I want to hear from those of you who are still undecided

I'm undecided. I know I got a reputation as a conservative on this board once upon a time, but that couldn't be more inaccurate. I lean to the right on issues such as gun control and affirmative action and I lean to the left on issues such as abortion, and the (stupid and wasteful) "war" on drugs. I'm an Independent. Always have been, always will be.

Seems like its mostly the left leading the charge on things like smoking bans, which I hate, and the right is leading the charge on silliness like the whole stem-cell debate.

I'd most likely vote Kerry if we weren't in a war. We went our own way in this, and I still support the war in Iraq, WMDs or not. I enlisted after 9-11, knowing full-well that I'd probably wind up in Iraq. Were it not for the US going its own way, the oil for food scandal in the UN would probably still be ongoing and Saddam would still be in charge, offering those lucrative post-UN embargo oil contracts to countries like France and Russia.

My opinion on the war is that Saddam continued to give a big "F*ck you" to the UN restrictions, with a whole bunch of those violations calling for UN military action, and the UN did nothing but sit around with a thumb up its butt and a hand in Saddam's pocket. IMO, the UN failed miserably. F*ck 'em. My bottom line is that Saddam asked for it, and he finally got it because W was man enough to take a stand and do something about it, alone if necessary.

That said, I DON'T like the way Iraq has been handled post-war (and I use that term loosely as I am fully aware that the war is still going on), and I blame the Bush administration for that. We're p***y-footing around handling people like Al-Sadr with kid gloves when, imo, we need to blow up that damn mosque and be done with it. We tried talking. It failed miserably. Now its time for action.

Part of the problem for me is that there is so much hate coming from both the right and the left that I find it hard to pay attention. I like that W had the courage to stand alone in the face of so much criticism and stand by his convictions, but I hate the pollitically correct way in which much of the war has been fought. I also hate the fact that W has done virtually nothing to secure our borders or tighten up the immigration process. I can't stand his spending policies, and I am NOT a fan of Ashcroft.

As for W personally, I like the guy. I met him when I was in college and he was one of the nicest, most genuine people I've ever met before in my life. To call the man 'stupid' is one of the most ignorant things anyone can say as its FAR from the truth. You don't become the leader of the free world if you're a dumbass, I don't care who your daddy is.

I feel that W is the best guy to handle the war, but I agree with Kerry's social policies....

....crap. I don't know. More than anything, I hate the hate spewing forth from both sides. Politics sucks ass.

 

LOL - Right now that's my plan! I figure if I'm REALLLY nice to the wifey, I might even get a second vote! WOOOHOO!

 

Excellent post. I'm right there with you on most of these issues.

 

Tonight's sites... Interesting comparison...

 

What was that someone said about Bush highlighting his own record?

I like Kerry alright, but there are plenty of folks I like more. I will say that the difference in the way the campaigns are being run are pretty remarkable.

1. We see the websites above. Bush's website seems to mainly be dedicated to attacking Kerry, and trying to label him a certain way. It barely mentions his own ideas, 'accomplishments', record, plans, etc.

2. Kerry has spoken out against a 537's attack ad. Bush has not come out against the Swift boat vets ad.

3. Kerry allows protestors and engages in banter with them at his campaign stops. Bush/Cheney make people signs oaths of loyalty, and have people with anti-Bush or pro-Kerry slogans displayed to attend their gathering.

4. Bush tries to label Kerry as a bad liberal, or flip flopper. Kerry attacks specific plans of Bush like the removing trips from Korea.

5. Bush proposes to change our constitution in way that divides rather than unites.

The style of campaign and the class with which the candidates are carrying themselves are worlds apart. Those that are truly sick of the negative/attack style campaigning just take a look at the two campaign's websites, and ask yourself which offers a more positive message for the future.

 

2 websites
4 images of Kerry
0 images of Bush

 

I am leaning towards Kerry, but what's the use, since i vote in Texas, my vote is meaningless. Texas is a Bush state so it won't matter, hey i might as well throw away my vote and vote for Nader. I understand though, many people in Texas find Bush charismatic because of him being a Texan and all, I understand. I personally won't vote for him, but not because of him alone, I personally don't understand why anyone would vote for Chaney, he looks like the mean old boss at the office that wants you to work extra hours for minimum pay. I don't think I've seen him happy on T.V. not even once, but that's not the reason I won't vote Republican, it's just that i kind of supported the Afghanistan war to find Bin Laden, and then the administration throws me a curb ball by going to Iraq. That's like taking advantage of my support, it's like you give someone a hand and they take your foot. I as you can probably figure out by the coma splices and the miss spellings on my posts, am not very bright, but I am not that stupid and know when someone is lying to me, and this administration so far has lied to me too many times too often for me to vote for them. Kerry is probably not that much better but i will probably give him a chance to lie to me. I just want change, but not that much change, i don't know what i would do in a world without lying politicians.

 

it's unlikely but how bad would you feel if Bush won Texas by only 1 vote?

 

I love that BOTH candidates web sites only talk about John Kerry. Yet more proof that since Bush sure as he!! can't run on his record, he will have to run an attack campaign, even if the only things he has to attack are trite non-issues.

 

I think I've decided to change my vote:

Seriously. No one's going to believe this, but I have.

I sat down this past weekend with some friends and family members. We had really good discussions going back and forth about why we believe what we do, why we promote what we believe, and why we act the way we do whenever we try to promote what we believe. I've come to the conclusion that I was supporting Kerry for all the wrong reasons.

What really led me to change my mind was a soccer match of all things. Iraq beating Portugal. Everyone knows the horrible stories behind the Iraqi soccer team and how Saddam's sons would torture them. Because of Bush's decision to go to war, those players never have to worry about that again. Millions of Iraqis don't have to worry about their "elected" leader and his murderous ways. If I'm going to promote my belief that the United States should intervene when human rights abuses take place, I can't very well put a statute of limitations on it. Saddam should've been gone and I'm happy he is. Do I wish there was better timing or that the war was based on better intelligence? Of course, I do. But how can I criticize Bush for going to war based on bad intelligence when Kerry voted on the same intelligence and still claims that he wouldn't change his vote knowing what he knows today? Bottom line is I can't. I was letting my own personal feelings and political principles get in the way.

I'm not changing my political philosophies at all. I don't agree with the tax cuts, yet I have benefitted from them. Because of the tax cuts, I've been able to speed up the process of getting out of personal debt, as have many other friends and families. Had there not been a war or 9/11, I would probably have supported the tax cuts more. It's not the cuts I oppose, it's the timing of them. However, I believe that once we finish the job in Iraq, and we will, then our economy will have the chance to really turn the corner.

Another reason I believed I couldn't vote for Bush is because of many conservatives themselves. I absolutely despise the negative smear campaigns that have been run against those who disagree with them. Comparing Max Cleland to Saddam Hussein and OBL are dispicable, as are the ads questioning Kerry's service. However, that's no real reason to vote against someone. Kerry seems to be focusing more on the fact that he's not Bush and not trumpeting his own record.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still more liberal than anything else. This doesn't mean that I won't criticize Bush on certain things or defend Kerry, but I'm not voting for the latter. I still don't like how this administration has handled some things, especially the faulty intelligence issue (the buck should stop with the President). However, I remember how I felt after 9/11, how President Bush made me feel safe and proud to be an American. I also still can't stand Cheney, which leads to another reason for my switch. I think the Democrats will have the chance to put someone tons better than Kerry in the White House in 2008. I don't believe that four more years of Bush will ruin this country. I'd like the chance for the Democrats to put someone in the White House that people on both sides of the spectrum could love. Bush, Clinton, Kerry, these guys are too polarizing and have led to this country being extremely divided. With a chance for 2008 to be an election with fresh faces on both sides, I can't really see myself voting for Kerry. Bring on Obama v. McCain!

 

your personal feelings and political principles are exactly what should guide you in your voting-decsion process

you seem to have let emotions override reason, and that is usually not a good filter to make decsions through

 

That's cool. As long as you feel you've made an informed choice. And, no matter what side you are/were on, be sure to keep up with what's going on. If you're happy with your choice when it comes to the facets of public policy important to you, then you've done your job as a voter.

If you're voting based on a soccer game, though, that's too bad.

 

There ARE other races going on, you know. You may want to vote for city, county, and state officials that often have a far more direct effect on you.

Are you happy with the direction Texas is going? Are you happy with, for example, Tom DeLay?

Vote no matter what - if you really only care about the Presidency, remember the Democratic whining about winning the popular vote in 2000. A Democratic vote in a Republican state is worthy of being at least a statistic.

 

I will keep up with everything that's going on, especially since Major and I are running a political website, www.politicalbrew.com

I'm not voting based on a soccer game, it's the soccer game that got me thinking about my personal feelings in regards to the U.S. intervening in instances where human rights have been violated. We can discuss the WMD and Saddam's immediate threat to us all day long, but it doesn't change the fact that he was a murderous dictator. One of my strongest beliefs is that as a superpower, we have the responsibility to help those that aren't as powerful as us. Whether it's Rwanda, Bosnia, Sudan, or Iraq. I can't throw that belief out the window because of my own personal feelings in regards to President Bush. I should have clarified that for Chump and others. Hopefully it makes more sense to them now.

I will say that the latter part of the post, however, is really what led me to this decision. I don't have the confidence that Kerry will do a better job than Bush, for various reasons, not all of which are his fault. I don't think you can find too many Democrats who really believe that Kerry is the best candidate for the job. The last thing we need is a four and out Democratic president. I want '08 to be the next great election with two great representatives from both sides. You won't get that if Kerry's elected, IMO.

 

so who are you pulling for in 08 then? Edwards? you don't think a loss this year would damage his chances? Especially since he won't be a Senator anymore. Meanwhile the GOP is setting up Jeb for 08.

 

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 71
Sandra Day O'Connor is 74
John Paul Stevens is 84

at least one of these justices if not all three will be gone soon.

Do you really want a possible repeal of Roe v. Wade or Lawrence v. Texas?

 

Exactly.

 

I know about politicalbrew. Congrats on that - I even saw an ad for it on talkingpointsmemo.

I wasn't bashing the soccer game thing - I understand your underlying reasons.

I do, however, wonder about the argument that Kerry would be, at most, equal to Bush in a second term. I am personally concerned by the trajectory of the country under this brand of Republicanism. It meets few of the stated ideals. It undermines trust in the government and our leaders. There are many instances where the Bush administration has circumvented standard practice because it is so far to the right (recess appointments, the loyalty oath, declared preemptive warfare, the Christian church vs. state, Constitutional rights, stem cell research, abortion, death penalty, etc.).

These aren't punchlines to a joke; they are happening in the here and now. Do you honestly feel that Kerry would do the same?

Meanwhile, the unspoken assertion in your stance is that a Kerry administration would screw things up in Iraq (and the rest of the world). What makes you say that? Since Kerry has said he wouldn't pull out of Iraq (a troop reduction has been mentioned, but only if things go ideally - an assertion anyone would make), what makes him worse than Bush when it comes to Iraq and/or the War on Terror?

 

Moral clarity...

THE PRESIDENT: Yes, sir.

Q On behalf of Vietnam veterans -- and I served six tours over there -- we do support the President. I only have one concern, and that's on the Purple Heart, and that is, is that there are over 200,000 Vietnam vets that died from Agent Orange and were never -- no Purple Heart has ever been awarded to a Vietnam veteran because of Agent Orange because it's never been changed in the regulations. Yet, we've got a candidate for President out here with two self-inflicted scratches, and I take that as an insult. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you for your service. Six tours? Whew. That's a lot of tours.

Let's see, who've we got here? You got a question?