So Obama's president...

Comments

• MichMatters

  November 2008 edited November 2008

  I voted Green for most offices (I couldn't forget the debacle that was the Democratic primary in this state).
  
  What I'm excited about, though, was the ousting of Republican Cliff Taylor from the Supreme Court. That was nothing short of amazing. Michigan's Supreme Court has been so much more conservative than Michigan, and this puts it back in sync, that is not to mention that it's been one of the most dysfunctional in the entire country. To oust a sitting chief justice just blows my mind.
  
  I also voted yes on all proposals, and it seems all passed. In fact, CATA looks like it's going to be a landslide, which is an amazing reversal of their loss last November.
• Jared

  November 2008

  The CATA vote was important on so many levels. I am glad to see that it passed, since I am a part time bus rider and there are many who require the bus system to get around.
• jj

  November 2008

  "I had already decided to never vote for a Republican"
  
  Why?
  
  Personally, I voted yes on all of the proposals, and i also voted for a mix of democrats, republicans and libertarians.
• MichMatters

  November 2008

  Until they let go of decided cultural issues that most have moved beyond or are quickly moving beyond, they don't deserve to be enabled. For me, it's as simple as that, and I say that as someone that's been more than disappointed in the Dems since gaining control of Congress. Most Republicans simply don't hold sustainable ideologies, anymore. If they want to continue to focus on "gays, guns, and God", so be it, but they'll find themselves turned into little more than a regional party. You can run a city, county, or maybe a small rural state on that focus, but you can't run the nation as a whole on that.
• hood

  November 2008 edited November 2008

  I won't vote vote Republican because they have virtually turned into an extremist party. I am a hardcore Libertarian on personal freedoms and property rights, while I sway between Libertarian and Democratic on most other issues, like economic policies, social policies, etc... I strongly support unrestricted gun rights, abortion rights, gay rights and so on. I also support major government funding of science and technology, especially space exploration, which I'm extremely disappointed with lately. I basically want to see things happen that are going to move humanity along over the next few hundred years. I want to live to see world peace, and deep space exploration and colonization, and with investment now thats possible.
  
  Basically politicians and the government as a whole greatly disappoints and I'm beginning to doubt that things will ever change. To sum up my feelings, watch this (its George Carlin video on youtube):
  
  George Carlin - The American Dream
• jj

  November 2008 edited November 2008

  LMich -
  
  I definitely see your point but there's something about using absolutes like "never" that seem to grab my attention. My friends and I debate issues for the sport of it even if we don't agree with what we're arguing for to try and see other perspectives. I know...I'm a huge nerd :)
  
  This is certainly a far-fetched scenario, but even if you agreed with a Republican who was running for Congress on every issue with exception to their position on cultural issues you'd still vote against them? Even with the current economy that we're in, the energy crisis, the wars overseas, etc? While we're at it, let's also assume that a Democrat is President so you don't need to worry about Supreme Court nominees.
  
  (I hope you don't find this too annoying!)
• hood

  November 2008

  In your scenario I would probably still vote against them. To me cultural issues are among the most important to me, though I don't agree with either side consistently. I haven't seen anyone that I really feel strongly about since I've been old enough to follow politics, that feeds into my political despair. So as things go on I will take them on a case-by-case basis. If the Republicans would modify their positions on a few things, they could be an option for me in the future. Honestly I disagree strongly with both parties on many issues. So when forced to choose between them I base my decision more on who I don't want in office rather than who I want in office, lately I haven't wanted Republicans in.
  
  BTW, your not annoying me, I love to discuss politics (and science & religion for that matter). I could go on for awhile about my specific beliefs, but it's difficult when not directly debating with someone.
• MichMatters

  November 2008 edited November 2008

  JJ,
  
  I think you're largely playing semantics. There are Democrats who are more conservative than some Republicans, so of course I'd never say never, but with the views I hold the GOP candidate is almost never better than the Democratic candidate. And, as I said, even voting for a good Republican is enabling a failing party. I don't consider myself a Democrat, so you can't paint me as some hyper-partisan, but the current state of the Republican Party is just pitiful and disgraceful in many instances. They absolutely have to get away from their old-school social conservative ways if they want to remain relevant in the future to a winnable swath of Americans.
• jj

  November 2008

  I see your point. I certainly agree that they need to move away from their social conservative ways.
  
  My politics lean towards being socially liberal/libertarian. As far as economic policies go I support tax rate cuts, which to many peoples surprise usually result in tax revenue increases and a growing economy. I don't consider myself fiscally conservative because I strongly support government funding for projects like mass transit, energy independence, scientific/technological research, etc and I don't always feel like increased government involvement is necessarily a bad thing. However, I don't consider myself fiscally liberal because I don't believe that increasing tax rates (even if it is only for 5% of the population) is a good thing for the economy and I feel that government spending has gone out of control. I don't like the idea of taxes based on income, but obviously with the size of the federal government you can't split the bill evenly across socio-economic groups - which is what turned me on to the FairTax concept. Generally, it sounds like a very compelling idea - except I don't fully understand how the government would incentivize certain projects without being able to offer tax credits of some sort (maybe they'd just give out grants?).
  
  BTW, I didn't mean to paint either of you as hyper-partisan. I've seen the postings you've made on this site as well as on detroityes and urbanplanet and you seem to come across like very reasonable people with well thought out positions.
• beatneck

  November 2008

  Wrote in Ron Paul. I had too much belief in his campaign and message to not follow through. It would have been a "wasted" (in some eyes) vote on a third party candidate anyway.
  
  Voted mixed bag on proposals...