I've got my registration card in front of me now. I'm debating on which party to join or if I'll just go independent.

I'm a conservative of the fiscal and individualist colors; so the Libertarians are looking attractive. I can support their platform and the majority of their views, just seems like I'd be wasting my votes though.

I'm Pragmatic. I'm taking a hard look at the Democrats. I've been a social moderate...I can support them in opposing things the Bush Admin has done and in civil liberties. I can also support them to a point on the economy and labor. Taxes, affirmitive action, and welfare we part sharply. Though there has been a conservative side to the Dems; something to consider.

I'd really like to just go Independent. Vote as I see fit for whatever party. Which is actually what I do. If I'm going to belong to a party; I want it to stand for something. I'd like to be able to get behind it and show support with conviction. I also work for the Federal Government. You almost need an affiliation with one of the major parties to advance jobwise.

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Karnaj attempted to be funny by writing:
Join the communist party. Not because you ascribe to communism or anything, but because it'd be cool to be a card-carrying communist.

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I've got an AARP card.

The Libertarians will never get anyone in a major office. Well I take that back. They may get one or two if they pull some major tricks out of their ass. However they will never have a significant impact on the overall state of things.

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Azizza had this to say about Reading Rainbow:
Have fun throwing your vote away.
No third party is going to come close to being viable in the near or far future. Your best bet is to stay with whichever of the two parties most closely matches your Views and then try to change it from the inside.

The Libertarians will never get anyone in a major office. Well I take that back. They may get one or two if they pull some major tricks out of their ass. However they will never have a significant impact on the overall state of things.

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And why should someone who doesn't agree with either side just say "screw it" because some third side "won't ever have a chance"? They may be "throwing their vote away" according to you, but what if I disagree with your vote? You, in my mind, would be throwing your vote away. That is the beauty of this country's political system. We vote what we believe in, not what someone tells us to vote in.

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Azizza had this to say about Optimus Prime:
Have fun throwing your vote away.
No third party is going to come close to being viable in the near or far future. Your best bet is to stay with whichever of the two parties most closely matches your Views and then try to change it from the inside.

The Libertarians will never get anyone in a major office. Well I take that back. They may get one or two if they pull some major tricks out of their ass. However they will never have a significant impact on the overall state of things.

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independants have won here and there nothign major but the fact they have won means you cant really discard them Nader got 8% of the vote? thats not bad.

mr ventura won the govenership I honestly think perot had it in the bag if he hadnt gone mental and droped out and then rejoined ....

Ill agree i dont see any major canidates for the independants other than nader at the moment that have the popularity to win. and even Nadar as it stnads isnt going to win.

but you know if you get enough votes then the taxpayers pay for your campain.

But vote for Kerry. He can't be any worse than Bush.
Also, acording to his recently released military records, he has killed over twenty men. If Vietcong infiltrate the White House, wouldn't you rather have John Kerry as president?

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Zair painfully thought these words up:
Be an independant then.

But vote for Kerry. He can't be any worse than Bush.
Also, acording to his recently released military records, he has killed over twenty men. If Vietcong infiltrate the White House, wouldn't you rather have John Kerry as president?

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no id rather have john rambo

You want to play a Monk/Redmage. It sounds cool and such. But it doesn't make any sense and you won't get anything done, but it's what you believe.

And so it comes down to standing up for what you believe in or getting things done.

He is wrong about third parties having little impact, however. What happens is that third parties come along that address issues that the major parties aren't addressing. Then, when those issues become popular, one of the major parties takes up that platform, but that pretty much kills the third party.

So, really, third parties are helpful in reforming and keeping the two major parties honest.

Zair fucked around with this message on 04-26-2004 at 05:49 PM.

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We were all impressed when Zair wrote:

So, really, third parties are helpful in reforming and keeping the two major parties honest.

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Good point there. You are correct. I mean more that they don't have an impact on the direct government. You are not going to see a Libertarian or Green party controlled congress.

I'm sure Azizza will also admit the Republican banner is between the individualist and traditionalist conservatives. The traditionalists have pretty much locked up the party. They betray the individualist platforms of the party. Quite a few libertarians are former individualist conservative republicans.

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ACES! Another post by Vecchio Hickory:
I'm sure Azizza is a life long Republican, just as I am. I'm not leaving the party lightly. I've been a Republican since I was old enough to vote. I'm 31 now.

I'm sure Azizza will also admit the Republican banner is between the individualist and traditionalist conservatives. The traditionalists have pretty much locked up the party. They betray the individualist platforms of the party. Quite a few libertarians are former individualist conservative republicans.

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Actually I used to be a very staunch Democrat till I was about 20.
The Traditional conservative element is pretty strong. However they are also composed mostly of the Older Republicans. (50 and up) The Younger generation is very different. And they are the ones who will control the party in another 10 years.

He basically argues that the best way we can stop the rampant spending is to split the congress and presidency between the two parties. Since congressional control is unlikely to change, he opts for electing Kerry.

Just another reason why, even if you can't bring yourself to switch parties, you should consider at least voting Democrat.

Zair fucked around with this message on 04-26-2004 at 06:21 PM.

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For instance, I think Democratic gun policy is flat-out retarded but, I'm still a democrat because over the whole spectrum of issues I lean more towards that side.

Really though, if you're a moderate who's not interested in a political career, party choice mostly affects who you can vote for in primary elections.

Dr. Gee fucked around with this message on 04-26-2004 at 07:11 PM.

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Mr. Parcelan had this to say about dark elf butts:
It comes down to what you believe, and a similar analogy might be FFXI.

You want to play a Monk/Redmage. It sounds cool and such. But it doesn't make any sense and you won't get anything done, but it's what you believe.

And so it comes down to standing up for what you believe in or getting things done.

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Wait, so what you're saying is I should have taken the RM/Monk?! awww damnit!

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Azizza got all f'ed up on Angel Dust and wrote:
Actually I used to be a very staunch Democrat till I was about 20.
The Traditional conservative element is pretty strong. However they are also composed mostly of the Older Republicans. (50 and up) The Younger generation is very different. And they are the ones who will control the party in another 10 years.

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In that time there will have been at least two presidential elections, and numerous cases of local and state elections, and more. So. What you're saying is that someone should stay the course for a decade (and that's assuming you don't have Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond types roaming around as the old dogs of the party...it's not like they're all going to die. The 40somethings now will be the old dogs then) on the off chance that the party will at some point in the next decade become something you feel comfortable voting for.

Yeah. No thanks.

All being independent (not Independant Party, not Libertarian, etc) means is that you don't get to vote in primaries, which are in turn only important if you want to change the function of the party (Republicans can't vote in Democratic primaries and vice versa). You still get to vote on all the major elections. You still get to make your opinion known.

It's not, despite what the two parties' propaganda machines like to say, the same thing (effectively or otherwise) as throwing away your vote, not voting, etc. That sort of logic defeats the purpose of having a choice; if you only have column A or column B to choose from, then there's very little chance for a truly middle path. You're either for, or against, with or without, swinging between one absolute or another.

I personally like the individualist notions of the Republican Party. I do not, however, like the traditionalist, paranoid stance they've taken about a lot of things lately. I also like a lot about the Democratic Party. I strongly support their belief in personal freedoms (privacy, abortion, scientific research), but at the same time I've seen the flaws in financial aid of various sorts if you don't rein it in. That's why I shifted to being registered as an independent voter when I moved up here to Indiana.

If Hick has decided he wants to do the same, it does NOT mean he's throwing away his vote. It means that no matter his basic conservative or liberal bent, he's taken issue with how the parties are run. He probably cares more about and is less likely to compromise on the ideals he feels aren't jiving with the parties' lines than people who are willing to say "okay I'll give up my stance on Abortion in favor of X". Does that make him a better citizen? Or a super-citizen? Not at all. It just means he's opting, as everyone has the chance to do, to take a more hands-on approach to things.

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Verily, Sakkra doth proclaim:
Vote for Duke!
Vote for Duke!
Vote for Duke!

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[fark] Duke sucks [/fark]