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Initially my approach was to vote based on the lesser of the two evils and in such a way as to maximize the chances of achieving a balance between the executive and legislative branches.
In light of recent events, however, I have the impression that almost all members of Congress - therefore including three of the four mainstream candidates for Pres and VP, but the fourth one as well - are inept and almost immeasurably corrupt, so voting for any of them would send the wrong message.
At the same time, at least according to a Rasmussen poll I believe, alternatives such as Nader have something like a 3% national consensus and the Libertarian party something like 1%.
What, again, in your view, are the pros and cons of writing-in an alternative, voting a third party, or showing up and leaving the ballot blank (or perhaps just voting on state and local referenda)?
I think the whole system no longer functions. We're too divided and politicians make the most of those divisions. We're screwed in any case. Checkout my "1976 Again ???" entry, especially if your young.
I now plan to vote for Nader. He's the only one making sense. I cannot vote for either of the two. The news tonight has made that clear. Both Obama and McCain are so wrapped up in this mess with their advisers and contributors and...it's insane. **** em. They've ****ed me too many times now.
Take some advice. Invest in steel and wood. Canned food/heaters. It's going to be a long cold winter.
Take some advice. Invest in steel and wood. Canned food/heaters. It's going to be a long cold winter.
I have already invested in wood and I slowly accumulate canned food. I live in a tropical climate, easier to survive heat and humidity than cold, also there's a long planting and harvest season.
I'll look into steel.
Please keep the answers coming, otherwise I may rationally calculate that the investment in time and gasoline is not worth the effort to drive to the voting place.
At this point, voting these crooks out of office is the only option. There are several boxes used to voice our opinions...
soap box
ballot box
jury box
ammo box.
that is a good question but i can find no justification for not voting because you certainly could get an absentee ballot while you are out doing something else. i think that most americans are watching the bailout status so it probably will be a question better addressed when the bailout decision has been reached. if congress wants to bite the taxpayers, the taxpayers might bite back.
As a political science major one of the first thing you learn is that structurally, voting for a third party is doomed in failure in our type of system. Which is basically a winner take all form of government. You can get away with this in a Parliamentarian system but not here. You actually wind up helping the party you are most opposed to by voting third party.
The only thing you can do in a two party system is to reform the party you are most in agreement with. This must be done by participating primary elections and by only contributing to the "good" members of the your party, not broad organizations that promote the entire caucus.
that is a good question but i can find no justification for not voting because you certainly could get an absentee ballot while you are out doing something else. i think that most americans are watching the bailout status so it probably will be a question better addressed when the bailout decision has been reached. if congress wants to bite the taxpayers, the taxpayers might bite back.
I have a feeling that most people will be more inclined to vote against their current Senators and Reps IF they vote for this legislation and things get worse, but there's only a month before the elections so we might not have time to gauge where that really is. Honestly, these are the people we should be paying attention to. The President isn't the important position in our government. He's a co-equal branch.
Money spent is originated by the House of Representatives and sent to the Senate then to the President. So if our Reps are doing this, and they Senators approve, we need to remember this come November. And we need to look at what they've done during their tenure with honesty and objectivity. I think this bailout has the ability to really tick off a lot of voters this year. If CSpan is any indication, people are VERY unhappy with the federal government.
In my district the incumbent has like 63% consensus, the challenger probably has little chance, so it maybe worthwhile to write in somebody, even as a protest vote, which is how my state counts unregistered write-ins, or a registered third party.
To be sure, in a first-past-the-post system the only way to affect change is, ultimately, from within one or both of the two parties. But this is not the time for theories or lessons in political science.
I believe that the Ross Perot experience in 1992 played a significant role in the election of the 1994 Congress which led to a balancing of the budget.
But I believe that the corruption of the past eight years, and especially the last two and even the last two weeks, has almost totally wiped out the virtues of the 1980s-1990s period and that it might take another two decades, if ever, to make up for it.
In my district the incumbent has like 63% consensus, the challenger probably has little chance, so it maybe worthwhile to write in somebody, even as a protest vote, which is how my state counts unregistered write-ins, or a registered third party.
To be sure, in a first-past-the-post system the only way to affect change is, ultimately, from within one or both of the two parties. But this is not the time for theories or lessons in political science.
I believe that the Ross Perot experience in 1992 played a significant role in the election of the 1994 Congress which led to a balancing of the budget.
But I believe that the corruption of the past eight years, and especially the last two and even the last two weeks, has almost totally wiped out the virtues of the 1980s-1990s period and that it might take another two decades, if ever, to make up for it.
Please keep the answers coming.
A protest vote is just a protest vote.
They most effective way to get your best candidates in office is to go outside your own district if needed and help "good" candidates in your own party, in close elections. That sends a much more effective message that bad party members will not get help and good party reps will be supported.
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