[KAPital PHINUst]

Originally Posted by I.A.S.K.

So, if a person is best qualified and also a staunch supporter of the KKK and an extreme white supremist everyone should vote for him/her because he/she is the best qualified?

I said whom I feel is the most qualified. If I feel that being a white supremacist would disqualify him/her in my eyes, so be it. You vote should be based on YOUR OWN criteria of qualifications, no one else's. If we stopped letting the herd mentality dictate our election choices, then we are more than likely to get a better selection of candidates in the future.

And what do your qualifications matter if you can't win?

According to whom? If a POTUS candidate meets the basic criteria outlined in the U.S. Constitution, they have as much a chance of winning as anyone else. Again, we need to stop allowing outside peer pressure and the media to have so much credence in influencing our votes.

No, I don't think she is saying that but I do think that she is saying that you are throwing your desire away by voting for someone who will not be elected President. And if Ron Paul is your standard then one of the two likely to be president would have more beliefs in common with you and Ron than the other and that would be the one you in some ways believe in (and the one that will bring the nation closer to where you want to see it).

Quite the opposite; I would throw my desire away by settling for a standard far inferior to what I would like. By voting for the lesser of two evils, you voluntarily forfeit your true desire and settle for mediocrity by lowering your standards and accepting whatever agenda they push your way, which most likely will not be what you are truly looking for in a leader.

I place my vote on a BALLOT, not on a lottery ticket, a racing form, or any other gambling form.

A candidate can get up and lay out a stance that is 100% aligned with your beliefs, but his body language could scream "I'm lying" and he could be married to someone who has completely opposite beliefs. Since these two things are extraneous you would ignore them. I would not.

The beauty of Ron Paul is that he voted consistently with his belief system for over 30 years. His personal lifestyle also consistently aligns with his belief system, which aligns with his method of voting. One thing Ron Paul has never been accused of, and that is being a flip-flopper on the issues.

Yes, poison is poison. Which dose of poison are you going to get? If it is guaranteed that one version of poison will be administered to you then why wouldn't you vote for the lesser of the two poisons? Why would you allow others to choose which poison you shall recieve? That is what constitutes throwing away your vote. I'll vote for 50% arsenic (if I know I have a 50% chance of survival) over 100% cyanide (which is sure death) because I'd rather control the amount of poison I get than let someone else decide my death or possible life.

Poison is only guaranteed to be administered if you allow it to be. Again, it comes back to the herd mentality and peer pressure. If you settle for less, you will get less. If you vote based on outside influence and place glitter and fluff over substance, that is what you will get. I would much rather be force-fed poison than take it voluntarily, because it clearly indicates I will not accept poison in any form, nor will I find it an acceptable substitute for 100% food.

By the same token, I will not allow the federal government to dictate how I should live my life nor will they dictate my belief system. If the herd mentality allows it, that doesn't make me dumb to disallow it, nor does that make my expression of such disallowance through voting a wasted effort.

Well, one of the two major candidates is neither a tyrant nor a fascist. So, there's no need to worry.

With all due respect, I thing you're out of touch with the reality of the seriousness and severity of our political and economic state of affairs. Again, not trying to slight you in any manner, just being honest.

As far as throwing away a vote goes I have done it. I did it when I voted last week. There was only one candidate to select and I did not like that candidate. My dislike was enough for me to write in the candidate I preferred or not vote at all for that position. In these cases the seats are local seats and the people do not have beliefs that I disagree with, they were just horrible people.

You did not throw away a vote. You only throw away a vote when you settle for less than what you desire solely for the sake of conformity. So you did a great thing. Do not kick yourself for what you did.