Okay so I’m one of those independent citizens that the candidates in this election are depending on. Because I grew up in an extremely conservative home, I’m more of a moderate republican, but for the first time in my adult life, I want to make a decision on my vote based on my research and beliefs, not who and what my mom has told me to vote for. Because I was started getting put off about the whole thing, (because she can be pretty intense sometimes and I’m more liberal than she is,) I shied away from politics and in the last few years stopped voting altogether—horrible I know. Which is so funny considering when I was 8 years old I stood outside the poles and campaigned—and during the election with Clinton and Dole, I was seriously depressed when Bob Dole didn’t win—and I was in Jr. High!
I guess one reason I’ve been turned off to talking about the real issues America’s dealing with is, I am a compassionate person and I DO care about what’s going on, but whenever I start talking to someone about it, they seem to end up shouting at me about what they believe instead of even considering they might be wrong. And I’m not saying they are. But hearing how angry people are just turns me off. I just registered to vote, and I feel proud knowing I’m going to. But I still feel on the fence about who to vote for. Can anyone respond by giving me their reasons about who their voting for without being, well condescending or heated about it? I would truly appreciate it. I really am open to voting for either candidate if I heard a good argument as to why—for that you would have my thanks!
Hey Augustine of Hippo, I can understand your frustration but the reason people may end up yelling (which i have done before) is that this election is important. Many people may say that these are some of the best candidates offered to America in along time and that our decision is critical, but to tell you what I believe, these are the worst candidates in American history. To get to the point, I cannot vote yet but I do support John McCain. If I could vote, I would vote against Obama rather than for McCain.
My reasons for supporting John McCain are:
- He is in favor of expanding our oil reserves by drilling in ANWR
- He is familiar with the military and deeply understands the situation of our serving men and women due to his own experiences
- He will work to decrease taxes more and hopefully he will cut spending effectively too
- He has more experience than Obama in making foreign policy decisions and seeing the outcome
- He may not be a strong pro-life candidate but he is one nonetheless
My reasons for not liking Obama
- His background is not only sketchy but disturbing: his senatorial election party was hosted by a terrorist who was glad when the world trade centers fell and his wife clearly hates America
- His experience is being a community organizer for Chicago (not exactly much)
- His plan to raise taxes significantly for the top 5% income makers in America is unjust
- He will only tax corporations more which will weaken our global companies, especially the ones who have remained in America because with higher taxes they will have to outsource
- He plans to have 100% clean energy yet he has never specifically stated where thsi money comes from or he never mentions the wealth of resources america has such as oil which are critical to restoring our economy
Hope this helps
Obama's economic plan give twice as much money back to tax payers as McCain's. I don't know where the raising taxes thing comes from, but McCain keeps saying it as if it's true. It's not.
Also, review the following snopes,com link about Obama. Many of the things ksullivan would like you to believe are debunked there:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/50lies.asp
And as for the "terrorist" to whom she refers in her first point, this is who she's talking about:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Ayers
He was pretty extreme in the 60's, when protesting Vietnam. Now he's a professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago. I've read much of his writing. He studies and teaches equality in education and advocates for social justice, meaning he wants all people to have equal access to education. He has a big house. He hosted a party. He won't be in the Cabinet or anything.
"Never go with a hippy to a second location."
~Jack Donaghy
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
I'm an Anthropologist for Obama - I believe he is well travelled and has respect for and understand of other cultures that Senator McCain lacks. Based on the perception of our country from abroad, I feel we ought to shy away from our Cold War inspired foreign policy of attempting to police the world, and again I feel as though Senator Obama is more interested in pursuing a course of action focused on diplomacy rather than arms. Other countries in the world have a deep seated hatred for America; it's my opinion that the current administration has undertaken actions that are only reinforcing this negative opinion of us. Granted, many will attack Senator Obama for his lack of a solid foreign policy background, but I honestly believe he knows that this is a weakness and will make informed decisions about whom to include in his cabinet.
I'm also a Constitution Voter. After having seen the damage done to the Bill of Rights by the Patriot Act, I am deeply concerned with the continuing erosion of civil rights in this country. Sadly, very few people are educated about what the Bill of Rights guarantees citizens, and even fewer are aware of the side stepping of our rights that has occurred in the name of "national security" since 9/11. Senator Obama taught Constitutional Law for 10 years at the University of Chicago, and I don't think it a leap of faith to believe he respects the document and will endeavour to reverse the damage done to it by the current administration.
Those are just a few reasons why I support Senator Obama in his bid for the Presidency. I'd be interested in hearing what others think - especially given your plea for a civil discourse on the subject.
Before I say anything, I want to congratulate for being honest about your indecision rather than choosing your parents' side just because they tell you too.
Now, for business: I'm voting for Obama mainly because of the war. I understand that we messed up Iraq and should help clean it up, but we're not helping many people over there, and we're certainly not helping anyone here. Plus, we don't have the resources to keep fighting; we need money. We should pull out and let Iraq deal with Iraq's problems. We also need to refresh ourselves in case we need to deal with other foreign relations (such as North Korea, now that they've started acting suspiciously).
There are other reasons, of course, to vote for Obama, but the war is the main reason. I think it's going to be one of the most important decisions for our next president, and I want a Democrat to handle it. Foreign affairs are, in general, important, and though it's true that Obama doesn't have a lot of experience, I think he has good resources (such as Biden) who will help him make excellent decisions.
Good luck making your decision!
I honestly can't tell you for sure who I'm voting for yet. I've got my positions on my state's amendments down pretty good, but I don't know on the Presidential scale. And I just registered today as well (for those of you who know my age, you can yell at me all you want, but in my defense, I wasn't sure until today where I could register to vote; it's complicated).
I'm torn on the presidential candidates for several reasons. I'm against McCain/Palin because they are pro-life and want to outlaw abortion completely. I cannot agree with this policy at all, and since it is one of their major issues, I find it difficult to vote for that ticket. They also want to stay in Iraq, something that, again, I have problems supporting when my mom is getting ready to be deployed there. She's a single mom.
I also have problems with Obama. I read an e-mail a while back that made me think Obama does not really support the troops, but I'm not sure of the validity of that e-mail. I also think Obama lacks a great deal of experience, and so Biden might actually be the motivating force behind things. I don't want a weak president; I'd rather have a weak Vice President. I'm not sure I support some of Obama's tax plans, but he certainly will try to bring about a great deal of change.
~C
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