What personal rules guide your decisions about who to vote for?

[msc545]

I have some very simple rules for myself, which help me to decide who I want to vote for. These are all, aside from doing a lot of research on any one person or topic, because I don't really always have the time for that. So here they are.

I do not vote for Republicans no matter who they are or what they promise. Republicans inevitably lie, cheat if they can, steal money, and start wars. It doesn't matter what they say or how much they promise. They won't do these things. Inevitably, they always do. I will never vote for them.

Until recently, I was usually voting for Democrats, but even some Democrats have turned out to be scumbags. Move on to the next paragraph, and you'll see what else I do, what I do.

Most recently, I became a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, and that is now my preferred political party. If a Democratic Socialist is running for an office, I will normally vote for that person. But again, I am leery of the honesty of any politician, and I research that person very carefully before I cast my vote.

If I can't figure out who to vote for, and I don't have time to research them, and I am doubtful about the choices, I simply do not vote for anybody in that particular office.

What do you do?

[OldGreyMare]

At least you're not afraid to admit you are a socialist. I wonder how many times Hillary screwed over Bernie Sanders. I bet you voted for Hillary.

[msc545]

I bet who I voted for is none of your fucking business

[OldGreyMare]

True, but yet again, you just told me.

[Pterodon]

She got you

[msc545]

@Pterodon, it was either that or Trump. She was the lesser of two evils.

[OldGreyMare]

@Pterodon
He says it was either Hillary or Trump. I don't remember Trump running on that Democratic primary stage.

[msc545]

No, he wasn't running on that stage, and you're right. Obviously, my error. The thing was, as a Democrat, I was just stuck with Hillary. There was no other choice because the Democratic Party had seen to it that they were absolutely going to run a woman for president, even though that was a losing proposition from the very beginning. Then they did it again with Kamala Harris. They are hell-bent on electing a woman because of the politics involved and have absolutely no regard for the fact that we got stuck with Trump as a result of that behavior on their part. They can figure out a way to run another one in 28. They will do that, and we will lose again.

[OldGreyMare]

So why even bother voting in the primary? Bernie Sanders was the favored candidate and he didn't stand a chance.
I posted a question that is basically stating that the DNC has probably already chosen a winner for 2028.
The rest will just be smoke and mirrors and giving the voters the illusion that their vote matters.

[msc545]

I am willing to bet that it's going to be, Harris again and she is going to lose again. She is going to be the candidate again because political correctness is more important the to the Democratic party then winning is. I'm a Democrat and I'm willing to say that. Well. I used to be a Democrat. Now I'm a socialist. I imagine we will run a candidate and that candidate will also lose, but at least it won't be a candidate that we run because of political correctness and gender.

[msc545]

If Sanders is still with us and I hope he is then, I think we are going to probably try to run Bernie in 28.

[OldGreyMare]

Believe it or not I really actually like Bernie. He didn't hide from what he was. Hillary refused to even call herself a liberal. She said she's a progressive. (whatever that is)
But at this point, if the Democrats didn't cheat, I bet AOC could win in 2028.

[OldGreyMare]

Thanks for the MHO

[slatyb]

Do they believe established science?

[msc545]

Anybody with even a barely functioning brain believes in established scientists.

[slatyb]

That leaves out Trump, his minions, and all Trump voters.

[msc545]

It absolutely does. They all think that science is a communist plot or something equally absurd.

[lightbulb27]

I've changed over time based upon what I see going on. My advice to you is to get French citizenship and live in the south. you'll get everything you are wishing for.

I've at times voted for women, at times voted democrat as I thought they were better option, independent at times because didn't like either option (trump vs clinton) and at times republican, especially locally.

I don't like republicans (Trump) policies on ai, inflaming war in iran.

In general, locally I vote all republican because I see the decay in law/order under democrats and bad behavior not disciplined. Democrats are like the party of "we can't manage that so just let it go until it's a big problem". I'd rather be more stern, train people to respect order and punish them if they don't, defend the police doing their job to enforce that.

Democrats cannot do the above because of their alignment and thinking and we have mayhem locally with bad driving, lack of police strength and thus higher cost, high insurance rates, accidents, and a bunch of bratty kids that get away with theft, motor vehicle laws and such.

I know my republican local rep whom is actually independent minded and he's doing decent job in my view.

At the high level like president, republicans often do make messes, agree with that and agood dem or independent may be better. currently, the prez options they had were not tenable, didn't agree with them, couldn't vote for them... they were so bad several dems left the party.

I think DSA is the new power force coming as we have to have redistribution of wealth and real "social security" for the masses as people are displaced. I see no way around they take power and the political issue gets more divided. What I don't like about them is their lax training and discipline of the people I see coagulate to the group, not all are well behaved people. When I meet republicans, they are more business oriented, more respectful of stuff and environment, better tenants, etc..

If DSA had core discipline and values it be better and draw others, possibly myself. As it is, it's not attractive. But... it will take over...

[loveslongnails]

I used to vote for someone based on their stances on issues. Now, that's disappeared, and I wouldn't vote for any Republican unless I was somehow convinced they were intelligent, legit and wouldn't suddenly just vote Party line. I don't see that happening during my lifetime.

[Anonymous]

Basically i always vote Republican. I pick my candidate that most aligns with me, my views. And that candidate may be a libertarian, an independent or a Republican. But after the primaries he's not going to be my candidate anymore because he'll NEVER get the Republican party's nomination, i know that. So after that i'm relegated to go with whatever the Republican party decides (The exception being independent. But again you know he won't get elected. So it depends whether i just want to throw my vote away or not).

But lately considering in my state your name get thrown into the hat for jury duty when you vote and the Republican nominees haven't been worth a 💩. I've been abstaining from voting altogether.

Call me bad American if you like. But i say, make it worth my while to vote again.

[Pterodon]

It’s very simple. If you’re for illegal aliens at taxpayer expense then by all means vote for a liberal. If you’re for America and legal citizens then vote conservatives. The democrats can no longer lie about having your best interests at heart. They exposed themselves at Trumps SOTU Address

[msc545]

Illegal aliens have absolutely no effect on me except to make certain services, fruits, and vegetables less expensive than they otherwise would be. I live in a state where, if there was not labor by illegal aliens, the rest of the country would have extremely expensive fruits and vegetables, and so would I, actually.

[Pterodon]

Migrant farm workers are not the issue and you know it

[msc545]

Well, here in California, actually, migrant farm workers really are the issue. They work for about half of what they're legally supposed to be paid, and the big agricultural corporations that run a lot of the state want to hire them for that reason. Those crops have to be picked. There's no way around it, but they want to pick them as cheaply as possible. Another major force here is fast food corporations, which, of course, buy raw materials from agricultural corporations and then sell fast food to a large segment of the population. They, too, want to underpay their workers as much as they can, and they do that by hiring illegal immigrants.

[Pterodon]

So what’s wrong with that? You think I care what someone that lives in another country earns while they temporarily stay here? Giving them more pay will increase already high grocery and restaurant bills but you don’t care because you’re one of those hypocritical wealthy democrats that isn’t paying their fair share

[msc545]

Of course I pay my fair share. Probably a little more than my fair share, actually.

[Pterodon]

No the goal of the socialist movement in America is distribution of wealth. It is a policy of ensuring everyone is equal, equally poor that is in reality. It’s funny but your politicians want to ban ICE and police yet have own private security and live in gated communities or have fences around their home. I can’t afford my own personal security so I’m left defenseless against criminals. Then to make matters worse they then want to disarm me which puts me at a further disadvantage. This is another proof the dems care nothing for me or you and no I don’t think you do pay anywhere near your fair share. You need to be taxed as much as you want to tax wealthy conservatives and you need to stop being a hypocrite about crime and start leaving all your doors and windows unlocked and even leave your keys in the car at all times. After all there really aren’t any criminals which is why we don’t need police so stop being a hypocrite

[msc545]

Well no I can't afford to pay top rate top grade accountants who can get me out of a lot of taxation. That is a strategy of really wealthy people and I am not a wealthy person despite what you may think. Not only that, but there's another strategy that will be wealthy. People use that you probably know about but I'll just reiterate it anyway and that is that they borrow against their assets and they live on that borrowed money. They borrowed. Money of course is not taxable. I don't have assets of the kind that would allow me to borrow substantial amounts of money in order to live and where I live. It's expensive to be here. I will admit that. I work very hard for my money as I'm sure you do and I want to enjoy it while I can as I'm sure you would like to as well.

[Pterodon]

I’m sure wealthy conservatives would like to enjoy theirs too

[msc545]

Well what they want is really not any concern of mine. To be honest. I care as much for their welfare as they do for mine. Not at all in other words.

[MrChinaski]

I swing. Normally my decision reflects an assessment of which party will cause the least harm in the next term. I gave up hoping for a party to do good a long time ago.

[Iron_Man]

vote for Donald for governor of Florida. He will lower property taxes. Unlike the other governor Jolly he will raise property taxes. I don’t trust him

[msc545]

You want Trump to be the governor of Florida? Are you serious?

[Iron_Man]

No, it’s a black man

[Iron_Man]

https://postimg.cc/gallery/MwsbLHX

[msc545]

Oh okay. When you said Donald I thought you meant Trump. Thank God you don't mean that.

[NathanDavis]

rule number one - I don't vote for someone or something that doesn't represent me

[CaptainSmartass]

I don't vote for anyone that wants to harm the British people, or the economy, or anything like that. You'll never find me voting Labour, Green or Lib Dem.

Simples...