McCain / Palin

[caffeine]

I have seen/heard the following reasons to vote for McCain/Palin

1. They are Pro-Life -  "A culture of life"
2. McCain has a better economic plan
3. McCain has a strong anti-terror stance
4. Palin is a woman
5. "You didn't lose anyone in the 9/11 attacks"
6. "Your SO/Girlfriend/wife/daughter isn't wearing a burqa"

Lets look at these.

1. Same phrase Bush used.  And Bush, as Gov of TX, executed a large number of convicted felons.  Bush and McCain are pro-war, pro-invasion, and pro-staying in Iraq.  So, that really translates to anti-abortion.  Plus, neither of them did a damn thing about it when they held power in the White House, Legislature, and Supreme Court.
2. As far as I have seen, McCain's plan is more of the same "Voodoo" economics that we have suffered under for the past 8 years.  Tax cuts for the big business and the rich, and somehow even though it has not helped yet, it will very soon.  I don't think so.  It did not work in 8 years under Reagan, it has not worked in 8 years under Bush.  I guess we just have not given it enough time to work.
3. Anti-terror.  I think about 99.999999% of the world population is anti-terror.  McCain is Pro-war, and following the Bush Doctrine.  We attack first.  Works great in a video game, not so good in the real world with real consequences.
4. Palin is a woman.  So is Hilary.  I did not vote for either.  And I don't care if she is a woman.  It is her politics that matter.
5. What does that have to do with my vote?  Is this more of the "you just don't understand?"  Or is it the feeling that if someone I knew had died then that I would be more in favor of vengeance and war?
6. What. The. Fuck?!  What does that even mean?  They don't wear magic underpants either.  Should I be afraid of the Mormons?

Why again are people voting for McCain/Palin?

Comments

[mle292.livejournal.com]

#1 is bullshit, and both sides use it. I'm partly annoyed because I believed in the pro-life/pro-choice debate for so long.

Abortion is not going to become illegal in the U.S., though it has been overturned in some states. it's a fake issue that candidates or parties use to distract voters from real issues and to sway statewide or smaller elections.

Supreme Court Justice Alito was sworn in January 31st of 2006, thus making a majority of Supreme Court justices that openly favored overturning Roe v. Wade.

At the time, a majority of the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Senate were vocally in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade, as was the President of the United States. To sum up, the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches (all three) said that they supported overturning Roe v. Wade.

If it were really a priority, it would have happened then. It wasn't.

That majority did not change until almost a year later, when Democrats took control of Congress and the Senate on January 4 of 2007.

[talkswithwind]

Why again are people voting for McCain/Palin?

Odd, I was ranting to myself while mowing the lawn just now about that very topic. Ranting to myself being a key way I build arguments for blog posts ;).

It comes down to this. People like people who look and sound like themselves to lead, and like experts to run things. This is how folksy wisdom can beat out proven leadership ability and strategic vision in elections. Presidents lead. Treasury Secretaries run things. This is how the fact that Palin is a pro-lifer who has been honest to God Tested (that Down's syndrome child of hers) and been proven true to her faith is seen as a powerful argument in her favor. In a lot of ways it is an emotional response, more than a rational one, which explains #5 up there. A lot of people vote with their gut, rather than their head.

[mightyj.livejournal.com]

Silly boy. You should know by now that every woman wears magic underpants; especially your SO!

[mle292.livejournal.com]

Shhhhh! Don't tell everyone!

I regret everything

[tokenfanboy.livejournal.com]

I was rather foolishly a swing voter in 2000 and 2004. Fortunately, the rest of MN made my vote a moot point back then. I did figure that MN was going Democrat at the time anyways but it was a symbolic vote nonetheless. The justification I had in 2000 was that I had a bunch of credit card debt and wanted to keep taxes low while I was paying it off. Pretty stupid, since I don't think the Bush tax cuts affected me in the slightest. At it's heart, Fiscal Conservatism appeals to people's selfishness. I also just wanted fresh people in office and didn't want any hold-overs from the Clinton administration.

In 2004, I thought it would have been a disaster to pull out of Iraq at that point in time. I wanted to let the military finish the job. Granted, I figured Kerry wouldn't have been able to pull the troops out right away regardless of what he campaigned for. I wouldn't have been upset if Kerry had won because I was already pretty upset with Bush over the prisoner abuse scandal and several other issues as well. If I had known how much worse Iraq was going to get and that they'd let Afghanistan fall apart, I would have voted for Kerry.

I don't know how anyone could objectively look back on the past 8-years and justify electing another Republican as President other than by just blindly following their party line regardless of how they've performed in office.

[jschmidt.livejournal.com]

McCain wasn't wearing a flag pin during the debate on Friday. Obama was. Why does McCain hate his country? Guess I'm voting for Obama.

I have no fucking clue why this is even a close race. I'm beginning to think that Bill Maher's derision of most Americans as stupid really has some credence.

All six of those points are demonstrable bullshit. If those are serious criteria, held by real voters, we are seriously screwed.

Why again are people voting for McCain/Palin?

[mouseking.livejournal.com]

Because the 'average' American does not have enough intelligence to be trusted with voting.

Look at the breakdown from the last election. All the areas typically associated with being the centers of learning (mainly the coastal cities and the major cities in the Midwest) voted Democrat. All the states typically seen as being havens for bigotry, racism, and a lower desire for post-secondary learning (the South, the Appalachian region, the great western plains and prairies) went Republican.