PledgeForPaul
12-19-2007, 04:44 PM
Thought this was a good read:
http://realestaterisk.blogspot.com/2007/12/2008-presidential-election.html
I'd like to devote a post to the 2008 presidential election. I have been active in politics my entire life, and always attempt to make informed (even if apathetic) voting decisions. I spent the last hour reading old journal entries, and will first state who I voted for, then a summary of the reasons I gave in the journal.
1968 – Voted Nixon, who beat Humphrey. Being young my vote revolved around the anger towards Humphrey praising how we were winning the Vietnam War. I remember considering George Wallace, and I would like to say I ruled him out because of his racist stances, but ultimately my vote was based on thinking Nixon has the best chance to win and bring troops home.
1972 - McGovern who lost to Nixon. It was clear Nixon was not a straight politician by the time this election happened, and to this day I think the 1972 elections stands as the best of example of why the US needs some type of vote system reform. My vote to McGovern was mostly his anti-war message, not Nixon’s ethical deficiencies.
1976 - I voted for Carter, who beat Ford (also - I voted for Reagan over Ford in the caucus). I was on the cusp in this election. I believed the foreign policy ideas they were debating were too complex for me to pass judgment on, but Carter seemed more honest and that is ultimately what won me over. Economic policy reform was not too impressive from either side.
1980 - I voted for Carter, who lost to Reagan. Carter was getting burned over his actions in the Middle East (and in the economy, high inflation that was not his fault), but overall I had been impressed with him as a president. I stayed quiet amongst friends who I am sure assumed I voted for Regan after caucusing for him in 76.
1984 – I voted for Reagan, who beat Mondale. I wrote in my journal “Reagan’s campaign is ridiculous” referring to his claims of his policies turning the economy around. Although I thought many of his ideas were not implemented well, I thought he was genuine and his ideas were reasonable. I didn’t hold the rising national debt against Reagan as it seemed like a temporary cost of inflation in the 70’s (that turned out to be wrong unfortunately).
1988 – I voted for GH Bush, who beat Dukakis. I caucused for Biden, who attracted me because of his remarks on the out of control national debt. I voted for Bush, but it was not a confident vote. My journal has this note, which I don’t remember writing “Ron Paul would probably make the best next president. If I knew more about him I would probably vote for him”. It is unfortunate Google didn’t’ exist in 1988.
1992 – I voted for GH Bush, who lost to Clinton. I think the first Iraq war was well handled, and I think his work to force politicians to tie increases in spending with increases in taxes was one of the best pieces of economic legislation ever passed. I did not caucus for the 92 election.
1996 – I voted for Ross Perot, who lost to Clinton. I did not caucus and was apathetic to the entire thing. I thought Clinton was doing a fine job, but gave my vote to Perot primarily out of frustration towards our two party voting system. I believe Clinton’s greatest strength was surrounding his cabinet/advisers/etc with Republicans. His decisions and votes always seemed well considered to me… and I generally agreed with his decisions.
2000 – I voted for GW Bush, who beat Al Gore. I did not caucus. I listened to Al Gore when he was on the campaign trail once and wrote in my journal “His speech consisted of saying America is good so we should do good things because we are good and need to help America be good. It is an insult to the listener’s intelligence.”
2004 – I voted for Kerry, who lost to GW Bush. I cared about this election (though didn’t caucus)... and I couldn’t believe GW won this. I was in denial looking at the polls leading up to the election. Even if Iraq had WMD’s, his handling of the war was poor. The change in leadership was needed.
As for the current election, I have 2 thoughts on the parties:1. The national health care ideas of the Democratic Party scare me. I have never heard Obama/Clinton/Edwards earnestly acknowledge that free markets do anything good. 2. The Republican Party is in shambles. What do they stand for? War and being more religious then Democrats? Democrats and Republicans both solidified opposing viewpoints on the war simply to oppose each other. It is partisan hackery that I believe is a testament to the failure of our voting system.
My candidate of choice on the Democratic side is Biden. He is honest and very practical. In 2002 he understood the magnitude of the war GW was pushing onto the country. Although he ultimately voted for the resolution to go to war, he worked very hard to try diplomatic methods first.
My choice for Republican side, and man I will be caucusing for, is Ron Paul. I have some gripes, such as his reasons for repealing Roe vs Wade, and I don’t think our memberships in NATO/WTO/etc is a threat to national sovereignty… but I believe Ron Paul is the only candidate who can fix our international relations, work with the well being of the general public above special interests, and maximize our long term economic growth. I believe he is the most well-grounded of all the candidates running, and he will not make hasty judgments during stressful times. Notice the date stamps on these: http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2001/cr092501.htm http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2001/cr112901.htm I believe Ron Paul is the best candidate for president of the United States. In the weeks leading up to the general election, I will post a follow up.
http://realestaterisk.blogspot.com/2007/12/2008-presidential-election.html
I'd like to devote a post to the 2008 presidential election. I have been active in politics my entire life, and always attempt to make informed (even if apathetic) voting decisions. I spent the last hour reading old journal entries, and will first state who I voted for, then a summary of the reasons I gave in the journal.
1968 – Voted Nixon, who beat Humphrey. Being young my vote revolved around the anger towards Humphrey praising how we were winning the Vietnam War. I remember considering George Wallace, and I would like to say I ruled him out because of his racist stances, but ultimately my vote was based on thinking Nixon has the best chance to win and bring troops home.
1972 - McGovern who lost to Nixon. It was clear Nixon was not a straight politician by the time this election happened, and to this day I think the 1972 elections stands as the best of example of why the US needs some type of vote system reform. My vote to McGovern was mostly his anti-war message, not Nixon’s ethical deficiencies.
1976 - I voted for Carter, who beat Ford (also - I voted for Reagan over Ford in the caucus). I was on the cusp in this election. I believed the foreign policy ideas they were debating were too complex for me to pass judgment on, but Carter seemed more honest and that is ultimately what won me over. Economic policy reform was not too impressive from either side.
1980 - I voted for Carter, who lost to Reagan. Carter was getting burned over his actions in the Middle East (and in the economy, high inflation that was not his fault), but overall I had been impressed with him as a president. I stayed quiet amongst friends who I am sure assumed I voted for Regan after caucusing for him in 76.
1984 – I voted for Reagan, who beat Mondale. I wrote in my journal “Reagan’s campaign is ridiculous” referring to his claims of his policies turning the economy around. Although I thought many of his ideas were not implemented well, I thought he was genuine and his ideas were reasonable. I didn’t hold the rising national debt against Reagan as it seemed like a temporary cost of inflation in the 70’s (that turned out to be wrong unfortunately).
1988 – I voted for GH Bush, who beat Dukakis. I caucused for Biden, who attracted me because of his remarks on the out of control national debt. I voted for Bush, but it was not a confident vote. My journal has this note, which I don’t remember writing “Ron Paul would probably make the best next president. If I knew more about him I would probably vote for him”. It is unfortunate Google didn’t’ exist in 1988.
1992 – I voted for GH Bush, who lost to Clinton. I think the first Iraq war was well handled, and I think his work to force politicians to tie increases in spending with increases in taxes was one of the best pieces of economic legislation ever passed. I did not caucus for the 92 election.
1996 – I voted for Ross Perot, who lost to Clinton. I did not caucus and was apathetic to the entire thing. I thought Clinton was doing a fine job, but gave my vote to Perot primarily out of frustration towards our two party voting system. I believe Clinton’s greatest strength was surrounding his cabinet/advisers/etc with Republicans. His decisions and votes always seemed well considered to me… and I generally agreed with his decisions.
2000 – I voted for GW Bush, who beat Al Gore. I did not caucus. I listened to Al Gore when he was on the campaign trail once and wrote in my journal “His speech consisted of saying America is good so we should do good things because we are good and need to help America be good. It is an insult to the listener’s intelligence.”
2004 – I voted for Kerry, who lost to GW Bush. I cared about this election (though didn’t caucus)... and I couldn’t believe GW won this. I was in denial looking at the polls leading up to the election. Even if Iraq had WMD’s, his handling of the war was poor. The change in leadership was needed.
As for the current election, I have 2 thoughts on the parties:1. The national health care ideas of the Democratic Party scare me. I have never heard Obama/Clinton/Edwards earnestly acknowledge that free markets do anything good. 2. The Republican Party is in shambles. What do they stand for? War and being more religious then Democrats? Democrats and Republicans both solidified opposing viewpoints on the war simply to oppose each other. It is partisan hackery that I believe is a testament to the failure of our voting system.
My candidate of choice on the Democratic side is Biden. He is honest and very practical. In 2002 he understood the magnitude of the war GW was pushing onto the country. Although he ultimately voted for the resolution to go to war, he worked very hard to try diplomatic methods first.
My choice for Republican side, and man I will be caucusing for, is Ron Paul. I have some gripes, such as his reasons for repealing Roe vs Wade, and I don’t think our memberships in NATO/WTO/etc is a threat to national sovereignty… but I believe Ron Paul is the only candidate who can fix our international relations, work with the well being of the general public above special interests, and maximize our long term economic growth. I believe he is the most well-grounded of all the candidates running, and he will not make hasty judgments during stressful times. Notice the date stamps on these: http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2001/cr092501.htm http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2001/cr112901.htm I believe Ron Paul is the best candidate for president of the United States. In the weeks leading up to the general election, I will post a follow up.