Election 2012

Finally got the chance to leave work to get my early vote in today. FOUR MORE YEARS!

I'm in Alabama. Actually struggling with whether I should vote for Obama or Jill stein.

Of course Bama will go to Romney, so I'm wondering which will help my vote "count" more: showing Alabama leaning more dem or more third party? Corporate influence in Washington is a key issue of mine.

Yeah, if I weren't in Ohio, I'd be voting Stein.

She got arrested again today. I appreciate any candidate whose arrest record is longer than mine

It's the second part.

Yeah, god forbid people vote for someone they want to win the election. I know, I know, they're all evil, blahblahblah.

But Obama has the economy on the rise, unemployment down, the housing market not only recovered but on the verge of thriving again, Osama killed, auto industry saved, a new focus on education and R&D (for any intellectual this should outweigh almost everything else), an economic policy that doesn't ignore 98% of the country, healthcare for all individuals, an energy and infrastructure plan that isn't deplorable...

I realize some people will hate him no matter what, and to be fair that's their right, but when you take the 4 years of Obama and compare it with the 8 years of self-inflicted chaos from the Bush administration, Obama earned my vote. He doesn't just get it by default. He did everything that I've listed (and more), all while dealing with a political party whose strategy was literally to just say no to any and everything the President put forth to Congress.

Maybe it's my intense schooling in economics, but people really don't comprehend how close they were to total and complete economic collapse. I know everyone likes to think the US economy is bulletproof, but that couldn't be further from the case. The US economy used to be built on manufacturing, hard work and innovation. One of those is gone (manufacturing), one is fading (hard work) and the other is the country's best chance for a thriving economy. The money spent by Obama and the federal gov't saved the country and millions of jobs and it's created millions more (I think the figure for last month was close to 150k new jobs). Now the same people who criticize Obama & the democrats for spending a dime (a complaint which is asinine in and of itself) wants Governor Christie kicked out of the GOP for thanking Obama for pledging federal dollars to assist New Jersey's rebuilding and recovery effort.

A lot of the people calling for Christie's head are the same people who get federal assistance when a hurricane slams the south or a tornado ravages the midwest. It's in-sane how a person can take with one hand while simultaneously wringing their other hand at the same act being performed by someone else.

Christie gained a lot of respect from me, and that's from one of his biggest critics. I could be wrong about him, but FWIW it takes a lot for a guy to swallow his pride and ask for help from someone he's spent weeks/months speaking out against. It's hilarious that anything Pro-Obama is seen as Anti-GOP/Mitt, and now Christie is being taken to the cleaners by crazed conservatives with no more bullets left for Obama. Even in times like these, with one of the states with the highest GDP needing its gov'ts help, people have no shame when it comes to using the acts of a select few to try and further a national political agenda. Hey sh*theads, peoples' houses floated into the Atlantic over the weekend, put your pitchforks and torches away for a week and be a human being. It's infuriating this even needs to be said.

But yeah, some of us actually do like and support our President, and many of us think he deserves our vote to continue the work he's done to "steady the ship," so to speak. I get why people in decided states (like NY) would vote 3rd-party, but I also think that if I believe a candidate should win, I should vote for him or her. I think Obama should win, so I'm voting for him regardless of how meaningless my vote is (and it's one of the most meaningless votes in the country, I readily admit that).

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Can you just lie and say you're from Fairfield County?

So is this supposed to be ironic, or what?

I'd love to read that, then tell you why you're wrong.

How are you voting down ticket?

This is the situation for my area, as well. I still vote in my parent's district and, believe it or not, I'm conservative in a lot of economic issues that would lead me to side with republicans in many situations. But the local GOP in middle-NY is just so atrociously run that the candidates they put forth are insulting.

If they wanted to take over my area they would just need a single charismatic, young republican who can converse with people on a personal level. But they don't do that, they literally have people repeat Romney's speeches to crowds and hope no one is smart enough to know better.

I like Obama because his policies are economically viable, responsible and visible (Romney's plan meets none of these criteria) and his hand was forced by the sh*tstorm handed to him in 2008. If a regular Presidential administration had spent like Obama's without it being dictated by economic failure, I'd vote him out of office, too.

But the GOP's head is so far up its own *ss that it can't see daylight. They can't get out of their own way, and while they have infighting and a lack of any real leadership I will not be voting for them in most cases.

They also essentially punted this election by propping up Mitt, who has more holes in him than a mesh tank top. I can't respect a candidate whose own party doesn't respect him, and that's what they've given us.

Now, now, Horn. Shouldn't my response warrant an up-vote since I show that it is possible to affiliate oneself with multiple parties and vote according to the issues at hand, rather than a blind "this guy sucks, that guy sucks, I vote this way because I always vote this way"?

I'm not ignoring you. You get a thumbs down for this sentence.



I will happily go into detail when I get back.

I wish I could quote this entire thing on Facebook. Well said, sir. And you didn't even touch on all the social issues/reasons why I am voting for 4 more years. If anyone out there is a supporter of Obama and lives in a state whose vote doesn't matter (like myself in Louisiana), I implore you to not view your vote as meaningless. If you plan to not vote at all because of this, PLEASE vote. Every vote matters when it comes to popular vote. I know popular vote is not a deciding factor, but it represents the overall opinion of the nation. If the polls are at all close to reality, it would not take that large of a percentage of people to actually show up instead of thinking their votes do not matter.

And to anyone who truly does like Obama, but wants to vote third party because their state's vote won't matter, think about what you are doing also. You may be doing it to simply show your distaste for only having two candidates, but if you truly are an Obama supporter, then you should vote for Obama. Your candidate is part of the two man system. It just wouldn't make any sense.

If you feel like the vote is between the lesser of two evils, and you truly prefer a third party candidate, BY ALL MEANS please vote for your third party candidate. Everyone needs to vote for someone they truly believe in.

We just can't throw away votes. I mean, think about it: If you feel like the system is so screwed up that your vote in your state does not matter, because your state's vote is predetermined and your vote is pointless, then throwing away a vote to a third party you don't truly believe in is even more pointless.

I repeat, this is only for the few people out there, like myself, who live in hardcore Red or Blue states and feel like their votes don't count. Everyone's vote counts. On a larger scale, it could be the difference in your candidate losing by double digit percentage points, or only losing by 6 or 7. It may not sound important, but it is as much of proving a point as voting third party or not voting at all.