Posted on 10/23/2008 9:04:39 AM PDT by rabscuttle385
I have many Republican friends who are disgusted that I'm voting third party this election year. They believe stopping Barack Obama from becoming president outweighs all else. Meanwhile, I have many Democrat friends who are equally disgusted; for them, seeing John McCain defeated is more important than who wins. They are all wasting their votes.
Imagine a reckless teenager who constantly runs up his parents' credit cards, smashes the family car every Friday night, is failing in school, and has serious drinking and drug problems. Now imagine that no matter how reckless and dangerous that teenager became, his parents believed his behavior was worth tolerating simply because he was "their" kid. No reasonable person would consider this good parenting.
And yet this is exactly how otherwise reasonable people vote.
No matter how bad the Republican or Democrat nominee for president is, the party faithful support their own without fail. The message to politicians? They may lie, ignore their party's platform, and betray every supposed principle, but they will never be held accountable by most voters. Like the reckless teenager, there is simply no reason for them to stop their irresponsible behavior.
The greatest power the people have is their vote, and in supporting the lesser of two evils each election, voters ensure eternal evil.
(Excerpt) Read more at charlestoncitypaper.com ...
Yep. I remember that--as well as all of the other schemes that the Left and the liberal RINOs have been pulling to ensure no conservative ever comes to power. Open primaries, national popular vote, moving up election dates, etc. etc. etc. Some call for abolishing the electoral college in the name of "true democracy;" I call it mob rule.
Forgiving someone who simultaneously and willfully fails to repent is foolhardy.
Not a "theory".
Good for Paul! I’m keepin’ my fingers crossed for McClintock.
With regard to the presidential race, I just can’t find any rationale to vote for McCain—and no one has yet offered me a compelling reason. To me, it just sends a message to the RINO bunch in the GOP (you know—the guys that brought us Arnie) that we’ll vote for anyone.
Not this time around, not for me. I’m astonished that the Dems nominated Obama, and I’ll do what I can to defeat him because he pals around with communists, mobsters, and racists. This time, that means voting for McCain. Ugh.
Bump for that!
We could add:
Expanded the size and reach of the federal government,
Eroded our civil liberties,
Greatly increased the federal debt ceiling,
Stood by quietly while the Fed continued to inflate our money,
DID NOT remove abortion from the jurisdiction of the federal courts,
Continued to pander to the dummycrats for no reaon at all.
etc., etc., etc.
“Are you a NWO DENIER?”
I don’t think so. How could anyone be a NWO denier? I never understood that as being a conspiracy. It’s the neocons reason for living.
The problem with such reasoning is that, first off, conservatives have succumbed to fear, which has blinded them to any rational consideration of this election and its potential outcomes. The only (and I repeat, only) upside to an Obama presidency is that conservatives (and many others) are guaranteed to fight him and a likely Democrat-controlled Congress. After all, it's easier to fight an enemy that you can see and who flies his true colors than an enemy who skulks about in your own camp and pretends to be one of your own. Consequently, there is no guarantee that conservatives, or even Republicans [and most Americans] on the whole, will fight McCain...and that is what makes McCain extremely dangerous.
Second, the long-term dilution of the core values [i.e. "principles"] and motivations behind the Republican Party and its policy decisions and proposals is now extremely evident. [Basically, the division within the Party is now an open, gaping sore.] The question is which side will win out—the globalists, who more often side with the Democrats, or old-school conservatives, who more often side with Libertarians and third-parties—and whether the "big tent" will fracture into two or more tents, similar to how the Whigs broke apart. Mind you, only one of those tents will come back as a new GOP. And, to all of you who claim that third parties are silly and useless: remember that in the election of 1856, the GOP was an insignificant party, barely polling...but by 1860, its candidate, Abraham Lincoln, won the presidential election.
However, if something of this nature does not happen, and the globalist branch of the "big tent" GOP is the one that comes to power...well, many of our worst fears may come true, including the possibility that authoritarianism [Socialism, control] will triumph over democracy and republican government because it was let in by conservatives and by the GOP, the same bunch that sought to keep it out of this nation.
To cut to the chase: either way is acceptable if conservatives [and more generally, Americans] will take the steps necessary to make sure that we stay on the right track in the long term.
Vote for McCain if you must, but understand that if he and the globalist wing of the GOP are not reigned in, all of us are in for a screwing of the worst kind [i.e., we will sentence ourselves to what Reagan called "a thousand years of darkness"]. After all, McCain is a good choice in the short term but terrible in the long term.
Alternatively, vote against both major parties. Vote to end the dilution of conservatism by the leftist Trojan horses in our midst. Fight Obama and the Marxists for two years while cleaning up your own house, and then, once and for all, end the cockamamie tomfoolery practiced by the Democrats. [Just make sure not to get corrupted yourselves in the process.]
That would be only true IF the person who voted third Party would not have voted for the other Parties under any circumstances.
If they would have voted for one of the other two Parties as a second choice, the 3rd Party has EFFECTIVELY elected the other candidate.
Your scenario only works if the 3rd Party voter would not have voted for either Party if the 3rd Party did not exist.
I used to know CB and have the utmost respect for him. IMO he defines what a Conservative is.
However, I'm voting to get Palin's foot in the door now, not 2012.
By not voting for McCain, he’s not helping elect Obama.But there are more choices than just McCain and Obama. Some of them are better than those two. Bob Barr is better.False. By not voting for McCain he is allowing Obama to get by with one less vote. Now multiply this by the number of people with the same mentality and you are looking at President Government (Obama).
People who vote for Obama are responsible for electing him.
Yet everyone will be required to live with the outcome, regardless of who they voted for.
My vote is much more important to me than it is to McCain, Obama, or anybody else. By voting for McCain, I become a person who voted for McCain. I don't want to be that person; I don't want to have to explain that I'm not really for McCain's policies, I was just against the other guy. My vote won't change the country, but my integrity or lack of it might change me.
Finally, if you want to get to Colorado (say), you should go towards Colorado. You won't get to Colorado by not going to New York. If you want to live in a free country, that is what you should vote for. If a Marxist wins the election, then at least you had freedom at the moment you voted for the person you really wanted to win.
For a statement to be true is has to be true in all cases. If it is false in any case it cannot be true.
If one does not vote then there is no effect on the totals....if one would not have ever voted for either candidate, then there is no effect on the totals...
You are trying to say that if one does not vote for McCain then one has 'in effect' voted for Obama....and since there is no change in Obama's totals there is no effect!
Folks like you accept this 'in effect' BS idea without challenge...you need to think about things a bit more before you parrot them.
For something to be effective there has to be a positive result.
If I don’t buy a car have a effectively stolen commisions from all car sales men?
LOL...yours is a terrific point!
If I don’t vote your way I’m “effectively” voting for someone I didn’t vote for? LOL
Here's Bush Sr. talking about the New World Order -- while lying through his teeth.
“Baldwin isn’t going to be on the Oklahoma ticket so I’m voting none of the above.”
“Foolish people are often reckless, attempting feats that the wise avoid.” Alexander Pope
Or you might like the Johnny Mercer tune “Fools Rush In” for your theme song, Frank Sinatra did a great cut of it.
I can't recall where I read it, but someone once said, "Most people don't really know what they want; they only know what they DON'T want."
Virtually everyone here doesn't want Obama, but a lot also don't want McCain either. They know what they do want and they want something (someone) else who better represents them. People who know what they want and are willing to stick with it and not be scared out of it, are always in the minority.
McCain gets a lot the "the anger & fear" vote, but it's lucky for him that there are a lot of angry, scared people these days.
Well, Obama is no teenager and this election is no teenage prank.
I posted this partial list of Obama’s priorities a little while ago:
1) Socialized health care.
2) Surrender the war on terror.
3) Tax “cuts” for people who don’t pay taxes and tax increases for those who do (Marxist redistributionism).
4) Amnesty, drivers licenses, gov subsidized mortgages, education, healthcare, welfare, etc, for illegals.
5) Drastically cutting defense budgets while increasing federal social programs.
6) Re-implementing the fairness doctrine.
7) Strengthening abortion on demand as the “law of the land.”
8) Advancing gay “rights.”
9) Packing the courts with liberal activist judges.
10) Working with Reid and Pelosi and the socialist congress to implement the liberal agenda against America.
11) Continue the ban or blockades on drilling, refining, mining and nuclear power.
12) Drive our economy into the ground through high taxes, big spending, choking regulation, mandates, global warming, treaties, etc.
13) Advance world government demands against America.
14) Dismantling our defenses against terrorist attacks in America.
15) Shutting down our military bases, cutting the strength of the army, navy, air force and marines.
16) Scrapping our ships, scuttling our nuclear defense programs.
17) Dissolve our borders and scrap our national sovereignty.
18) Introduce European style socialism into America.
19) Erode away the remnants of the US Constitution.
20) Continue advancing the liberal gun gun grab through judicial activism.
21) Dilute our voting power by flooding the registration rolls with massive registration fraud, followed by massive voter fraud.
22) Bringing Chicago style political corruption to DC.
23) Continue the poisoning of our youth through anti-America propagandizing and socialist indoctrination in public schools, colleges and universities.
24) Advancing the so-called “Black Liberation Theology.”
25) etc, etc, etc.
Lord knows I’ve come down like a stack of bricks on McCain for some of his policies in the past and will do so in the future when need be, just as we did on President Bush, but despite anything I posted in the past, there’s absolutely no way I will sit this one out and allow the Marxist Barak Hussein Obama and his socialist comrades in the congress to destroy America.
Sitting it out is not option. Voting third party is not an option. This is an all hands on deck clarion call. With Obama’s massive voter fraud effort, it’s going to take every America lover’s affirmative vote to block him. EVERY vote counts!!
If you love America and wish to maintain your freedom, vote McCain-Palin. I did! And I feel great about it!! Hope you will too!!
And by continuing to vote for the lesser of the two evils only tells the less evil party candidate that you the voter tacitly approve of their thieving ways and their naked debauchery in Washington. With your continued approval they keep right on sticking it to you between election cycles. Nothing seems to change.
The greatest power the people have is their vote, and in supporting the lesser of two evils each election, voters ensure eternal evil.
Precisely! As long as the voter is scared and frightened into voting for the lesser evil candidate of their choice they will never get a decent, honest nor trustworthy candidate for any office that uses scare tactics to get you to vote for them and their cronies.
It has been said that if you don't vote, you can't complain. If you always vote for the status quo, you really have no business complaining about it. And if politics-as-usual is something you're entirely comfortable with, then by all means vote for Obama or McCain.
Again, he hit the nail squarely on the head. Voters get exactly what they deserve with the crooked morons they keep enabling every election cycle.
However, I know very few people who admit to being comfortable with the status quo. And even fewer willing to do anything about it.
I too agree.
The writer is wise beyond his obvious years.
Wow. What a novel concept. Maybe some shortsighted other campaign party hack types hanging out here should heed your novel observation. Good point.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.