No way! Screw the Droids! Clones all the way!

LOL !
I did not mean it that way

It's like I told a self-employed buddy of mine who is considering voting for Nader - all things being equal, you will never have affordable health insurance if the Republicans stay in power. Rhetoric and party nonsense aside, the health care crisis is one that must be solved at the federal level, and a national insurance program (which most advanced countries have) seems like a solid reason to vote for Obama.

And I just read that Obama's plan is actually only a little more expensive than McCain's, and gets more people insured. See for yourself (click on the pdf). Some good stuff on taxes too.

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/url.cfm?ID=411750

I am a Social Liberal.

But I do NOT consider myself a 'Democrat'. Though they are more similar to my own views than Republicans , I do not believe the Democratic party has a clue about what Liberalism even is any longer. They seem to have forgetten their own winning arguments and are completely incapable of articulating why their own stances are the correct ones. I have serious concerns about whether or not they ever knew to begin with.

I loathe all politicians - Democrat and Republican and as far as I am concerned, the 2-party system has failed us. I believe a vote for a 3rd party under the current system is not only a wasted vote, but also potentially damaging to the country. It is cutting off your nose to spite your face. It is time to *MANDATE* equal time in the media to all of the major political parties, abolish the Electoral College and make the election of a third party at least within the realm of possibility (it currently is not.)

I love it when people say that they're going to vote for a 3rd party because the Dems and Reps are so bad - as if by virtue of being in a 3rd party they are somehow better. Please. If you think all politicians are crap then so are your precious 3rd party candidates that have no chance of winning. If you want change vote for a candidate that actually has a chance of changing something.
Yes, our political system sucks. But it's only going to get worse with McCain/Palin in the White House.

Like I mentioned earlier, I don't actually think the independents are better, they WISH they were one of the big 2.

It's more that I want to support the act of voting but find no one worth voting for, and rather than support 1 of the 2 that will most likely win, I choose to send my vote to a different candidate.

I keep hearing "go for the lesser of 2 evils" crap too, I don't find either lesser, so it's don't vote or vote independent. Those are my only 2 options, and NOT voting is lame IMO.


I agree, but I also think it'll be just as sucky with Obama/Biden. So again, it's don't vote or vote 3rd party.

Trust me, I wish I could find a glimmer of hope in either big candidate, but I don't, and so my liberal friends call me naive and my conservative friends call me an idiot, and they all say I'm throwing away my vote, but I'm not.

Voting is NOT about picking a Democrat or a Republican, it's NOT about supporting issues, not really. It's about continuing a privilege to choose. At least to me it is, so there's no such thing as a wasted vote, even for an independent.

i can certainly understand the attitudes that the election is between two unappealing parties/candidates. personally, i support one of the two 'major' candidates (sen. obama), but i cant harsh on anyone who votes differently. it is a free country, after all (or is supposed to be, ideally, at least).

my only bone to pick is with people who are frustrated by the options and choose to skip the entire process. im far from an expert on these things, but i think it would be more useful to go out to the polls, and cast a vote anyway, even if you just write in 'neither' or something like that. low voter turnout seems to be an issue at many levels public elections, and it could be useful to have actual data on what percentage of the nation chose to not pick any of the available candidates.

to me, the message of going through the process and casting an honest vote (even if it is effectively a non-vote) carries much more weight than staying home.

also, harshing on people who vote for an independent party as 'throwing away' their vote is sort of offensive, i think. voting is the right of every citizen, and people should be encouraged to make their voice heard, on the record, regardless of the probability of their candidate winning.

my two cents, anyway.

I'm pretty sure at this point, when I vote I don't think Ill even know for who until I am inside the booth.

Undebeit has it right on the electoral college, it needs to go away...

http://www.therestofus.org/electoral_co ... ollege.htm

Thanks for the link Redhanded.

Just to clarify from my previous post in case someone misunderstood, I do vote (I'm often holding my nose as I do so, but I do vote) because having at least some of my importnat issues addressed by the government is better than getting nothing. It's just time to revamp the menu, IMHO.

The last presidential election was the first and most likely last time I voted someone from one of the two major parties. I've realized now that they don't represent me, especially when each party's strategy is just about a mad grab for the middle-of-the-roaders, with no consistency or commitment to any sort of coherent platform or policy.

From this point on, fuck 'em, the donkeys and the elephants.

Republican'ts and Democraps.

I think freely! I am the only person who can represent ME!

BBC..........

Voting is a privilege - express it. Vote for Donald Duck - lots of people do! He never wins! Same effect. BUT VOTE!!

Neither party represents my values or interests.

The Democrats lie and do nothing but whine, tax and enable the Military Industrial complex.

The Republicans lie, want to force me to accept Jeebus, and also enable the Military Industrial complex.

The Democrats were swept into power in the last election to reign in the monkey then went ahead and enabled its shit slinging. Pelosi won't pursue impeachment.

After that betrayal the Dems won't get my vote in the future; the Repubs suck equally but for different reasons.

This is a Plutocracy not a Democracy, no reason to pretend otherwise. They're controlled by the same corporations.