Voting habits

[swissmiss04]

When you vote do you tend to vote more along party lines (Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian, etc) or do you vote by the candidate/issue?

[DZHBrown]

I tend to vote Republican because I usually favor the candidate/issue running on the Republican platform. I don't vote for someone just because they are Republican, but my beliefs and stand on issues rarely jive with a Democratic candidate.

[Jill1228]

I vote more or less by the issue. I don't consider myself GOP or Democrat...more middle of the road

I have a couple of issues near and dear to my heart (ones I marched on Washington for) and I would have a hard time backing a candidate who did not support those issues

[PhiPsiRuss]

Since 1996, I almost always vote Libertarian. When there are no Libertarian candidates, I vote Republican. I've only voted Republican for mayor, when there was a Libertarian on the ballot.

Before 1996, I voted straight Republican with one exception. When I was living in Tallahassee, a Republican candidate for sherrif made some racist remarks, so I voted Democrat.

[Pike1483]

I vote on the issues-- which is why I vote republican 99% of the time. In some local stuff, I have voted democrat because I know the candidate and know what issues he or she stands for, and they aren't big liberals. But generally, I vote on the issues, am well-informed, and research each candidate. The republican candidates get my vote because they stand for the same things I stand for-- less government, less taxes, more defense, sanctity of human life, etc.

[valkyrie]

Originally posted by swissmiss04
When you vote do you tend to vote more along party lines (Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian, etc) or do you vote by the candidate/issue?

I'd say both -- I vote by the issue and that means I vote for the democrat 99% of the time. I'd vote Green Party if I thought they had a chance, but they don't so as far as I'm concerned a vote for them is a vote for the republican candidate.

[Munchkin03]

I vote on the issue, but that's almost 99% Democratic or local Greens. Rarely, that means a Republican, like when I voted Chafee (RI), because his record on the environment was better than the Democratic Candidates. My old neighborhood elected a Green party candidate to the city council, and he supported the city's living wage--which recently passed!

[33girl]

I never vote along party lines, and honestly it usually ends up being half & half (especially since the Dems are so strong here - i.e. a lot of Dems really have Republican views but are Dem because it's more politically advantageous). I do, however, sometimes vote "against" candidate A by voting for candidate B.

[aephi alum]

I try to do my homework and vote by the candidate/issue rather than just yielding to the temptation to be lazy and vote along party lines. After I've done my research, though, I generally find myself voting either straight Democratic, or Democratic mixed with a local party that is also somewhat left of center. But I have been known to vote Republican on occasion.

[AGDee]

I also do my homework, but the issues that I am most passionate about lean to the left, so I do end up voting Democrat most of the time. I did vote for McCain in the primaries the last time around and would have seriously considered voting for him for President. He is middle of the road enough for me and Gore may have been too far left. But, Bush is way too far right for me.

Dee

[Kevin]

I usually vote Republican in the "big" races. However, I'm one of those that does a lot of homework on local elections as well as judicial ones.

[DeltAlum]

I can't vote in Presidential Primaries in Colorado because I refuse to declare myself for one party or the other.

I think it's unfortunate that a lot of people do. There are liberals and conservatives in both parties -- and if you vote the party line, you might be voting for something you don't really like.

Remember that, befor he changed parties, Ronald Regan was a Conservative Democrat. And a union president.

You did know that, right?

I've voted in every presidential election since 1968 and probably have voted equally for each major party.

[GeekyPenguin]

DA, you sounded very much like my dad in that last post.

I tend to vote Democrat. I would love to vote Republican for some races because there ARE no Democratic candidates when I vote at home, but all the Republicans in local elections are complete and total asshats. As an example, our district attorney got embroiled in a little bit of a scandal during the Mark Chmura case. I wasn't old enough to vote, but people (including my parents) voted for "Mark Chmura" or "anyone but Paul Bucher."

I can't justify voting for someone based on party lines alone, but I don't think I'll ever find a pro-choice anti-dp Republican, so I vote Democrat or for my dad.

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by GeekyPenguin
DA, you sounded very much like my dad in that last post.

GP, your Dad is obviously a very wise man.

Kidding aside, your post did remind me of my recently deceased father-in-law -- a staunch Republican throughout most of his life who raised a "Republican family."

Until the past few years.

When he voted for a number of Democrats -- including in the presidential races.

Why did he change? Because the GOP was swinging too far right. You see, he was a moderate Republican.

Had he been a Conservative Democrat all of his life, he might have swung GOP if they became too Liberal.

He was one of the brightest men I ever met. A true patriot and WWII veteran, he served on a number of school boards. He was a farmer by trade (with a college degree), who was against big government and taxes -- but fumed against government that imposed standards on the schools but offered no funding. He didn't want additional taxes, but realized that government programs had to be paid for somehow. On a farmer's income, he put four kids through college, including a Masters for one and Law School for another. Although we never discussed it, I would guess that he leaned toward Pro-Choice. He was strongly pro-military, but felt we were being given a bill of goods in the Iraq situation.

By the way, his family (really bright and accomplished people, all) made the same decisions, although not at the same times.

The impressive thing for me was that, while he had a long background under the label of Republican -- when any particular candidate (no matter what the party) crossed the line of moderation, he lost his support.

I see so much "passion" on these boards aimed at one party or another, that it worries me. I simply can't understand how any right thinking person can see politics as a black and white issue.

[GeekyPenguin]

Originally posted by DeltAlum
I see so much "passion" on these boards aimed at one party or another, that it worries me. I simply can't understand how any right thinking person can see politics as a black and white issue.

I actually agree with everything you said but snipped down to this because I think it's the most important part. I think we need to debate on the issues here rather than all these ad hominem attacks. I know I'm guilty of it on occasion but I can't believe how bad things on GC have been getting lately - yeah, I don't like the ideals of the Republican party, and I'll freely admit that, but I don't think every single Republican is going to rot in the 4th circle of Hell for all eternity.