What Influences Your Vote?
 

Discussions in a couple of these threads as well as a discussion I had with my kids' babysitter have made me ponder.. What influences your vote?

The babysitter discussion was essentially this: She is against school vouchers, is against the Iraq war, is against the death penalty, thinks there should be more gun control, is upset about the state of the economy (which is still far worse in Michigan than in most states), and is upset about cuts in social programs. However, she said she is voting for Bush because she is Pro Life and anti-gay marriage. From the discussion, it seemed as though these were the only two issues in which she was in agreement with Bush, but those two issues are so significant to her, that he will get her vote because of them.

So, what issues lead you to vote the way you do? (This isn't a thread for debating the issues, just for discussing how you make your choice.)

My main issues are health care, economy, and education.

Dee

Re: What Influences Your Vote?
 

It's sad that Bush inherited this economy but the numbers are much member than they were earlier, thank goodness.

For me it's the economy and Israel. I know how Bush would affect my stocks and bonds and my job. I slightly have a clue how Kerry would - my stocks would drop and my fixed income bonds should increase in value but I doubt it will be enough to compensate for the drop. In terms of Israel I know that Bush has helped out Israel along with congress. I have confusion about how Kerry would help our ally out and don't know where he stands one bit. If either of these 2 things changes before the election, my vote would move rapidly to the other.

-Rudey

For me...

I'm voting for Bush because (and pretty much in this order):

-he's lowered my taxes (percentage wise.. I've paid more because I've made more, but I paid a smaller %), and I want them to stay lower
-Most people I know have benefitted (is that a word?) economically in the past few years
-I am in favor of school vouchers
-I want stronger Homeland security
-I am in favor of the war
-I support the death penalty
-I am against gay marriage


Don't get me wrong... there actually are things I like about Kerry. I think he's a good guy and I think he's got some good (if maybe a little utopic) ideas. But, Bush aligns a lot closer with my beliefs all-around, so he gets my vote.

I could probably make a really long list but here are some of the reasons I'm voting for Kerry (in no particular order):

- I want to see more money invested in education, after-school programs and tuition assistance for higher education
- I oppose school vouchers and believe public funds should be used for public schools
- I really like Kerry's health care plan to cut health insurance premiums and expand coverage
- I support repealing Bush's tax cuts for families making over $200,000 a year
- I support PAYGO, creating a Corporate Welfare Commission and cutting the deficit
- I'm pro-choice
- I care about the environment
- I care about my civil liberties
- I oppose a constitutional ban on gay marriage
- I support moderate gun control including the reauthorization of the assault weapons ban
- I support federally funded stem cell research

(Edited to fix the funky formatting)

Experience

The issues that matter most to me are the environment, civil liberties and individual rights, health care and education.

I'll throw it out there that I'm against the death penalty, but I don't think there's been a presidential candidate who shares my view, although I consider that more of a state issue.

I don't think anybody has spoken out against tank tops.

LOL!!!

What influences my vote?

I'm anti-death penalty.

I'm pro-choice. I don't know that I could have an abortion, but until we expand on our contraceptive freedoms, I don't feel comfortable taking that right away from others.

I support comprehensive sex education. Abstinence-only has not ever worked and America has an embarassingly high teen pregnancy rate given our status in the world.

I believe in tighter gun control. I don't want to take away the right to bear arms. I want to take away the right to bear Uzis. I firmly believe that the less of these guns that are out there, the fewer miscreants that will have them.

I'm in support of more funding for education - but funding that pays for teachers and raw capital, not administrators. I think school vouchers are a great theory but don't work in practice.

I oppose privatization of Social Security. For every person it would benefit, there would be more who lost money and were destitute and elderly.

I'm not a hippie liberal like everybody thinks - but I vote Democrat because I don't see the Republican party truly caring about the less fortunate.

\

Does this mean an incumbant would always be considered more seriously than a non-incumbant? Or, are you referring to life experience vs. direct political experience?

I'm a one issue voter. If Kerry was pro-life, I'd vote for Kerry. Since Bush is the pro-life candidate, I'm voting for Bush.

No other policies matter to me if our basic right to life is not guaranteed.

Does it bother you at all that Bush supports the death penalty? I'm not asking this to be snippy, I'm geniunely curious.

I am voting for Kerry/Edwards, based on this:

* I am for gay marriage.
* I am for cutting taxes for the middle class and raising them for those who make over $200,000.
* I am pro-choice.
* I am against school vouchers and think the education money should be used for public schools.
* I believe our economy is in the toilet and isn't going to get any better if we have Bush in office for another 4 years.
* I believe we shouldn't spend at a deficit and only spend within our means. We wouldn't run a family on a major deficit so why run a country that way?
* I am against the war.
* I am against the Patriot Act and for civil liberties.
* I am for the environment and against gas-guzzling SUVs and trucks.
* I like Kerry's wife. She has spunk.

Right on (as a hippie would say)!!!! That is so true-- and in my line of work I spend time with the less fortunate daily-- some people have no idea what it's like to help the less fortunate-- they only know how to continually push them back down!

On the right to life issue-- I am pro-life....but am pro-choice for others. If someone else wants to make that decision-- let them deal with the outcome and consequences-- it is their choice and I feel it has nothing to do with me.

Thanks, GeekyPenguin, for asking without snippiness. :)

It doesn't bother me because I am not opposed to the death penalty. To me, there's a difference between ending the lives of those guilty of heinous crimes and those who are innocent of any crime.

Now it's my turn not to be snippy but to genuinely wonder how someone can view the killing of little ones as having nothing to do with one's self.

Issues that influence me..
 

I think my President has to have a back-bone and stand up for what he believes to be the best route for his country to take, regardless of if its popular...this also means you have to trust the President..because all you have is their word.

There are many issues on the table..but for me the top 3 that will swing my vote are

Gay Marriage, The approach to the war on terror, CONSISTENCY, and Abortion. Everything else including the economy is secondary...because even if the economy is in order..when there's an attack on the homeland..all that goes down the drain.

P.S. Laura Bush is soo classy and she seems like a warm lady... I don't know if I want to look at Ketchup for 4 years:p :eek: :D

See, I think that if you're going to use the dignity of human life argument, you should also be opposed to the death penalty. That's why I've always thought the Catholic church was infallible in their position on life issues - no abortions and no death penalty. There's no hypocrisy there.

I agree with what you're saying about the "dignity of human life" argument -- I don't think it's correct to say that someone can give up his "dignity of life" and deserve the death penalty. I mean, if you think human life is sacred, it makes sense that all human life is sacred.

However, I am against the death penalty and am pro-choice. I'm sure people disagree, but I don't find that contradictory at all.

Re: Issues that influence me..
 

And what about the BLACK ISSUES young lady? lol

Re: Re: Issues that influence me..
 

Young lady.. my relationship with God and my beliefs in him matter MUCH MORE to me than the color of my skin. Hoped that answered your question.

Thanks for not being snippy-

It has to do with me in the sense that I would never do it-- but it has nothing to do with my decision because if someone chooses to do that, they can answer to God and their conscience for making (in my eyes) such a horrible choice. Believe me-- I think killing a baby (and yes I believe that a fetus is a human being) is one of the worst things someone could ever do-- but this country is based on freedom and sadly, people are free to make the choice of abortion and I cannot take that away from them. Hope that helps! :)

anti-abortion, and against stemcell research
for death penalty on a state-by-state basis
(i don't think abortion & the death penalty bear the same
moral implications.)
for marriage being defined on a state-by-state basis
against increased taxes on higher earnings
(i don't think democrats fare well with long term
money management.)
for creating a stable gov't in the Middle East
anti-Janeane Garofalo
against privitization of social security
against a nat'l health care plan
for smarter gun control
for swifter and more decisive action the next time someone in africa decides to try and wipe out a people. (anti-UN/pro-UN-reform)

Strangely enough, some of the things that matter the most to me are the ones that I won't base my vote on.

I'm pro-life, but Roe vs. Wade will never be repealed. I'm against gay marriage, but at the same time I don't think the gov't should be regulating marriage...

So I finally decided I'd base my vote on who supports the space program. I like getting paid.

I'm voting for Kerry/Edwards because:

1) I don't think Bush has done much of anything to benefit the economy IMHO.
2) We are giving our money to rebuild Iraq but we keep cutting money that should be given to our public schools.
3) On that note, our public school system needs some major revamping.
4) I am pro-environment.
5) I am against the war in Iraq.
6) I am 100% pro-choice.
7) I am against the Patriot Act.
8) Unemployment is the highest in a while. We need to improve the job market!

The only thing that may be un-Democratic about me is that I am pro-death penalty.

Interestingly enough, many of these reasons comprise exactly why I can't vote for Kerry - now, I might not vote for Bush either (chalk up another wasted Libertarian vote! j/k Russ), but:

1.) Democratic economic policies give me shivers right now - so bad.
2.) Disagree w/ the entire premise - the entire thing is a false dilemma, it's not either/or
3.) Agree, but it's a state issue in many cases.
4.) Agree, to a point
5.) Life for millions of people is better w/out Hussein. Now, we're knee-deep, the worst thing to do is pulling out.
6.) I am also 100% pro-choice, luckily I don't know that there is a conservative enough Supreme Court possible to repeal Roe v. Wade.
7.) Implementation will be key; the concept is slightly askew, but the capability exists for some serious damage - I worry less about the President's role in this, though.
8.) Jobs and the economy have little to do with the sitting Prez, that whole "cyclical system" thing - however, I think the conservative, Republican concept is still the smarter long-term strategy.

Abortion, Universal Health Care, and social issues. I also believe in a balanced budget when the economy isn't in a major slump... if you spend more, you have to tax more (as much as it sucks to have so much taken out of my already small paycheck, I'd rather have that done than stop supporting programs that can help people with even less money than I).

I'm voting for Bush solely based on the military. After living through a 15 month deployment this strengthed my decision. I think that Bush gets a bum rap for all that is seen in the media. My husband just brought home four disks full of pictures that made me change my mind...nothing that has been shown on tv. I don't really care much for the other issues, because it's really just talk. Plus, there is just something about Kerry that I don't trust...whenever he's on TV my son cries. Bush will be here in Germany this week for the 1AD Homecoming Celebration...can't wait to hear what he has to say.

Am I the only one who can't wait for the election to be over? :(

aj

abortion and gay marriage.

i was raped when i was 15 and could very easily have become pregnant. luckily i did not, but if i had, it would have absolutely ruined my life. especially in cases of rape, i believe abortion should be legal. there is no way i could have provided for a child when i was still a child myself, and it would have just been one more strain on the welfare system. there are cases in which abortion is the best option.

and gay marriage becuase refusing them the same right as anyone else is blatant discrimination. public officials are relying on a religious definition of marriage when the constitution clearly states that there shall be a separation of church and state.

what kind of stuff made you change your mind? It actually surprises me how much hostility there is toward the war..yet many people in the military are voting for Bush.

Kerry/Edwards:

-because Roe v. Wade is and shall remain the law of the land.
-because until the death penalty is administered with all fairness and we can be 100% sure that an innocent person is not being executed, it should not exist.
-because I would like my grandMunches to live in a world where the air is not polluted more so than it is.
-because I grew up without organized religion and would not like it crammed down the throats of little Munches. "Faith-based initiatives" my ass.
-because I shouldn't feel privileged because I can "afford" to get sick. Everyone should have access to "basic" health care without going to an emergency room or free clinic.

The Second Amendment.

I'm voting for Bush because:

-I am prolife
-I back a president who supports Israel
-I want stronger Homeland security
-I am in favor of the war
-I support the death penalty
-I am against gay marriage
-I like him, I like his wife, and although I don't agree with everything that he does, my vote is decided by abortion issues and gay marriage.

I think that birth control pills should be available over the counter in Pez dispensers, and never funded by the government. You figure out who gets my vote.

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