Today is the big day – Election Day 2008. People are turning out in record numbers. More voters have taken advantage of early voting than in the past, and even more are lined up at the moment ready to cast their vote for their favorite of the presidential candidates. By tonight the next President of the United States will be announced. McCain offers up his years of experience, but Obama offers change. It’s Republican vs. Democrat and it makes me sick. Why don’t we just call it what it is? American vs. American. Instead of actually talking about the issues and making real progress in this country, we just compete against each other and try to come out on top. And that’s exactly why I’m not voting this year.
I voted in the 2004 election, and I’m sad to say it was for Bush instead of Kerry. At the time, it seemed like the right thing to do. We were in the middle of the war with Iraq and I didn’t think Kerry was suited to take on that situation and handle it in the best way for our soldiers and our country. However, I stupidly believed Bush would be able to get his head out of his ass and fix it himself, but that was horribly dumb of me. He’d just keep throwing soldiers and dollars at it, all the while pretending things were going to be resolved soon. It’s 4 years since the last election and I won’t pretend things haven’t improved in Iraq, but I also won’t delude myself into thinking that we’re going to be pulling out anytime soon. It’s idiocy.
The campaigning for this election has gone on for a record 21 months and I am so glad it will be over by tonight. I’m tired of Obama this and McCain that. I’m worn down. Exhausted. They’ve campaigned America to death and now I just don’t care. Over time I’ve watched as it became more and more apparent that while this election will most likely have the greatest voter turnout in history, it will mainly be because all the uninformed Americans are going to come out to vote on the trendy candidate.
Each presidential candidates are supporters of things I support, and in opposition of things I oppose. I wonder if they truly support and oppose all the things they campaign for. Does Obama really care about Universal Healthcare? Does McCain truly feel that certain types of guns should be banned from public purchase? Do they both really oppose a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage? How many of their standpoints have been decided for them based on the party they’re running for?
That’s why frustrates me about our government system. If you’re for gay marriage, you can’t possibly be a Republican. If you’re against abortion, you can’t possibly be a Democrat. There’s no in between. You’re one or the other, or you’re laughably considered an “independent” or “liberal”. What’s even worse is that the big competition isn’t limited to just Republicans versus Democrats – it’s in-house as well! For quite a while everyone was convinced Senator Hillary Clinton would be the Democratic presidential nominee, but then Obama campaigned as well and it was Democrat vs. Democrat until Clinton realized she wasn’t going to win the battle and gracefully stepped down. Would I have voted for Clinton? I don’t know. But it irked me that it got to the point that even if I wanted to I wouldn’t be able to. Why? Because the electoral colleges threw their support behind Obama and Clinton was left in the dust.
It’s trendy voting. If you gathered up 100 people who intend to vote for Obama and 100 who intend to vote for McCain and gave them a pop-quiz on the issues each candidate supports, I can almost guarantee you that half the people would fail the quiz. Which of the candidates supports ANWR drilling? Neither. Which is in support of the Patriot Act? Both. Which one thinks minimum wage should be increased? Obama. Which one thinks same-sex unions aren’t a good idea, but wants to leave the decision up to the states (so he can avoid taking the backlash for the decision)? McCain. And who thinks it’s a bad idea to erect a border fence to prevent illegal immigration? Neither.
Both candidates have ideals I support. Both candidates have ideals I oppose. That’s the difficult decision every American must wrestle with before choosing who he or she wants to place into a position of power. But many Americans this year will be making the trendy decision. Obama because he says he likes change. McCain because he’s patriotic and wants to continue the war until we’ve “won”. Obama because he’s African American. McCain because his vice presidential running mate, Sarah Palin, is just oh-so-cute and a real American like us. Blah blah blah blah blah. Uninformed trendy voting everywhere!
I think it’s ridiculous that there has to be such a clear division between the two parties. One party always blames the other for anything wrong. The democrats all blame the republicans for the war because the president is republican. The republicans all blame the democrats for the economic crisis because they’re the house majority right now. Neither side accepting blame or truly working to make things better, just pointing fingers and dodging bullets. I said it once and I’ll say it again – they’re all a bunch of little monkeys flinging poo. Not doing anything of real value, just trying not to get hit themselves.
Were I to vote in this election, I wouldn’t be voting for the candidate I like more, I’d be voting the candidate I dislike least. At this point, I couldn’t be any more frustrated with either one winning, so good luck America. Either way, the next 4 years are going to be very interesting.
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My feelings sort of mirror yours in that the presidential election is a joke. It is a competition on whose party will win, not who is best-suited for the role. I voted for Gore in 2000 because I was literally scared that Bush was going to be president. If no one can see what a little weasel he is, they’re seriously oblivious. That election was where he dropped the famous, and I paraphrase: “god wants me to be president.” – talk about underhanded. With that he secured his spot as president because he exploited the ignorance of older religious people. “Well if god wants him to be president, Im going to vote for him.”, they probably thought. I was horrified when Bush won and that Gore didnt fight the recount harder, even after evidence of voter suppression in Florida with Bush’s brother, Jeb, as govenor.
I didn’t vote in the next election because Kerry was a nincompoop and couldnt decide which side of the fence he wanted to sit on. I thought his choice for Edwards as VP was just a media ploy because he had a nice haircut and a beaming smile. Then, Bush was given 4 more years and oh, how are country and our constitution has suffered.
And now it comes down to another two candidates I do not care for. Obama has increased voter turnout and is giving hope to voices too jaded to try to be heard. But what is the motive? McCain is really bringing nothing new to the game and it feels like the same song and dance. Both candidates have flip flopped on there stances just a few years ago, which is obvious because you are bought when you run for president and changing your views is necessary. No one ever made it into office with their own ideals. They tune them to who they are campaigning in front of and change them just as often. You can’t be honest about what you believe unless it fits the “american-christian-mythos”, because then you will not get the support of a party.
My candidate was Ron Paul. He was dead honest about his issues and in all of his years in public office, has never flip flopped on his views. I was going to vote for a Republican for pete’s sake. But of course, even though he stood for true conservatism, he was laughed out of the running because he wasn’t the neo-con puppet the republican party loves so much. He was well versed in the economy and felt government involvement in the states should be limited. He also knew the real reason why we went to war and the real reason why places like afganistan and the like despise the U.S. He had the support of millions and was so dangerous to the election he was not allowed to participate in the first republican debate by Fox and when he was finally allowed the second time after much controversy, his answers were cut out of the rebroadcasts.
As I went to vote this morning many ideas were going through my head. Up until that point I was going for third party, but then I started thinking about McCain winning and how the Bush doctrine of lunacy would continue. Should I vote for Obama against what I believe just so McCain wont win? Then it was my turn to vote and I put aside the Presidential portion of the the ballot and circled for the other offices. After, going back and staring at each candidate for Presidency for a good minute, thousands of thoughts raced about my mind. Then I picked up the pen and voted third party; Doing what I thought best for the country and not supporting the lesser of two evils. Not compromising myself because political party affiliation. Not voting for “who my daddy voted for”. Alot can happen in four years.
I am scared yet again.
Thanks Dean, I didnt mean to hijack your blog entry. This is just a huge subject to me and I could hear in your words you were just as frustrated as I.
I voted this morning. Who I voted for is neither here or there. I was really excited about the write in vote. I was going to write in Scobby Doo. I really don’t like either the republican or the demorcatic little teams. Anyway, my best friend voted for Bush in 2004. She voted for him with the same thoughts in mind you had, Dean. And she also thought why should anyone clean up his mess but himself.
It’s not about the marketing of the two candidates its about the issues, we don’t have to be spoon feed if we don’t want to be, we can do the research ourselves and not respond to marketing which is what I have done. As a responsible American citizen especially those of us with an education we should not give in to marketing and get off our lazy intellectual butts and check the issues out. This year it is not about the candidates as much as it is about the placement of Supreme Court Justices. The seated president gets to nominate Justices as-need-be (as they retire or die) while they are in office. The next 4 to 8 years there will be 5 of them (Supreme Court Justices) that will need to be replaced and at least 2 of those will take place in the next four years. What does that mean to us? If Obama is placed in office he will hand pick not a constitutional judge but a liberal judge to uphold the roe v. wade decision and who knows what else. Under normal conditions he might not get away with such a bold act but we are not in normal times. Right now we have a liberal congress and senate that will vote through whom ever he wants and we can’t stop him. There are many other thing that the congress and senate will want to pass that Obama will not veto. That puts us (the american citizen) in a vulnerable position. In my personal research I have seen with my own eyes Obama’s personal and financial connection to Muslims, terrorists, anti american groups as well as socialist and communist groups. What he will do in the next four years could effect us for 40 years. So you can see that raised taxes are the least of our problems. Turn off the television and start researching it is your american duty. There have been many americans over the years that have paid for your privilege to vote and some of those with their lives.
Obama made it clear that a Judge choice would have to fit his profile of where he stands on issues. McCain made it clear that a Jude should be chosen on if he will defend and uphold the Constitution. That tells me that one man wants this country to fit his definition of right and not what the founding fathers and many American fought and died for. This nation is to stand on the Constitution and hold to the foundation because without the foundation, we fall.
I do not believe we have a clear choice good and bad. I do believe we have a choice of poor and sorry. I for one will not stand by when someone has made it clear they are not going to support what this country stands for. I did not wast my vote on a write in or a Third Party, I did all I could to keep a man out of the Presidents Office who clearly is not for what America stands for.
As Pam stated, read the facts and do not listen to the BS you hear in commercials or read in papers or on the news or web site with biased opinions, the facts are what they are.
I voted. I stood in line for 20 mins because I felt like it was what I should be doing – especially with my husband in the military. I can’t say I was very well informed. I wish I had taken more time to research the candidates but I did put my vote for who I disliked the least. I don’t think either President was the perfect candidate. That being said, those were the choices given and somewhere we have to stand behind the winner (Obama). Not that he has won, there is nothing we can do. No amount of complaining can change that. Granted he may do things totally opposite of what we may like, President Bush did things we didn’t like also. There will never be a person you can 100% agree with. That’s where I agree with Aunt Pam… people fought like crazy to give us the right to vote, and if you have to vote for the person you dislike the least at least it’s your right!
I don’t look down on you or anyone else for not voting. I do wish however you would have made that choice because you were more informed than many who voted. I have very little respect for people who voted for Obama just because he was black, and people who voted for McCain just because Palin is a woman.
I love you, Dean!
I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t bother to go vote Dean. Voting is a privilege that many people of other countries don’t’ have. And while it is a privilege, it is also a responsibility. It shapes the country in which you live. We don’t always get stellar candidates but there is far more at stake than who is president. More importantly are the values by which our country lives and how the person holding the office of President can use it to shape our country. The next president will likely appoint many judges both to the Supreme Court and other federal benches. Their decisions will set precedents for decades to come. You will have to live under them. The makeup of congress will make the laws of the land. You will have to live under them. You did not vote so you do not have any bitchin’ rights.
@Casey
I completely understand your position on this. You and I both agreed that there wasn’t a candidate either of us felt strongly enough about to truly support, but you still decided to make the decision I couldn’t bring myself to make – voting for the candidate I disliked least. I don’t think of this as a bad thing at all, just not something I personally would’ve done. I’m glad you took advantage of your right to vote.
@Aunt Barb
You’re right that I didn’t choose to enact my given right to vote, but I have lots of rights that have been given to me that I don’t feel the need to take advantage of. While my decision not to own a gun even though I’m so entitled is not quite the same, the ideal is similar. I don’t own a gun because I don’t feel the need. I didn’t vote because I wanted no part in electing either candidate, and voting for an independent would have had no effect whatsoever. I did speak to a friend who still voted for an independent anyways just so it could be on record that he cast his vote, and I truly respect him for that. I would rather have voted for neither, than picked one and have it turn out to be a bad decision. What if I voted for the candidate who ended up running the country into a deeper hole than it’s in now? I’d feel guilty. Granted, had I voted for the other one perhaps my vote could’ve been one of the ones to sway it in their direction to avoid said downward spiral, but there’s no guarantee (obviously). Ultimately, I made the decision that felt right to me. And I try never to bitch about anything, just honestly express my feelings on assorted topics.
Don’t forget that there are other elections besides the Presidential one. You should be looking into and voting for your local candidates and propositions and bond elections. All of these are just as important.
I agree. Looking back, I wish I’d voted for a random independent to be president since it wouldn’t have made a difference, then made real choices on the issues that matter to me. Like lifting the alcohol ban in Irving…which passed without me anyways.
But in all seriousness, yes, I should’ve voted on the other issues at hand. I got so frustrated with the presidential campaigning and the two true candidates to choose from, that I threw my hands up in the air and said “forget it”. Guess I haven’t completely outgrown my childishness, have I?