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Instead of voting *against* Bush
Published on November 1, 2004 By Zoomba In Politics
This race has been horrible. Absolutely dismal. The democratic party managed to run its campaign straight into the ground, and then beat itself over the head repeatedly with bricks. The press didn't help matters much by making it completely and utterly obvious that they were trying to stack the race in favor of Kerry. I don't think we've ever had a campaign this poorly managed across the board. Kerry added to the circus by flip-flopping his position once he got the Dem nomination. As a left-leaning moderate, I am at a complete loss to come up with any reason whatsoever to vote *for* Kerry...

Other than he's not Bush.

I hate that I'm voting not for a candidate but against another. It depresses me to think that these two guys are the best the country has to offer for candidates for President of the United States... THE most important job in the entire world!

I have a laundry list of reasons I do not want to see Bush return to the White House, but not one solid reason I want to see Kerry take his place. It is truely a lesser of two evils type decision. I know some argue "Better the devil you know than the one you don't", but after four years of Bush, I'm ready to take that chance.

Why I am voting against Bush...
1. Abortion
I'm *strongly* pro-choice. I don't think anyone has ANY say over what a woman does with her own body. That said I'm even more pro-responsibility and don't think it's cool to use abortion as a form of birth control. Condoms are 75 cents from a bathroom vending machine, so cost is no excuse. If you choose to be pro-life, that's cool, go for it... I'm all for people living by their own moral code, but everyone has to understand that in some cases what you deem moral isn't the same for everyone else you run into. I also don't buy into the whole if you kill a pregnant woman it's a double homicide. You can't have it both ways, it's all or nothing. Having people in power who would try and dictate such things to us frightens me.

2. Gay Marraige
This goes along with #1 through the dictating morals to others bit. What harm does it do to you, an average citizen if two men or two women get married? Marraige hasn't been a purely religious institution for centuries... it's as much a state institution now with tax breaks, insurance pricing and everything else. Are you so insecure that Adam and Steve getting hitched makes your union less special? Arguments of nature vs. nurture aside, do you remember a time when inter-racial unions were considered just as wrong? You can argue that marrying outside of your faith is just as much wrong, since you're married to a "sinner" I don't care who marries who, it's none of my business and it's none of yours either. Anyone who seriously wants to put through a constitutional ammendment banning this scares the shit out of me. Our Constitution is there to guarantee rights, not deny them... we saw how well that went over with Prohibition.

3. Iraq
I think it was a mistake, plain and simple. I was in favor of Afghanistan, I am in favor of hunting down Al Queda(I know I spelled it wrong) with the help of the nations we find them in. I think Osama's head should be stuck on a spike and planted on the White House lawn for all to see. Such hateful men are a stain on the group they claim to represent, as well as on all of humanity. Iraq was a red herring. Saddam was a bad man, no question, who did bad things to his people, once again no question... but did he pose a threat to us? Never was the case sucessfully made, and the "evidence" we used kept shifting... first it was the Al Queda/Iraq link, we ditched that one pretty fast though, then it was the weapons (which was our entire case to the UN), which also hasn't panned out yet. Finally we're just going "Bad man, we had to get rid of him". I don't think it's our job or our right to dictate to other nations how they should be run. It's not our responsibility to unseat nasty men from power. And if we're going to do it, we have to be uniform about it, and not just pick and choose the easy ones. Look at N. Korea, or hell most of South America... why aren't we invading them if we're truely out to make the world safer? Now that we're there however, we have to see it through. We have to make good on our promises now that we've pulled the rug out from under the country.

Note that I do not list the economy here... that's because I firmly believe that the president doesn't have as large of an influence on our economy as everyone else seems to want to think. True, his economic policies can have an impact, but it takes years for that to happen. And true, he can encourage or discourage growth to some extent through how confident he makes investors feel, but he can't be blamed for a market readjustment (which is what this is, we get them ever 20 years or so) that started before he took office (the tech bubble was already starting to pop). I think bad decisions can be made (the tax credit that blew the surplus for example)... but that doesn't cause what's happening now. Face it, you can't blame Bush for everything... though sometimes it is fun.

So those are my big reasons for wanting Bush out of office... Will Kerry do any better? I don't know, but I think it's worth taking a chance and seeing. Will he flip his stance on issues after polls change and suddenly find himself supporting those things I hate? Absolutely, though unlikely. In the event that happens, I'll use the power given to me through my vote to try and get rid of him. That's the beauty of the nation, we can admit to mistakes and attempt to correct them ever 4 years.

I just wish I could vote for Kerry, instead of against Bush... but you make due with what you're given.


Comments (Page 1)
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on Nov 01, 2004
This gets an insightful from me.
on Nov 01, 2004
Why thank you I'm used to just getting flames on political posts
on Nov 01, 2004
I don't care, I most defently don't care. I have no intention on voting for Kerry, not at all.
on Nov 01, 2004
*shrug* I'm not trying to convince or sway anyone to my way of thinking... that's not possible when it comes to politics or religion. I'm just trying to present my perspective on everything, to show that not all of us democrats are complete left-wing nut jobs.
on Nov 01, 2004
I agree that his main appeal to those who are voting for him, is that he's not bush. However I disagree with your moral and political viewpoints, and I've already voted, for Bush.

Wow, can you feel the fierce ranting flame in that.
on Nov 01, 2004
Man, if it weren't for my asbestos underwear, I'd be crispy fried! woo!

I was just bracing myself for it since it seems civil political discussions can be hard to come by around here, especially so close to the election.

I'll be the first to admit I simply can't understand why anyone feels they have the right and duty to tell other people how to lead aspects of their lives that have nothing to do with anyone else. Most of the people I encounter who are so fiercly against those two hot button issues because it's "sinful" have a lot of work to do when it comes to their own lives. Now, this isn't everyone, so I don't mean to generalize, but I do strongly hold to the whole "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" We have bigger problems to deal with on a personal level before we should concern ourselves with the doings of others.

I leave people to lead their lives according to their faith and beliefs, and ask no more than the same in return.
on Nov 01, 2004
I've noticed that almost nobody, if anybody, on the left is voting for a third-party candidate, and is instead voting for the lesser of two evils, while many on the right seem to be voting Libertarian if they dislike both candidates. Is it because there isn't a decent liberal third-party candidate?
on Nov 01, 2004
For the left, there's more the "I don't care who wins as long as Bush is gone!" mentality. As has been stated in the past, no one has sparked the same sort of feverish hatred from the opposition as Bush has. To get Bush out, you have to throw your support behind the one who has the best chance of beating him. The left so strongly dislikes Bush that it largely blinds them to much else. On the right however, most who don't like Bush simply disagree with many of his stances, but not like the left does, he doesn't piss the right off the same way because he still represents some of their values.

The "vote against Bush" mentality is a double hit against the left. For one, it shows we can't field a decent candidate, and two in many cases we've let our extreme emotions blind us and direct us instead of using rational thought. This is the lable the left is getting stuck with a lot lately (and in many cases for good reason). I wanted to put my reasons I wanted Bush out as clearly as possible. I do not hate Bush like even my own family does. I disagree with him on a number of issues, and he scares me on several others. I think in some cases the right has the better answer in economics and on some social topics. I love Bush's renewed space program (Mars in 10 years I think). I also think he was heading in the right direction with the restructuring of the intelligence sector of the government, he just made a few bad calls and wasn't as thorough as he needed to be.

At times it's just more important to people to get someone they disagree with out of office than it is to ensure someone truely capable gets put in. It's sad, but it's true.
on Nov 01, 2004
Here is some reasons from Badnarik's own site for Democrats to vote for Badnarik and if that ain't enough click the link at bottom a guy wrote an article of Why Badnarik over John Kerry!!


  • Supports free speech—opposes the types of restrictions being put on the advertising of Michael Moore's movie, Fahrenheit 9/11

  • Supports complete separation of church and state and get government out of the marriage business—John Kerry only supports civil unions; Badnarik would keep the federal government completely out of marriage

  • Supports equal treatment of all people under the law—opposes racial profiling

  • Advocates repealing federal regulations that prevent minorities from starting their own businesses

  • Opposes federal control over abortion

  • End the war in Iraq sooner than John Kerry

  • End foreign interventionism

  • Publicly opposes the draft

  • Badnarik supports the repeal of federal mandates and controls over schools; this system ruins education and holds all schools to the same standards despite their different means and demographics

  • End the "War on Drugs"

  • Allow the sick to use medical marijuana



Kerry or Badnarik? [LINK]

Look, I am even so nice as to include one for Bush people too!!

Bush or Badnarik? [LINK]

Badnarik Supporting Plinko!!
on Nov 01, 2004
End the war in Iraq sooner than John Kerry


How?
on Nov 01, 2004
How?


Here's how. [LINK]

Howdy Doody Plinko!!
on Nov 01, 2004
That didn't explain how. It basically said that the Iraq war was wrong and a Libertarian president never would have engaged in it. That was the extent of it. How will he end the war sooner than Kerry or Bush (not being combative . . . truly interested)?
on Nov 01, 2004
* End the war in Iraq sooner than John Kerry
Now that we're there, we have to finish it, and finish it right. This can't be a rush job or we'll leave it in worse shape than it's in today. I even disagree with Kerry's claim of "in 4 years". You can't put a time limit on this now that we've set everything in motion. We can't go around the world screwing with countries and then running when we finally realize that we got in too deep. We are responsible for what happens in Iraq now. It's our duty to restore order and ensure that things will operate as smoothly as possible once we leave. Only then can we leave. It may take 2, 3, 6... hell even 10 years. But this is our mess and we HAVE to clean it up.

Aside from that one point, I like what he has to offer, but me votng for him, while it shows a vote of no confidence in Bush, does virtually nothing to unseat him. It's a shitty system we have, this two party deal, but it's the system we have to work in. I want to see election reforms that allow additional candidates into the process (debates, equal time to get their message out etc).

Another problem is Badnarik is even more liberal than Kerry, so he clashes with some of my more right-leaning tendencies. (I think legalizing pot is a ridiculous movement and that peoples energy could be spent on far more important issues... and I think the war on drugs has some value, though it needs some reworking)
on Nov 01, 2004
Looked for an exact plan and here is what I found:

Michael Badnarik, the Libertarian Party candidate for president, believes that the war in Iraq has been a failure and that American troops should be pulled out as safely as that can be accomplished. Link

In other words, an immediate and orderly withdrawal of troops on Jan. 1, 2005 (after the Iraqi election).

Link to Cato Institute: Exit Iraq, a place where a lot of Libertarian scholars reside.
on Nov 01, 2004
I think legalizing pot is a ridiculous movement and that peoples energy could be spent on far more important issues... and I think the war on drugs has some value, though it needs some reworking


To that I refer you to Gideon's article on the LP's Drug issue: Link

Gideon Plinko!!
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