Do you vote on the issues only????
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Do you vote on the issues only????
| Mon, 10-20-2008 - 9:23pm |
I can't beleive we are so close to this election and I still cannot make up my mind! My question is do you look at the issues and decide to vote for the person that you think will be the best for your family or do you vote with your instinct? I keep looking at the facts and I am more closely aligned in my thinking with Senator McCain, but I have this nagging idea that I should vote for Senator Obama. He really impresses me with the way he is potraying himself, and the way people are responding to him, well its the first time in my life I've seen a candidate get this kind of reaction. I really think thats what our country needs right now. Everyone here keeps saying to vote on the issues, and normally I would, but this time I'm not sure. I know I'm only one vote, but I don't want to regret my decision later. I do know, that no matter who wins, I will be behind them 100%.

Well Colin Powell cited many non-issue related reasons for his support of Obama. Personally I think there are so many differences between the candidates I have to vote for the one who's policies I believe in the most. That is based on how the policies affect my family but also how I think they will affect my retired parents, my sister, and my children in the future, and overall how they will impact the economy.
I do think Obama is awe inspiring when he speaks. Unfortunately when I did down I don't like what I see under the great sounding words. When I first saw him speak 4 years ago at the DNC I was sure I was looking at a future President. I thought he was going to go to Congress and get some years of experience first.
I also feel deceived. As a Democrat I always believed the rich get all kinds of tax breaks and actually pay no tax or at least less tax than I pay. I can look at my own taxes now to see that's not true. Not with AMT. Not with limited deductions. Not unless you have a lot more than we have. Now that I understand the bottom 1/3 pay no tax and the top pay the highest tax (as it should be) I think that is working the right way and I do think it's wrong to raise taxes in this kind of economy. If Obama proposed raising taxes on the top 5% in order to balance the budget or reduce the national debt or fund education, I'd find it more palatable. But to take that extra revenue and spread it around to other households doesn't seem like the right thing to do when the government is spending so much more than they collect already. I'd really like to see the government cut out all the waste first, and use that extra money to help the budget. My other issue is the overspending that has gone on under Bush, I believe McCain when he says he will cut spending (he was outspoken against the overspending in the the past) and I do not think Obama's new spending is something we can reasonably afford.
So I guess I'd say I'm voting on the issues :)
http://openlettertobarack.blogspot.com/
In order for me:
and every vote counts!
I vote on the issues. If you're going to vote for someone simply because they can deliver a good speech, then you may as well vote for the used car salesman down the street. Issues matter, and who is best qualified to bring those issues to the table that matter most to you is who you should vote for.
I know what issues are important to me. National security is number one. If we don't keep our nation secured, we won't have a country left to worry about. Obama on national security scares me. He doesn't seem to take it seriously. It's almost like Obama is stuck in 910 land in a post 911 world. I just don't have enough information on how Obama plans to keep us safe as a nation, and his 910 approach reminds me too much of John Kerry who envisioned Osama bin Laden dressed as a hooker, sporting dirty needles and a deck of playing cards. This is not the time to be cavalier with national security and border security.
Winning in Iraq is important to me. I have a son in law who is serving over there. From his own accounts I know things are going better over there than the news media here would like us to know. I'd like to see him be able to see our troops finish the work they started, then come home as victors, not as a group of demoralized men and women who weren't given the chance to finish their job.
Cutting wasteful government spending is important. There are too many bridges to nowhere just waiting to be added to the next congressional appropriations bill. Obama hasn't railed against his party and its wasteful spending habits once. This tells me if it's Democrat pork barrel spending, it will have Obama's seal of approval. We need to cut spending, and I just don't trust Obama to do it.
Judicial nominations are important. I want to see judicial appointees who will interpret the law according to the US Constitution. I don't want to see activist judges who will legislate from the bench appointed to rule over us. If activist judges are to rule over us, what do we need a Congress and a president for? We may as well vote for judges, and cut out the middle men.
Those are the main reasons I have for voting for John McCain. They're also the main reasons why I can't vote for Obama.
It seems easier to vote more on issues early in the primaries. By the time there are only two standing, there is usually big stuff from both candidates that are a problem, and other ideas I support. I've voted for a 3rd party candidate when neither energized me.
As a Republican, I feel like I am swimming upstream with most people I know. I was even "booed" at a street fair when a Democrat asked me if I was registered and I said that I was registered as a Republican. People around us actually booed me. I was just shopping for jam. :) I think that, while that was dumb, it was a reflection of how to many, the Republican party has become the "evil empire".
Right wing punditry and shock-jocks are so MEAN, and many of the most vocal and most popular are lean to the far-right, that it makes most people I know think Republican = Mean. I think this has had a big effect on me, and it does impact my vote. I think that many in the party have embraced the "you're with us or against us", repeating the same line, publicly embracing policies and repeating talking points they might otherwise disagree with. It may make for a great election strategy, but it does a disservice to the voters and makes making up after election day a harder task.
I'm sure there are Democrats who struggle with the leadership of their own party as well, although I don't pay too much attention. I wish I felt there was more room for a variety of voices within my party, but just like on this board, the negativity seems to overwhelm the debate.
I think if I agreed with McCain more, I would easily lend him my support. I certainly don't agree with Obama on many points of his plan. But his optimism, his spirit, his vision for a better country reminds me of why I became a Republican - those things are what I thought the Rep party stood for! I want someone in office who will be laying down a foundation for generations, not just worried about muddling through the next 4 years. I'm not giving up on this country yet. I don't want to hand my daughter's future to the cynics and hawks. Even if Obama's performance as president is merely mediocre, if he inspires people to want more for their future and to work hard to make our country better for each generation that follows, he will have done a great service to this country as our President.