the most important election of your lifetime: 2012 american general election thread

(sorry to single you out Alfred, but it really doesn't matter who Morbz or I vote for)

xp

dude obama is going to go hardcore socialist if he gets a second term because he doesn't have a re-election to worry about duh

once again the fate of the free world rests in the hands of white males!

― Mordy, Wednesday, April 18, 2012 3:40 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

you're welcome, guys

*lights pipe* *strokes smug boho beard*

the Buffett Rule and other nice liberal-sounding campaign utterances or decides it's time to slash Social Security and Medicaid

are we pretending that Romney would somehow be better/different in these departments

considering that i'm in a semi-flip state, and that i promised to make campaign calls for every ilxor that abstains from voting for obama, morbz should go vote since he'll be giving more votes to obama by not voting.

Alfred's Floridian vote is ostensibly the only one that could possibly matter

I live in one of the state's bluest counties. Despite the loudness of septuagenarian Cubans, I'll be okay should I do the nasty.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Florida_Presidential_Election_Results_by_County,_2008.svg/250px-Florida_Presidential_Election_Results_by_County,_2008.svg.png

2008

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/bd/Florida2004bycounty.PNG/250px-Florida2004bycounty.PNG

2004

the Buffett Rule and other nice liberal-sounding campaign utterances or decides it's time to slash Social Security and Medicaid

are we pretending that Romney would somehow be better/different in these departments

― Jilly Boel and the Eltones (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, April 18, 2012 5:05 PM (53 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

no, but that's exactly my point.

oh i forgot that state's electoral votes are distributed based on county results and not on state-wide popular vote

Despite the loudness of septuagenarian Cubans, I'll be okay should I do the nasty.

lol

if Obama wins re-election Ted Nugent will be either dead or in prison by this time next year so if that's not motivation...

is that you reminding yourself, Mordy?

as the only person on this thread who belongs to an ethnic group that actually had federal legislation in this country describing its members as subhuman property and state legislation within the past century specifically aimed at preventing people like me voting, you can all fuck off with this "oh it doesn't matter, I'm not voting" bullshit

I don't even care from the "Obama must win" standpoint; the blind privilege inherent in being politically connected and refusing to vote is enraging.

I never said I wouldn't vote -- I said I may not vote for Obama.

fine, then i'll vote for Mickey Mouse.

I vote in every election and will do so until I die.

it's just that the "President" portion of my ballot may be occupied by a write-in vote for Morbz.

and whatever i do wr2 the Presidential ballot, i still plan to show up & vote for the Congressional candidates. even if i think that the entire Democratic Party is a stinking pile of poo too.

I'm voting for Carl Sagan

In theory, DJP, I agree with you. Just give me someone to vote for. "Refusing to vote" for one of 2 people who will make things worse at different speeds is defensible, especially when by the Democratic voters' standars, no one who will actually stop the slide to oblivion can ever get elected.

and not voting accomplishes what?

well might get some chores done around the house instead, I guess

xp

I dislike the lesser of two evils argument as much as the next guy. I have been spending much of my adult life trying to escape it, even to the point of registering with my local Green party so as not to be a registered Democrat, and Ialways try to work actively for candidates who actually seem attractive, as opposed to less evil.

But there comes a point in most elections where the choices are narrowed down and petulance over this fact doesn't get you anywhere. The choice of failing to vote might seem attractive compared to voting for the lesser of two evils, but in reality it merely ensures your complete irrelevance. Shit, I've even given $$ and done phone banking for the lesser of two evil candidates, because I'd rather be a tiny bit relevant, however infintesimally small that relevance may be, than just pout about things.

well, november 6th is already a scheduled laundry day.

also d4n, you recently posted re Obama/Holder on civil liberties/strip searches that the Administration seems to want to make the entire country know what it feels like to be black. So who is this theoretical damage-control helping in the long run? and how?

in reality it merely ensures your complete irrelevance.

No. The corporate-owned "democratic process" does that.

also, i didn't say that under no circumstances would i vote for Obama again -- i stated that i hold my nose and vote for him if come Election Day the election is too close to call. (i'll also add that i may do so if the Supreme Court rules that the ACA is unconstitutional.)

Aimless, has anyone said he's staying home on Election Day? I will go on voting in county and congressional elections; and in Florida we have at least four other candidates for prez.

i think it makes sense to keep the slightly better party in power just in case somebody comes up with the magical game-changer that will overthrow our corporate overlords. would rather have a slightly sympathetic ear in government.

and before any goes "lol you live in New Jersey you're just posturing!" my home state's blue-statedness is only a recent phenomenon and not etched in stone. look at who our current governor is, after all.

Kathryn Jean Lopez ‏ @kathrynlopez

is barack obama losing catholics?

Louis XVI and Kerensky weren't entirely unsympathetic to the howling masses, either. just sayin'.

in terms of stuff like starting wars, detonating weapons, unbalancing the fragile state of world politics, there's def a better + worse candidate here (even if romney is probably better on this stuff than psychotic mccain). it's not even lesser of two evils. try to keep the guy who wants to drop a nuke on iran out of office.

Alf, that was in response to Eisbaer.

I don't expect anything but the lesser of two evils in a democracy. My sense of white privilege is so high that frankly, anything less than being King-Emperor would likely disaapoint me but if you think that encouraging the obscurantist, often racist wing of the right w/a win this year, however much Mittens wasn't really the girl they were really in love with, then I disagree with your take on the long-term narrative of American polical party history and with all the wignnut damage that they're doing in the States, I'd like a Pres who only enrages me a couple times a fortnight and not every single morning.

Voting only for perfect candidates, classic or dud.

I am sure McCain would have appointed Sotomayor, and she is exactly the same as Scalia.

anyway, in the scheme of human history almost no decisions the president makes matter. will anyone know obama or romney's name in 4012?

answer: no, because our descendants will be living like molepeople testing the irradiation in the soil above them and telling stories about the days humans walked topside and felt the heat of the sun

I am sure McCain would have appointed Sotomayor, and she is exactly the same as Scalia.

successfully resisted a joek

also d4n, you recently posted re Obama/Holder on civil liberties/strip searches that the Administration seems to want to make the entire country know what it feels like to be black. So who is this theoretical damage-control helping in the long run? and how?

Is this a serious question? And, do you realize you have essentially phrased it as "why are these dark fascists inflicting their race war on us?"

jesus fucking christ

anyway, i think that this entire debate is going to be academic b/c i think that Obama will win reelection (even if it's too close for comfort).

relevant: http://www.salon.com/2012/04/17/is_obama_no_better_than_the_gop/

Yes, both Obama and McCain will be interventionist. But if one would invade Iran and the other wouldn’t … well, that’s a massive difference, even if both would embark on Libya-type adventures. There’s a good chance that Guantanamo stays open regardless of who is elected, but Romney’s supporters include many who support reinstituting torture; that’s extremely unlikely to be U.S. policy if Obama is reelected. Again, I’d call that a massive difference. On taxes, too, one candidate supports modest increases in tax rates for upper-level taxpayers, while the other favors large tax cuts from current levels; if either party wins a landslide, it’s likely that those positions would be enacted.

in terms of stuff like starting wars, detonating weapons, unbalancing the fragile state of world politics, there's def a better + worse candidate here

See you're going by what pols SAY here, and Obama is just the most prominent, latest example that such shit means nothing. Rombot would govern as closely to Obot as O has to Bushbot. Too close.

That "perfect candidate" shit is another eternal strawman. Yep, PERFECT is the ONLY standard by which Bam falls short!

i hope the mole overlord refuses to sanction massive reeducation torture, my back is still hurting from last week's celebratory beatings

do you realize you have essentially phrased it as "why are these dark fascists inflicting their race war on us?"

oh c'mon man, how is that possible?

they say that both candidates will be exactly the same, but the one promoting the destruction of our mushroom field food silos bc the great mole god will provide scares me. i'm going to vote for the with the eye-gauging platform. i can't see down here anyway and i need food to live.

well, we all know how Obama well has honored his 2008 campaign pledges. perfect ain't even in it, he hasn't even lived up to his own words.

Morbs, I think you have successfully convinced us all that Obama is not perfect. We are in your debt for this. So, if you think we are backsliding on this question, plz, sir, can we have another?

it's kinda nice that obama + romney are even letting us vote instead of just telling us who is the new overseer. i know that it doesn't matter which one i vote for, but it makes me feel like a participant when i pull the poll lever and get an 'i voted' sticker.

Rombot would govern as closely to Obot as O has to Bushbot. Too close.

yeah see this just isn't remotely true. If you think, for example, that Dubya would have handled the Gulf oil spill the way Obama did, you are wrong. Obama also did not initiate a war of convenience that crippled the economy. Obama did not appoint Scalia or Roberts etc etc

what curmudgeon is not convinced of, Aimless, is that opposing Obama = opposing all imperfection.

Shakey, try to imagine the gap between "identical" and "too similsr"