In the Hizzy: Off-Topic Postings

I'm feeling terror, as I am not on board with either candidate. That I don't understand. Their positions on most things (abortion, Iraq, corporate regulations, health insurance, taxes, etc.) are so dissimilar that I don't really get how it can be hard for someone with opinions on those topics to pick a side. I am also very much on board with one candidate. But, for me, the most important thing is that in 78 days there will be an inauguration and George Bush will return to Texas.

I know politics is not the thing to discuss on this board, but I am interested in how you people in the US feel. Overhere most media are of the opinion that something historical is about to happen. Are you feeling excited, irritated, apprehensive, or is it just another election? I don't want to go into a candidate's debate, just into how people are experiencing it, so I hope that is alright. If not, I'm sure the mods will take appropriate action :) . Not just another election, that's for sure. This whole election season has been very different, IMO. (Then again, my whole voting life has been a choice between Clintons or Bushes.) I'm excited but not apprehensive. I'm not even irritated because I like reading and thinking about politics. I'm not nervous at this point because it would take a massive amount of fraud to upend predictions and disrupt the solid models of measurement. If that happened then yes, I would be very very worried. Anyway, every election night I cook up a batch of chili and invite a bunch of friends over to watch the returns. Ya'll are welcome.... :-)

So bailey - I'll swing by about 8-ish - what kind of beer shall I bring? ;-) It's been a bittersweet election season for me as the candidate I was supporting was not chosen as the party nominee and I was heart broken. That said, I'm very excited at the possibilities for the future and also deeply terrified that if this election doesn't go as predicted that things could go very badly for our country. I'm leaving the country for vacation on Thursday night. Depending on how tomorrow goes, I may not come back. ;-) Watching this election process has been at turns exhilarating, frustrating, frightening and infuriating. It has been very heartening to see more people involved than ever before. That's so good - I really hope that trend continues.

That I don't understand. Their positions on most things (abortion, Iraq, corporate regulations, health insurance, taxes, etc.) are so dissimilar that I don't really get how it can be hard for someone with opinions on those topics to pick a side. I get it, actually. When I read about people who aren't sure, they're usually with one candidate on one issue, with the other on another, and it's like...which child do I pick? I think there's a lot of effort to avoid "whatever" syndrome in this election, though, because voter turnout is going to be key for whoever wins. If voters feel resigned and don't show up tomorrow, that's going to be a mess.

I'm feeling terror, as I am not on board with either candidate. That I don't understand. Their positions on most things (abortion, Iraq, corporate regulations, health insurance, taxes, etc.) are so dissimilar that I don't really get how it can be hard for someone with opinions on those topics to pick a side. I am also very much on board with one candidate. But, for me, the most important thing is that in 78 days there will be an inauguration and George Bush will return to Texas. My positions on the issues are not completely in line with either of the two major parties. I am fiscally conservative and socially liberal. In other elections, I have decided which issues matter to me most at the time and have voted for the candidate who was more in line with my views on those specific issues. But this time, that's sort of moot, because I just don't think either of them is a capable leader for our country. One has a serious lack of experience and one frightens me overall. If voters feel resigned and don't show up tomorrow, that's going to be a mess. Oh, I don't feel resigned, however. I do know who I will vote for tomorrow; I'm just not thrilled about the choices this election.

That I don't understand. Their positions on most things (abortion, Iraq, corporate regulations, health insurance, taxes, etc.) are so dissimilar that I don't really get how it can be hard for someone with opinions on those topics to pick a side. I get it, actually. When I read about people who aren't sure, they're usually with one candidate on one issue, with the other on another, and it's like...which child do I pick? For me, I don't completely agree with any of the candidates stated positions, so, as usual, I find myself figuring out who to vote against rather than who to vote for. Mostly, I will just be glad when all the negative campaigning is over. If people who comment on internet news stories would also stop trying to tie every piece of bad news to a politician they hate, that would be even better :)

and George Bush will return to Texas. Ugh. Please don't remind me. :roll: When it came to making my decision (already voted. yay!), it really came down to who personally offended me the least. And as the daughter of a community organizer, that decision wasn't very hard.

It's been a bittersweet election season for me as the candidate I was supporting was not chosen as the party nominee and I was heart broken. Fiddy, I'm in the same boat myself. That I don't understand. Their positions on most things (abortion, Iraq, corporate regulations, health insurance, taxes, etc.) are so dissimilar that I don't really get how it can be hard for someone with opinions on those topics to pick a side. I think I understand it a little a bit. I am fully behind one candidate, but I know a few people who are undecided. I have have a friend who is fiscally conservative but socially liberal and he is torn. And yes, I get into political arguments with him all the time. :wink: I have an aunt who is fiscally liberal, but she recently became a born again Christian and is now socially conservative. This is a woman who marched on Washington for civil rights and lived in a commune in the early 70's, and...I'll shut up now.

You could always write-in my personal nominees: Edelstein/Penn. Can I get an amen?

When it came to making my decision (already voted. yay!), it really came down to who personally offended me the least. And as the daughter of a community organizer, that decision wasn't very hard. I never understood that line of attack. It seemed like crapping all over good hearted people for no reason whatsoever. I think I understand it a little a bit. I am fully behind one candidate, but I know a few people who are undecided. I have have a friend who is fiscally conservative but socially liberal and he is torn. And yes, I get into political arguments with him all the time. Wink I have an aunt who is fiscally liberal, but she recently became a born again Christian and is now socially conservative. I think over the past 8 years I have lost complete track of what "fiscally conservative" means. I mean, in my own life, I'm ridiculously fiscally conservative. Does that make me so on the grand political scheme of things? I'm not sure either party really spends more than the other, they just have different spending priorities. I guess. I really don't know what "fiscally liberal" means. Do people really define themselves that way?

YEAH! Way back when I was in high school, I wanted Frank Zappa to run for president. I really don't know what "fiscally liberal" means. Do people really define themselves that way? Yeah. It's not the best term. Fiscally Democrat? I don't know. Basically, I meant that she approves of spending money on social programs, education, and health care, etc.

Jonne, I can tell you that in Michigan, voter registration is at a record 98 percent and they're expecting the possibility of in excess of 70 percent of registered voters at the polls (compared to about 60 percent four years ago), and Michigan isn't even a swing state. My sister lives in Florida -- a swing state -- and is in the "Interstate 4" corridor that is the basic dividing line between the Democratic south and Republican north. To say that she and her family have been besieged with calls is to put it lightly.

I think over the past 8 years I have lost complete track of what "fiscally conservative" means. I mean, in my own life, I'm ridiculously fiscally conservative. Does that make me so on the grand political scheme of things? I'm not sure either party really spends more than the other, they just have different spending priorities. I guess. Being fiscally conservative in your private life does not necessarily mean you are the same way on a political level. For me, fiscally conservative means both cutting spending and cutting income taxes across the board (and thus not putting so much burden on working-class and middle-class people). Let people keep more of their paychecks. I really don't know what "fiscally liberal" means. Do people really define themselves that way? I don't think people refer to themselves that way.

I think over the past 8 years I have lost complete track of what "fiscally conservative" means. I mean, in my own life, I'm ridiculously fiscally conservative. Does that make me so on the grand political scheme of things? I'm not sure either party really spends more than the other, they just have different spending priorities. I guess. Being fiscally conservative in your private life does not necessarily mean you are the same way on a political level. For me, fiscally conservative means both cutting spending and cutting income taxes across the board (and thus not putting so much burden on working-class and middle-class people). Let people keep more of their paychecks. Yes, I guess to me it's just something of a theory that I see no real evidence--or in some cases, practicality--of. I understand what fiscally conservative is supposed to mean, but I've yet to see a "conservative" government actually spends less regardless of how many taxes they cut. (And since local taxes and services generally get jacked up in response to less federal money, it's all awash anyway.) I don't know, just one of those things that fascinate me. I would consider myself fiscally conservative because I believe in balanced budgets and careful allocation of treasury, but if there is going to be spending, I'd rather it be covered by taxes as opposed to borrowed indefinitely from foreign governments with debt handed down to future generations. So I'm not sure where that leaves me. (On that same plane of existence, I never buy televisions, cars, electronics, clothes, etc, unless I have the cash on hand to pay for it. I make for a lousy consumer in our retail driven economy.)

And as the daughter of a community organizer, that decision wasn't very hard. Did you catch The Daily Show -- I think it was on Thursday -- when they did a very funny piece on that? I caught it on Hulu the other day so it should still be there. I think the old-style Liberals, where the answer to every problem was to create a federal program and fund it, are gone forever. These days, it seems to me, that the overall fiscal difference between Democrats and Republicans is their stance on regulation and corporate taxation (i.e. whether low taxes on corporations stimulate the economy by making them more competitive with imports and result in jobs or whether they simply leave more money for executive salaries.) Of course that's a loose generalization. Besides, with the state of the economy these days, there isn't enough money for either party to get very profligate. George Bush was supposed to be ultra-conservative fiscally, yet the drugs program for seniors is the most expensive entitlement program in history.

View Full Version: In the Hizzy: Off-Topic Postings