Instead of voting *against* Bush
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.