What should you do when you don't like either candidate?

Question

I've mentioned several times here on GaG that I'm not really happy with either US Presidential candidate, and I am not alone.

Whether you feel the same or not, what should a voter do when they don't like either candidate?

Please vote in the poll.

WhiteSteve · Accepted Answer

Yeah, I mean…. in this PARTICULAR case, I do feel like one candidate is much worse, in a way that makes me pretty uncomfortable, but I’ve written scores of novels on GAG about the topic already, plus I’m not here to tell you who to vote for, haha, but it’s exceedingly difficult for me to address the topic as if it’s just a simple “pick your poison.” But I’ll just say I’m not incredibly psyched about the options either, but far from undecided, and I’ll leave it there.

As for you, or just talking in a “normal” election year with “normal” candidates, I’d just say no matter what you do, don’t sit out altogether. There aren’t really a whole lot of states up for grabs, so if you’re not in one of them, you can abstain from checking a box for presidential candidate, but still participate in Congressional elections, state elections, specific issues, etc. Honestly, President is an overrated position, in terms of direct impact on our lives (barring anything crazy). I’d argue legislators, in their totality, might be more impactful. Also, I think a lot economic stuff just kind of “happens” sometimes, in the sense of fairly or totally random events and circumstances in life that affect how all manner of things shake out, and then we just assign credit or blame to whoever just happened to be holding whatever position in that moment. We act like a few strokes of a pen from the right or wrong person will just fix or ruin everything, respectively, lmao. I just don’t think it’s that simple…. but democracy allows us to make it so.

Anyway, catching myself from rambling too long, hahaha…point is, vote or don’t vote for a presidential candidate (or any candidate) based on your conscience, and with a clear-eyed view of reality and what a President can even do for us.

Sometimes Trump is like “I’ll fix inflation right away!”, no further details, and it’s just like “oH wOw, WhY DiD’nT BiDeN tHiNk Of ThAt?”🤦‍♂️😂 Kamala will go after price gougers…. great, how? Not sure how that works, love the idea, but can you realistically do that for most things?

You have to be able to weed through the bullshit and decide who is and isn’t dangerous. Sadly, that’s where we’re at. Hopefully things return to normal in the future, but usually life is a nightmare and the worst shit always seems to happen, so I’m not holding my breath. But my overall point was just that Presidents do some shit, but there’s even more shit they DON’T do, so don’t let that dissuade you from showing up altogether, even if you leave POTUS blank. The less up-for-grabs your state is, the easier you can sleep about it.

Syntosi · Accepted Answer

You still vote. Voting is just the bare minimum, if you are unhappy about politics then there is a million and one ways that you can influence politics into more of what you want.

Ultimately, in my humble opinion those who do not vote has no right to complain either and I do like to complain so I dont really have a choice.

Tamera952 · Accepted Answer

How about vote for the one that IS NOT a piece of shit criminal, vote for the one who isn’t trying to stay out of jail, vote for the one that has half a brain, vote the one that won’t deport every one he thinks is a cat eating immigrant, vote the one that DOESN’T LIE all day, every day, vote the one that isn’t demented, vote the one that is a model of decorum & understands public service, vote the one who has intellectual curiosity and is not grifting, vote the one who doesn’t have their first cabinet all convicted criminals, vote the one who isn’t a shallow, vain, and a narcissistic sociopath, …..(do I need to continue?)

WHAT THE FUCK are you talking about? …it is SOOOOOOO obvious which one to vote for!!! One wants to move everybody forward, one wants to become Mussolini 2.0 in a dystopian nightmare — don’t act like he’s just a regular candidate, he’s not. Don’t act like you have to ‘weigh both sides’ as if they’re even remotely fucking close! He has already been normalized far too much much already. He has ZERO business being in charge of ANYTHING, much less the country.

🤯🤯🤬

purplepoppy · Accepted Answer

In the UK its a two horse race but the smaller parties can pick up enough votes to give the winner a bloody nose and help reduce their majority in parliament. I think Americas problem is your politicians haven't got the little dogs biting at the ankles.

Does it even matter if you vote or not in America if you don't live on a swing state or one where your college vote matters?

As I see it all politicians are full of shit and you vote for the one who's going to take a dump in someone else's yard.

llorando · Answer

Original plan was to vote for Kennedy, but that is no longer an option since Democrats sued to keep him off of PA's ballot and he endorsed Trump. New plan is to leave the presidential portion of my ballot blank while still voting for down ballot candidates.

TurtlePoop · Answer

Just remember that you’re not voting for a best buddy, you’re voting for someone to keep us out of wars and manage the country. Kamala has proven she can’t do either.

Amy10223 · Answer

You vote for the one who has more political experience, who has a clean record and not a criminal history.
There are qualities that historically mention what makes a good presidential candidate:
Integrity, courage, resilience, respect, accountability, humility, are all good qualities that make a great president. I’ll add strong leadership, for the people and not for oneself, and sound of mind and body.

lightbulb27 · Answer

Vote for whom has the policies you agree with. It isn't about him or her but the direction they go. you could always vote green party and I've done that before.

Simslover92 · Answer

Vote for the candidate you feel will bring the country out of turmoil the most.

andreasderjuengere · Answer

''Voting'' is an illusion that's sold to the public to make them believe that they are taken for serious.

I've seen political ''leaders'' come and go - it changed little.

Vote, people, if you must. Meanwhile, I'll just have another beer and do my own thing...

away from political ''activism''.

strateguy632 · Answer

What about measure which is less evil. So 7th.  Maybe you hate both but one is more evil n one is lesser evil.

Anonymous · Answer

your vote should be based on policy, not personality

you're not voting for a friend, spouse or beauty pageant contestant but for a president in charge of a set of policies to be carried out by an administration

Cubus · Answer

That depends on what state you live in.

If you live in a Safe-Republican or Safe-Democratic state: vote for a 3rd party candidate or write in your candidate.

If you live in a swing state: choose the candidate you disagree less.

Kelley1 · Answer

Don't vote. If most people refused to vote the government couldn't say, "The people have spoken."

ArrowheadSW · Answer

"Write in" a politician who you DO like.

Kayla45 · Answer

I’m not American, so quite literally can’t vote. lol.

Anonymous · Answer

I have voted independent in the last two elections and will do the same next month. I could never look in the mirror again if I voted for either candidate.

beefcakebradybatson · Answer

Vote another candidate.(If America had "ranked choice voting" like some true democracies, this situation wouldn't arise).

RavVid · Answer

Scrawl offensive obscenities on the ballot paper is my go to. I don't know what US people with voting machines can do. Can you even vote informal? Is there a none of the above option?

Pete671 · Answer

Minority party that I like, it might help them to keep their deposit,,,

WintersDaughter · Answer

Before I answer, can you tell me what you don't like about Trump/Vance and Harris/Waltz?

Dargil · Answer

They don't need to be likable. Ask yourself: Who will make my life better?

Anonymous · Answer

Good try but we all know you've voting for Trump. I vote for third party candidates typically.

gatixek710 · Answer

Vote Trump. You don't have to like him. It's not a popularity contest. We need a leader.

exitseven · Answer

Vote for the party you most identify with.

Ladsin2 · Answer

Lesser of two evils.

NathanDavis · Answer

I've never voted before

Slim57 · Answer

Just don't vote, not like they matter anyways

Dongie · Answer

Move to Canada.

What should you do when you don't like either candidate?

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What do you do in a situation where Trump and Biden are the nominees again and I really don’t like either one?

What should you do when you don't like either candidate?

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What do you do in a situation where Trump and Biden are the nominees again and I really don’t like either one?

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