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Re: Americans... help me understand your voting minds Joel Send a noteboard - 04/09/2012 09:30:35 PM
While following the political threads on this board and watching some youtube clips regarding the various candidates, I was just wondering about the following.... (Please share your experiences)...

1. The candidates almost undoubtedly market 'change' as the reason to vote for them. I will change this, I will get America where it should be. Do you believe them?

From the right, yes, but not from the AWOL US left. I backed Obama over Hillary because I wanted a genuine liberal rather than a moderate in liberal clothing but, despite both he and the GOP portraying him as a radical, all I got was a less experienced and capable version of Hillary. Even the "socialist" candidate gave us nothing but more taxpayer handouts to multinationals whose corruption and incompetence caused a decade-long recession. That includes Robamacare, which does nothing to expand health insurance coverage, but did implement The Heritage Foundations public mandate to buy insurance, just as Romney did in MA.

When Republicans talk about abolishing Social Security and Medicare I believe them, because that has been their stated goal nearly as long as the Dems have advocated universal public healthcare, and because they have been pushing the envelope of how far they can roll back the New Deal ever since Reagan started the process. So change is plausible from those pledged to make America yet more conservative, but their opponents neither offer nor deliver anything more than a holding action against that impulse. Ironically, the Dems are now the status quo party, because Republicans want to change America by eliminating both the welfare state and most of the federal government, and Dems are reduced to simply trying to stop them rather than implementing any new policy.

2. Do the candidates deliver? Is there a President in your lifetime who has delivered and really made you glad that you voted for him? Or is it all the same old until they get into the White House and everything remains pretty standard.

Yeah, pretty much. I had the misfortune to be born a New Deal Democrat a few weeks after Nixon resigned and was succeeded by Ford. One would have thought that would have been the end of the GOP, but Republicans succeeded in blaming Carter for the economic devastation they wrought and the intelligence community still loyal to his predecessors sabotaged his efforts to free US hostages in Iran, so Reagan was elected on the platform that "government is the problem." Republicans hail that as a great success because he raised taxes on the poor and cut them for everyone else, so most will tell you he delivered. Of course, he also tripled US federal debt and began the practice of slashing taxes AND increasing spending that is to blame for a federal debt now FIFTEEN TIMES what it was in 1980. We got more of the same from Bush 43, so folks who voted Republican for tax cuts got what they were promised. Those of us who voted for Clinton and Obama expecting them to save the New Deal that saved America got nothing but broken promises.

3. Does the candidate matter that much to you or do you vote for a party and their policies most times?

I vote policies rather than candidate or party, much good it does me. Since I am registered in a very red state, I usually vote Green in hopes of pushing them to the 5% share of the national popular vote they need to get campaign funds from the Federal Election Commission and a seat at the presidential debates. The only discernible difference between the two major parties is that Republicans are at least (relatively) honest about serving no one but their corporate owners, but if push comes to shove I will take a Dem who at least will not actively work to harm me over a Republican dedicated to doing so.

4. How is the quality of your leadership changing? Are your leaders better or worse than 20 or 50 years ago?

Far worse, because they either stand for nothing but whatever the latest focus group or opinion poll told them was popular, or stand for plutocracy, theocracy and/or fascism. The combination of Lee Atwaters addition by subtraction and Clintons government by focus group has done nothing but many bad things for US politics.

Thank you

No problem, though I doubt it helped much. It's a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world, and, as a New Dealer in the modern US two party system I am left a choice between a far right or center right party, neither of which represents me.
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Americans... help me understand your voting minds - 04/09/2012 07:19:54 AM 1334 Views
I'll be totally honest, which may get me some flack. - 04/09/2012 03:03:52 PM 719 Views
Re: I'll be totally honest, which may get me some flack. - 04/09/2012 03:58:36 PM 675 Views
But could you imagine either one taking the second slot on that ticket? *NM* - 04/09/2012 04:11:58 PM 353 Views
The meanness and partisanship has always been there, especially in DC, however..... - 04/09/2012 04:18:29 PM 541 Views
I love this reply - 04/09/2012 04:50:05 PM 545 Views
nossy + 2000 = BFFs! *NM* - 04/09/2012 06:21:01 PM 297 Views
So gridlock is NOT a good thing? - 04/09/2012 09:38:25 PM 582 Views
I think it's funny your reply has more than twice as many views as mine. - 04/09/2012 04:08:49 PM 671 Views
I guess a lot of people have you on ignore! *NM* - 04/09/2012 04:26:56 PM 303 Views
Or I'm boring? *NM* - 04/09/2012 05:49:14 PM 278 Views
I know the feeling. - 04/09/2012 07:42:35 PM 517 Views
Whatevs. I totally do. - 04/09/2012 08:22:16 PM 510 Views
Mine or Macharius'? *NM* - 04/09/2012 08:25:03 PM 282 Views
They know I'm wild and crazy. - 04/09/2012 04:47:24 PM 567 Views
Notice the difference in your post title and hers? *NM* - 04/09/2012 08:55:01 PM 316 Views
That and boobies. - 04/09/2012 11:19:17 PM 551 Views
Answers - 04/09/2012 04:42:17 PM 694 Views
you and a small army of pollsters are trying to figure that out - 04/09/2012 05:58:31 PM 645 Views
O tempora! O mores! - 04/09/2012 09:10:39 PM 633 Views
Re: Americans... help me understand your voting minds - 04/09/2012 09:30:35 PM 625 Views
Sorry, but I only gloss over most of what you say. - 05/09/2012 03:39:28 PM 587 Views
Re: Sorry, but I only gloss over most of what you say. - 05/09/2012 06:17:41 PM 646 Views
Stephen is basically right on the first point. - 05/09/2012 08:39:22 PM 598 Views
Thanks for clarifying, Joel. *NM* - 06/09/2012 01:31:31 PM 319 Views
NP, thanks for asking and listening. - 06/09/2012 02:39:54 PM 523 Views
On that note (liberals hating America). - 07/09/2012 05:35:40 PM 615 Views
Problem the same as every other democracy - 05/09/2012 03:47:07 AM 642 Views
Aight. - 05/09/2012 08:23:26 PM 560 Views

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