2008 Election - I want to hear your opinions

[totemo_oishii]

I recently registered to vote.

However, I've never been very political. I don't expect become an expert by then, but I do want to make the right choice when I vote.

I've listened to a few opinions on the subject of 2008 election - but I feel like I need to hear everyone's side to fully understand it myself.

Feel free to share your views on the upcoming election, who you're rooting for, etc.

_{ps. everyone respect each other's opinions okay? :3}

[EveofAbyss]

Well, I have never been political at all; in fact, I hate hate hate politics. But I am gonna vote this time, for sure. And so far, I really feel like Obama has some good aspects to him, he feels like a better choice than anybody else, but I still have some researching to do myself before I vote.

[pieisexactlythree]

OBAMA 08 !!!! 

He's probably not as progressive as me, but after the past seven years, what a blessed relief!

[Daxe]

I am a libertarian and so I never vote on party lines. But it also means its hard to find a candidate that I support. I supported Ron Paul the entire time, but I dont think hes going to get the nomination. If McCain get the nomination Im going to write in Ron Pauls name. I just cant bring myself to vote for Obama and I certainly would never vote for McCain... actually no one should ever vote for McCain, heres why...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioy90nF2anI

[laurifer]

One of the main reasons why I haven't registered to vote yet is because I don't know what party to register for. It's been sitting on my desk for a while now...

[totemo_oishii]

Actually, I checked out the box that said I wasn't part of a party.

[Syd-chan]

Yeah, I can't vote, seeing as I'm 12....But, I'm up-to-date with the political stuffs. I personally am rooting for Clinton....I feel like it's a really bad idea to pull us out of Iraq, which is what Obama wants.....I may just be paranoid, but if the terrorists come onto our soil, things will get BAD. I hate to bring up that subject, but that's my main reason.

[pieisexactlythree]

I may just be paranoid, but if the terrorists come onto our soil, things will get BAD. I hate to bring up that subject, but that's my main reason.

I suspect that our continued military presence in middle east increases, rather than decreases the likelihood of that occurring.  As you will no doubt recall, it was our long term presence in that region, particularly in the proximity of Mecca which radicalized the jihadists in the first place and motivated them to attack us.  (no, they don't hate us for our freedom, they hate us because our tanks have been camped near Muslim holy places - of course, at the invitation of the deeply corrupt and anti-democratic Saudi government)

Subsequent to the invasion of Iraq, the CIA has admitted that accounts of Al Quaeda operations in Iraq were completely false - a lie that was told to the American people to justify a war of aggression.  They now have a presence there, thanks to our actions.  (I think the administration has quit trying to produce reasons for going to war, since so many of them have been proven to be false.  We've heard at least four versions of why it was done so far, none of them withstand scrutiny)

[MichaelEvans]

My view on politics in general.  You must exercise your rights, in order to earn the privilege of bitching about them not going the way you like.

I was not able to vote in 2000 (just missed it by a few months... bloody pisser that was), but I have voted EVERY election that I can since.

I have earned my right to bitch, to shout at the top of my lungs that I am so looking forward to an election where the choice isn't, as I believe it was Lewis Black put it, a choice between two bags of ****.

Also, I'm not registered for a party either.  I absolutely loath and despise the party system.  It fosters an Us vs Them attitude, when candidates should only be classified based on issues that matter to you.  More likely a list of various interest organizations would be compiled, you'd assign weights to the orgs, who will have assigned weights to candidates.  Multiply add, etc, and each candidate then has a ranking, and you can look through the top whatever to see who best matches your view.

[melchizedek]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JSBhI_0at0&feature=related this is what happened in 2000 and the same kind of election will happen in 2008. 

As of now I don't think I'll vote for either presidental canidate.  Likely I'll vote for bugs bunny or some other write in candidate.  Ron Paul was who I was hoping to win, he sure how a whole lot of support, I looked at facebook politics app and no one had more supporters than he did.  Yes he lost all the primaries.... funny.

Anywho, every election I've voted for my vote hasn't counted because of the electoral college system.  I was really looking forward to seeing Ron Paul try to take out the IRS and do drastic cuts in government.  I used to call myself a republican but not now, the party has made some stupid choices.  I call myself more of a libertarian now.

**  Why did we invade Iraq to stop terror?

If we wanted to get back at a country for 9/11 what was the predominate nationality of all the hijackers?

Also, watch the kingdom... it is based off of a real event.

[Daxe]

.....I may just be paranoid, but if the terrorists come onto our soil, things will get BAD. I hate to bring up that subject, but that's my main reason.

"He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither."-Ben Franklin

[Syd-chan]

Though, talking to some other people, I am pretty sure Obama will win in a landslide.....

[TomtheFanboy]

Back in High School I registered Republican. Now I vote for Democrats but I can still vote in Republican Primaries. 

If none of the Republican candidates agree with me then I throw my vote at a competitor so the wekest candidate gets elected.... and then hopefully loses to the Democrat. 

I'd love for a good States' Rights Republican to come in and scale back a lot of the madness but it's just not likely since Republicans are now Conservatives and Democrats are now Moderates.

[pieisexactlythree]

Both parties' take on "states rights" seems to depend on what rights the states want to give themselves and how those "rights" square with that party's core ideology.  The Republicans abruptly stopped liking states rights when Oregonians voted, twice (!!!) in favor of assisted suicide.  See State of Oregon v John Ashcroft. 

[totemo_oishii]

Is anyone going to attend that thing in May, when the candidates come to Oregon? I'm interested in going.

[pieisexactlythree]

Sure. I'd go. 

[jaybug]

Pie; Jihadists don't need a reason, they would have been happy to bomb us for supporting Isreal. They are happy now to slay infidels who believe what the nephew of the Prophet said, and vice versa. They are just at a point where if you can win by killing them, you kill them. They are not reasonable people. Non-violence will only work with reasonable people. Which is why India/ Pakistan have had 5 wars since they broke up!

Something that relies on the irrational will not operate in a rational manner.

Are you sure someone will come to Oregon for a rally? Won't we be down to one candidate per party by then?

I am the wrong kind of Republican: Roosevelt, Reagan, Rockefeller, not Reagan, Rove and Rush.

[pieisexactlythree]

Not exactly.  Go back and look at the facts - they have been well documented.  This movement mobilized, was radicalized and turned its efforts against the US specifically as a result of specific actions taken by the US government.  Prior to that it's activities were mainly focused on attempting to overthrow moderate middle eastern regimes.  I can provide links later if you'd like.  It's better to attempt to understand what circumstances can lead to tragedies, so that they can be avoided. 

[laurifer]

Is anyone going to attend that thing in May, when the candidates come to Oregon? I'm interested in going.

Sounds good! I should register to vote beforehand

[MichaelEvans]

Is anyone going to attend that thing in May, when the candidates come to Oregon? I'm interested in going.

Drama on that level I'd like to avoid if possible.  I know the security restrictions, people in general, or what they say will end up pissing me off and putting me in to a funk.  Though more likely the first two over the third for candidates I'd actually want to vote for.

[Daxe]

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/02/13/whos-your-maverick-john-mccain-votes-in-favor-of-torture/

[Daxe]

http://www.digg.com/2008_us_elections/Clinton_camp_borrows_full_ballot_boxes_in_New_Mexico

[Lily]

Totemo,

You mean the primaries? Or is there another event before those that I haven't heard about?

[totemo_oishii]

Yes, primaries. I wasn't sure what they were called at first...lol.

[AnimeMatrix]

I used to not be too interested in politics, but now I'm kind of into it as I realized that who I elect in will affect how I live. I liked Ron Paul because he believed in small government, but I do kind of like McCain. I don't really support Hilary as, if she's elected, for the past 20 years, our government will have been rulled by only 2 families (Bush senior 88-92, Bill Clinton 92-00, Bush 00-08) it's time for some new blood, which is why I like Obama (yes, it's kind of a shallow reason and that's the only reason why I don't support her, but it's nice to have new people in charge with fresh blood and fresh ideas.)

But I must say, it's really exciting times when there's a legitimate black man and a legitimate white woman running for President. It makes me really excited to see who'd be running for President in 2012.

[MichaelEvans]

It makes me excited too.  I have hope that once we finally get past the firsts, maybe even the first ten or so of each different minority, everyone will finally get bored of petty details like gender and ethnicity, and instead focus on actual qualifications...

Who am I kidding?  There's a vested interest in keeping the majority of the population at a sheep-like level, we'd have to break out of that as well.

[NeonFoxRocks]

Imo all of them are crooks. They look like mindless robots when placed beside common everyday people. Seriously I would not be suprised if they turned out all to be robots. I see less and less people actualy believing in their leaders comparing to say John Kennedy whom people loved and respected. If something did happen to bush i could see the majority of people just saying 'so, whats next?'. 
I think there will be a shift and a new way this country is ruled, a lot of old rules don't take into account the internet, new aged terrorism, and many other things. Hopefuly in the near future the government will take full advantage of the internet as a main medium to communicate.

[pieisexactlythree]

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/07/070507fa_fact_macfarquhar?printable=true

[jaybug]

If you live in Sandy to Hood river, vote for my mom! She's running for the house seat being vacated by the incumbent.

[pieisexactlythree]

If you live in Sandy to Hood river, vote for my mom! She's running for the house seat being vacated by the incumbent.

[OT] She's a lucky person to live in such a beautiful place!  Here's a set of photos I shot out there last weekend.

[Lily]

If you live in Sandy to Hood river, vote for my mom! She's running for the house seat being vacated by the incumbent.

Jay,

Really? For Darlene's seat? Cool! Dare I ask which party?

[pieisexactlythree]

If you know Jay, you'll LOL when you find out!

[jaybug]

Darlene? I don't think so. State Representative, not congress. I do think you mean Hooley. Right? House seat 52???

She's a DEMONCRAT! lol Actually until W. was president I thought she was more conservative than I was.

She was the director of the Mid-Columbia Headstart program. She commuted from Oregon City to Hood River since before I got out of the navy. I think she drove like that for 15 years, before she found a house she liked, and could afford. Dog gone windsurfers! Anyway she retired a year or so ago, so she could run for the position.

The incumbent has declined to run again. But I guess Greg Walden is forming an exploratory PAC to find someone to run against her.