To be or not to be, a Democrat's Dilemma
48A Nation of Two Democratic Parties?
I'm having a bit of trouble understanding my friends who are Democrats in this current political season. Large numbers of Democrats are saying they would refuse to vote for their party's nominee - IF - that person is someone other than the candidate they now back.
The recent primaries in Indiana and North Carolina seem to have locked things up for Obama, although Clinton says she will stay in the race until the end. We'll see how that shakes out.
But the point is: Why would a Democrat vote for the opposition party if their candidate does not will the nomination? If you have an opinion about this, I would like to hear what it is. Maybe you are a passionate Hillary or Barack supporter who feels you could never support the other candidate in the general election. If so, please tell me why?
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Comments
I am an Independent, but I usually lean to the Democrats in most elections. However, I was once a die-hard Democrat, the only one in my family - poor souls! At any rate, I do not think John McCain would make a good president, and I fear he will lean far to the right in order to choose a running mate. I think G.W. Bush with Colin Powell as VP would have had more successful presidency than Bush/Cheney. But I believe McCain will have to bring in some far-Right VP just to rally the die hard Republicans to his cause.
Personally, I simply do not trust Mr. Cheney and I never have. I think G.W. Bush could have been a better president if it weren't for the bad advice he seemingly so blindly followed. It may be that I am wrong, but I tend to think Cheney actually runs the White House, or at least he did. He seems awfully quite as of late.
Well, I'm a registered Democrat and usually vote that way but have crossed paarty lines to vote Republican occasionally ( back in the day when there was a moderate wing of the Republican partyLOL. I agree with you about McCain--not only will he have to go far right for a running mate, but he also will only serve one term at best( if he makes that) Not only is he 72 going into the most stressful job in the world. He has had four( count them f-o-u-r melanomas) His veep might well end up pres.
As for Bush/Cheney--don't get me started. Bush had the thinnest resume of any presidential candidate ever when he ran in 2000 and had failed at virtually every business venture he went into. He is clearly not intellectually curious and was soooo limited in his point of view that I suppose he chose Cheney( or his handlers did) to prop him up from the very beginning. Cheney, Rumsfeld and Bush should all be doing perp walks IMHO. I don't trust Cheney either as you can see.
Bush is an illiterate, spoiled bully who would be flipping burgers (and doing poorly at that) if not for his daddy's money. He's a disgrace.
As for Democrats and Republicans, I don't understand either of them. Wouldn't it make more sense for EVERYONE to be registered Independent so that we could ALL vote for the best candidate, and not for whom our party dictates. The first time I registered and was trying to decide on a partry, I read literature from both. Agreed with some stuff, not with other stuff - of both parties. Then I saw the Independent literature. "Now THAT makes sense!" I've been an Independent ever since.
The simple act of voting has become like everything else in this country; mired down in the process, mechanics and red tape.
I never thought I'd say this, but this election has worn me out. the media is repeating themselves to the point of wagging the dog. will it ever be over? Will we get out of Iraq? Will we recover from being "bush-whacked?"
What will tomorrow bring? Hard to predict anymore. Rodney King might have been right..."can't we all just get along?"
sigh. it's been a rough day. ya think? LOL =)
I hope tomorrow will bring "a change."
I've noticed something in the 4 short weeks I've been a member of HubPages: The hubs that get the best response are either about politics or chocolate.
One of the M&M's characters (male or female) needs to run for public office, and one of us needs to write about it. Think about it; it would be a Super Hub! Break all previous response records!
Maybe that person would even get free M&M's for life...
Start writing, Constant Walker:-)
Believe me... I considered it.
Hey, guys, I am not a Bush supporter, and I agree he was probably the worst choice the Republicans could have chosen for their candidate in 2000. He had fewer votes than Gore, but more electoral votes, so he won. I can't argue with that since that is the system we have in place.As for the Electoral College, I believe it is past time we began to consider a better system for electing our presidents. I have never been fond of it and I remain skeptical about its efficacy in our present and future elections.I was part of Unity 2008 until it seemed to fold up. It seemed that people joining were still very partisan and couldn't agree on a candidate. They got some silly ideas of John Stewart and others, all of whom I agree are funny TV hosts, but none of whom I could seriously vote for.I suggested several moderate Republicans and Democrats, but none of them came in a close 50th to Stewart and Colbert. That was when I lost interest in Unity 2008. It reminded me of the old Monty Python routine with the Silly (Loony?) Party running silly candidates.But I am still wondering why a Democrat would threaten to help elect a Republican, just as I would be about the opposite, were that he case. Are there also Republicans, other than Rush Limbaugh, who advocate for a Democrat?
Like you Jeff, I'm an Independant. I think we're warming up to a pot of poop to vote for. None of these candidates is fundamentally any different than another. They all want to tax us to spend it on their special pet interests. They all have a superiority complex. They all stink like the rotten human filth of politicians that they are. It's all smoke & mirrors to keep the public from looking behind the scenes to realize what is really happening. You'll either vote in a communist-styled socialist (Democrat) or fascist-styled socialist (Republican). Either way, we - the peope of this once-great-country - will lose! Which one of these candidates is going to take back the real value of our currency? Which one will kick the thieves (Federal Reserve Bank) out of the country and take back our money? Not one of these!
I'd rather vote for Mickey Mouse but instead, I'll probably write in Ron Paul as my protest vote.
Isn't it sad that so many of us truly believe that our choices for president are so lame? I have said in other hubs and replies that I most likely will vote for Obama, but that I too see little difference between the three major candidates. And even the so-called Third Parties are pretty mediocre. Ralph Nader is running again as a Green Party man, and Bob Barr is seeking the Libertarian nod. Yawn!
I see Hillary won big as expected in West Virginia, and that a conservative Democrat took a seat from a Republican in Mississippi. We in the 14th district in Illinois, where I live, gave Dennis Hastert's former seat to a moderate Democrat.
I guess that even though I have but little faith in our over-all presidential selection process, I do have faith that both parties are having to turn toward the center in order to survive.
I hope to see a Congress that truly listens to the People and not to their RNC & DNC leadership. I believe both leaders of those two powerful groups listen more to their extreme base than to the majority of the rest of us. I am particularly distressed whenever I hear Howard Dean speak. Mike Duncan of the RNC is pretty mute thes days, at least on TV.
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robie2 says:
5 months ago
Well chef Jeff, I'm a Democrat and I don't understand it either. I think both Hillary and Obama are well qualified candidates whose views on the issues are not that far apart and I too have Democratic friends--mostly Hillary fans--who are threatening to vote for McCain if Obama gets the nomination( which it looks like he will at the moment)--How dumb is that?....vote for a pro-life candidate who will keep us in iraq for 100 years if necessary just because your candidate didn't win? I don't get it.
I think we Dems are all stirred up at the moment over these extended primaries and once a candidate is selected, it is important to get behind that candidate, whoever it is.