Well, I voted early....and I'm prouder...

[SEVERUSMAX]

....and less worried about this vote than I have ever been. It's a load off my mind. Instead of feeling that I "wasted" my vote by casting it for a third party candidate, I believe that I have at last found my political home and stuck to my principles.

To me, a wasted vote is one that a person regrets later, or feels lukewarm at best about casting the ballot. To that end, voting for Bush was a wasted vote ( though, to be fair, my politics were somewhat different then than they are now). He certainly didn't decrease the size of the Federal Government, as I wanted. I had reservations about him, even then, but I went against my better judgment because of wedge issues like abortion. I certainly had doubts that he was a true Constitutionalist, despite his claims to the contrary. And I never liked his mealy-mouthed views on immigration.

This time, however, I rejected all of the arguments of the naysayers and self-fulfilled prophets, and voted my conscience. And I can at last sleep at night. So, there.

I'm proud that I voted for Bob Barr. In fact, most of the candidates that I voted for here in AZ were Libertarians, for the first time in my life. And I intend to vote Libertarian in 2010 and 2012, unless (and I doubt it) the GOP changes its ways. The Dems never did earn my vote, but that's a separate issue. The hypocrisy of the religious right and the neo-cons has driven me firmly out of what was once a "big tent".

One less thing to make Jefferson and Madison spin in their graves.

 

[JuicyBoom]

well done - your vote speaks for you and therfore a thing to cherish - not waste. I am leaning very heavily toward libertarian right now myslef.

 

[Belegon]

It is never a wasted vote to vote your conscience.

 

[Guest]

I actually voted for Ross Perot in 1992--not because I expected him to win (I'd have been appalled if he had!) but because I believed then, and still do, that this country desperately needs a viable third party.

 

[JuicyBoom]

I actually voted for Ross Perot in 1992--not because I expected him to win (I'd have been appalled if he had!) but because I believed then, and still do, that this country desperately needs a viable third party.

agreed - I voted Perot in 92 as well.

The Libertarian party has been making good progress as a third party - they are working at all levels - local, state, and national.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Personally, given that the GOP and Dems both want to meddle with people's right to make their own decisions, just in different ways, and that this was certainly true back in 2000, I think that this country would have on balance been better off had Gore beat Bush. A Democratic President with a Republican Congress would have been too busy fighting to do half as much damage as unified government under one party has done.

As for Obama, I strongly suspect that his favorable Dem majority in Congress will be just as short-lived as Clinton's. And then divided government can return and give us at least a surplus, if nothing else.

But, for the record, it's pretty obvious that he will be elected. Pity that the first black President couldn't have been a Libertarian, but that's too much to ask for. LOL.

 

[JuicyBoom]

Personally, given that the GOP and Dems both want to meddle with people's right to make their own decisions, just in different ways, LOL.

and spend lots and lots your hard earned money.

 

[TE999]

As for Obama, I strongly suspect that his favorable Dem majority in Congress will be just as short-lived as Clinton's. And then divided government can return and give us at least a surplus, if nothing else.

I give him four months, tops. All this argle-bargle about 'change' and 'reform' will founder on the rocks of Congressional largesse and profligacy.

They'll 're-form' your paycheck and leave you 'change'.

 

[DesertPirate]

Vote early and vote often

Or is that only in Chicago?

 

[Guest]

....and less worried about this vote than I have ever been. It's a load off my mind. Instead of feeling that I "wasted" my vote by casting it for a third party candidate, I believe that I have at last found my political home and stuck to my principles.

To me, a wasted vote is one that a person regrets later, or feels lukewarm at best about casting the ballot. To that end, voting for Bush was a wasted vote ( though, to be fair, my politics were somewhat different then than they are now). He certainly didn't decrease the size of the Federal Government, as I wanted. I had reservations about him, even then, but I went against my better judgment because of wedge issues like abortion. I certainly had doubts that he was a true Constitutionalist, despite his claims to the contrary. And I never liked his mealy-mouthed views on immigration.

This time, however, I rejected all of the arguments of the naysayers and self-fulfilled prophets, and voted my conscience. And I can at last sleep at night. So, there.

I'm proud that I voted for Bob Barr. In fact, most of the candidates that I voted for here in AZ were Libertarians, for the first time in my life. And I intend to vote Libertarian in 2010 and 2012, unless (and I doubt it) the GOP changes its ways. The Dems never did earn my vote, but that's a separate issue. The hypocrisy of the religious right and the neo-cons has driven me firmly out of what was once a "big tent".

One less thing to make Jefferson and Madison spin in their graves.

Good for you, SEV.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Vote early and vote often

Or is that only in Chicago?

No, in Chicago, they believe that your afterlife should involve politics.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Good for you, SEV.

Why, thank you.

 

[DesertPirate]

No, in Chicago, they believe that your afterlife should involve politics.

I knew it was something like that

 

[Carnevil9]

I don't believe that a vote is "wasted" just because it is cast for someone unlikely to win. If you can raise the Libertarian vote totals from, say, 2% to 4%, that is a HUGE symbolic victory and a HUGE improvement. It shows people that there is momentum, that there is hope, that there is a trend. And thousands of people who would like to vote Libertarian but haven't in the past might just be persuaded to do so next time around.

Good for you......Carney

 

[DeeZire]

SX - since AZ isn't a swing state, wasting votes is a luxury you and I can afford. In a swing state, I would encourage people to consider the fact that casting a vote for an unelectable candidate could backfire on them. The Supreme Court is going to change in the next four years, and that's a change we're all going to have to live with for a very long time.

However, building momentum for third party candidates could also be seen as a long term endeavor, so in that context, the vote would only be wasted in the short term.

It would be nice to see some viable third party candidates - or at least candidates proposing real-world solutions instead of idealistic utopias. Perhaps George Soros should start up an empire like Fox News specifically to brainwash the public and prepare them for a third party. He had some interesting comments recently about how both capitalism and socialism are unworkable, (in their pure form) which would seem to indicate the guy is not caught up in one particular ideology, or at least not one out on the extremes. (Sure, he supports liberal causes, but that's just because he was born with the altruism gene and he can't help it.)

 

[rgraham666]

Good for you, Sev.

Move to Canada where we also have viable 4th and 5th parties.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

DEE ZIRE

I remain undecided though I pretty much expect either candidate to serve me up a shit sandwich.

I cant imagine John McCain nominating a conservative Supreme Court justice, or even a liberal candidate. He'll instinctively go for the Weird Harold who stuns everyone.

I may vote for Obama just for the entertainment value of a black being President. We might as well get it out of our system while there's little he can do to fuck things up worse than Bush left them.

Mostly I want to oppose gay marriage. Not because gays are sick, twisted, freaks (you are), but because youre commie democrats.

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

Mostly I want to oppose gay marriage. Not because gays are sick, twisted, freaks (you are), but because youre commie democrats.[/QUOTE]

How do you explain gay or bisexual Republicans/conservatives/Libertarians?

Ever heard of the Log Cabin Republicans?

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

By the way, I'm bisexual. Am I sick?

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Ever heard of the Log Cabin Republicans?

My uncle used to claim to be "Log Cabin Light"

I'll probably vote early too, but I have this irrational fear my vote could be lost before the final count.

and yes, you are sick, just like the rest of us.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

By the way, I'm bisexual. Am I sick?

Oh yes... so very deliciously sick and twisted... and I liiiiiiiiiike it!