-03T23:15:18Z")
Uhhh, I’m not intentionally stepping outside the bounds of the thread but I honestly typed all these before I saw the word ‘three’ in subject line: I’ll try to put these in some kind of rough order: 1. Respect for the 1st amendment 2. Fiscal responsibility/moderation 3. Energy independence 4. Get us out of Iraq 5. Stop trying to weasel around Roe V. Wade 6. Respect for the 2nd amendment 7. Strengthen our military 8. Stop using Mexicans/illegal immigrants as a scapegoat (this is more a local politician issue than a presidential one, I actually don’t recall Bush being guilty of this) 9. Stop opressing the gays / let them get married (this one should probably be higher, I’m abandoning the order of this list) 10. Stop pandering to religious people (Democrats have been just as guilty of this since realizing how successful it’s been for the Republicans) 11. Repair our image in the world (good luck with that one!) Start by closing Gitmo and unambiguously banning torture / “creative”/aggressive interogation tactics, etc. I don’t agree with either candidate 100% but I am almost certainly voting for Obama. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836/27 "2008-09-04T00:03:11Z")
1. Not the Republicans 2. Not the Republicans 3. Not the Republicans There is not a single thing those hypocrites could do or say that would get me to vote for them. Period. If they all committed seppuku on national TV after apologizing for fucking the country for the last 8 years, I still would go out of my way to spit on their graves. There are some serious problems with Obama’s stands, IMO. But he meets my main criterion: he isn’t Republican. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836/28 "2008-09-04T00:13:26Z")
1. More than just an end to the war in Iraq: a return to responsible foreign policy, thus excluding “We’re invading you because our think tanks want us to” from the discussion. 2. More than shooting down creationism as valid in a science class, and more than a sound energy policy, and more than improving our schools: embracing education as a whole, not just in classrooms but in government and industry. 3. A recommittment to the middle class. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836/29 "2008-09-04T00:56:02Z")
My main issues in selecting a candidate: 1. Someone who I think is capable of taking a more nuanced approach to foreign policy, focused on the slow, unsexy job of building strong alliances and rooting out the underlying causes of terrorism and extremism, rather than the current “all we’ve got is this hammer, so let’s just pound anything remotely nail-shaped” approach. I’d like to see us start to rebuild our image as a leader in human rights and a country which works with and shows respect for other nations. 2. Someone I hope will restore some integrity and openness to the White House, rather than “if it won’t get us impeached, it’s fine”. Not getting thrown in jail is not a high enough bar for me in an elected official, I want to believe I’d be proud of what you’re doing behind closed doors as well. 3. Someone who will push for an intelligent energy policy, with a lot of alternative energy research and global warming mitigation, not just “let’s close our eyes and drill more”. As much as issues like universal health care and fixing Social Security are important to me, I suspect that the current deficit and economy will severely constrain either candidate’s ability to do much in that area. I’m voting for Obama and expect him to win in a landslide. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836/30 "2008-09-04T01:06:04Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > There is not a single thing those hypocrites could do or say that would get me to vote for them. Period. If they all committed seppuku on national TV after apologizing for fucking the country for the last 8 years, I still would go out of my way to spit on their graves. Jeez. Could somebody tell me exactly _when_ I turned into **Reeder**? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836/31 "2008-09-04T01:17:58Z")
> [@jali](#): > > Choice should remain an option I _love_ this sentence. (I also loved smothered pork chops, but in a different way.) ---
**Author:** ![gravitycrash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@gravitycrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gravitycrash)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836/32 "2008-09-04T01:28:22Z")
Allow additional offshore drilling yesterday. And yes, ANWR also. Fix the healthcare system before throwing a trillion or more dollars at it. And no, I don’t trust congress to get it right at all. Either nuke the middle east or leave them alone. This last one is just out of pure frustration. ---
**Author:** ![CutterJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@CutterJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CutterJohn)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836/33 "2008-09-04T02:20:04Z")
1. Do they seem smart enough to hide all the shady dealings they get involved in so that i don’t have to hear about it endlessly in the news? Also, can they pick henchm… err, cabinet members and other high officials who are competent enough to do the same? 2. Do they seem competent to pick appropriate times and assess the risk vs reward when choosing which shady dealings to partake in? Its the presidency… The shady dealings should be suitably epic. They’ll break the law anyway, so it may as well be something worthwhile. 3. Do they look and sound presidential enough, in the event that they fail at #1 and #2, and end up being in the news a lot, or need to tell blatantly obvious lies convincingly? I.e. the opposite of GW here. Oh dear… It appears I’ve become a cynic. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836/34 "2008-09-04T04:51:56Z")
1. The War in Iraq, and general policy on the use of military force abroad, especially how the use of such force is decided on and justified. 2. The approach to the Constitution, law, and the limits on Presidential authority. 3. Health Care policy - breadth, efficiency, and cost of health care both to society as a whole and to us as individuals. ---
**Author:** ![UnwrittenNocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6de8d8/32.png) [@UnwrittenNocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwrittenNocturne)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836/35 "2008-09-04T05:27:37Z")
I’m not voting (I only live here - not a citizen; actually I’ve been away from home so long I don’t get to vote anywhere). 1. UHC 2. Commitment to the working class 3. Commitment to peace and international justice (including joining the ICC) 4. Demilitarisation (funnel those resources into health and education) 5. Human Rights (here and around the world) 6. Environmental Stewardship ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836/36 "2008-09-04T05:55:33Z")
> [@UnwrittenNocturne](#): > > 1. Demilitarisation (funnel those resources into health and education) Out of curiosity, what language should education be conducted in after demilitarisation - Russian or Chinese? We should get ahead of the game, ya know. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836/37 "2008-09-04T06:42:20Z")
1. Peace 2. Protecting our fragile environment 3. Honesty instead of spin ---
**Author:** ![UnwrittenNocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6de8d8/32.png) [@UnwrittenNocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwrittenNocturne)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836/38 "2008-09-04T07:55:53Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Out of curiosity, what language should education be conducted in after demilitarisation - Russian or Chinese? We should get ahead of the game, ya know. I see this a lot yet I really don’t know why. What makes you imagine that anyone wants to invade here? One can, of course, disarm substantially without losing he ability to protect oneself - you really don’t need the ability to project force anywhere on the planet in massive numbers to defend you know. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836/39 "2008-09-04T11:57:06Z")
1. rat fuck the moral majority 2. fiscally responsible government 3. undo the madness of the Bush years. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2008, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836/40 "2008-09-04T14:31:11Z")
I’m fairly politically unaware. I’m voting for Obama. 1. My wife will kill me if I don’t. That’s my list. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-three-most-important-issues-to-you-in-the-presidential-election/461836.md?page=3)