If you are voting, whom will you be voting for and why?

Are you high ? Of course you should vote. If you don't care or don't think voting matters, why would you even ask the question...Sheesh. Just kidding...Kind of.

Let me put it another way...2 resons you should get out and vote, depending on your political views:
1) If you like things the way they are and think that the domestic and foreign policies of the current administration are a good thing, you may want to vote to help stop the TIDAL WAVE of people who feel differently who most certainly will be voting.
2) If you also feel the direction the current adminsistration is leading us in is bad, you should get out and vote as we will need every vote against Bush possible to unseat him.

I understand that it is frustrating to have to choose between an onion and a clove of garlic when what you really want is an orange (how's that for metaphor ), and I'd love to see a third party standing for radical change and a rethinking of capitalist values really take off, but it is not going to happen anytime soon. If you want to make a difference NOW, and if you care one way or another about the state of your country, you really should take a few minutes to register and another few to vote this November.

And, realizing I have not really answered your question, allow me to do so now. I will be voting for John Kerry because I despise George Bush. Not the best reason, I know. It is a gut feeling for me as George simply rubs me the wrong way. I think that he is bullheaded and impulsive, a person who acts without carefully thinking through the consequences of his actions. The man is as poor a speaker as we have ever had in office and this makes me question his intelligence. He has stated he is against there being equal rights for all to pursue basic freedoms. He supported legislation that will eventually be used to overturn Roe V Wade. In short, he is over the top for me in terms of his religious and moral beliefs and I feel this produces a very dangerous mindset in a person who has to be so involved in affairs in the middle east. I don't want to go down because of moronic squabbles regarding whose mytholgy is "right."

not voting because i dont like either one of them

If you don't vote, you can't bitch. I, for one, enjoy my right to bitch when the government pisses me off. Even if it's simply attempting to choose the lesser of two evils, I vote. It's a civic responsibility more people should take more seriously.

You know who does vote? Blue haired old ladies. Do you really want the League of Grandmas to choose who has all the power? Think about it.

I will be voting for Kerry. I don't like him, but he's clearly the lesser of two evils. I wish there was a better alternative - somone running for the purpose of bettering the American way of life as opposed to lining their pockets with cash while forcing their moral beliefs down the throat of every citizen of the US. But since I'm not presented with that option in this election... I'm not voting for Kerry as much as I am against Bush. The man is full of fear. He's afraid of homosexuals, he's afraid of women, he's afraid of diplomacy, he's afraid of any and everything that contains the possibility that he is not the supreme ruler of the world - that his thoughts, morals, actions and opinions might be less than perfect.
"Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering." The whole world has suffered enough of this asshole. It's time for him to go, and I can't believe he hasn't been impeached already.

Good Lord, people, if you can't stand the two major candidates, vote for a third party. They are out there. The reason they don't get air time is that no one votes for them. No one votes for them because they don't get air time. This is fixable. Vote for third party candidates, and they will get air time. I believe there were sixteen people on the ballot in 2000. Not two. Voting for one person you don't like, simply because you don't like the other major candidate, is ridiculous.

-Imp, saying her first (and probably last) piece about politics on this board.

Imp wrote:-Imp, saying her first (and probably last) piece about politics on this board.

Don't say that! Political discussions can be greatly informative for everyone so long as we are all willing to listen to and respect one another's opinions. I've voted third parties and long supported the Libertarian Party - not so much anymore though. And I do not believe that your average democratic candidate is going to be much better than your average republican.

I voted Nader on principle last year - as you said, these parties are not going to grow without our support. And, just like Kerry, I was unimpressed with Gore. How I regret that today...

I honestly and truly do not think that this is your average election year. I believe that when we look back on things, Bush will be remembered as one of, if not THE, worst president we have ever had, and I shudder to think of the damage he will do during a second term.

The question is this: Do you think that Bush has done an inordinant ammount of harm as President and do you see things as worsening for another 4 years under his administration? If the answer is Yes, you had best vote for the man most likely to defeat him.

I respect your principles Imp and the fact that you are exercising your right to vote!

Imp, I hate to disagree with you on this one, dear, and it's about the only election year that I would, but a third party candidate doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell at winning and would only detract from Kerry's ability to win... the people who like Bush aren't going to vote for a different candidate, and I'm not willing to run the risk of not getting Bush out of the whitehouse by voting for someone more on my level of thinking. BUSH HAS GOT TO GO!!!!!

"I don't vote."

The above is something many people have heard me say, or read me post on messageboards and chatrooms/IRC for as long as I've had the option to vote. Moreover, I wouldn't even register to vote, I was so against the entire concept. However, this time - and hopefully it'll be the last time - I'm going to throw my 2 cents into the whirlwind of the zombified masses.

Not because my opinion, or my principals have changed, but simply because I can't stand the thought of Dubya being in charge of the nation. Thus, on paper I'll be voting for Kerry, whom I'm not terribly fond of, either. In spirit, however, I'll be voting against Bush.

I'm just glad that Kerry has had experience enough with war to see that it's not a Good Thing™.

Hell, if they'd let Clinton back in office for another term, I'd vote for him. I much prefer sex scandals (thereby becoming the laughingstock of the world) to open fucking warfare (thereby becoming the most hated nation in the world).

iblis wrote: I much prefer sex scandals (thereby becoming the laughingstock of the world) to open fucking warfare (thereby becoming the most hated nation in the world).

My thoughts exactly.