Just a simple poll.

Also, if you do not intend to vote, I'd be very interested to know why.

I'm not. For one thing my city is divided between two states, very different states. On the Kansas side (where I live) there aren't any senate or congressional candidate races. On the Missouri side there is a big Senate race between a Bush Christian and a liberal. I can't vote anywhere but Kansas so that's out.
Missouri has 2 interesting ballot initiatives: One concerning stemcell research: Should they continue to use the Bible to block science or no? I can't vote there either. Missouri also has a big tobacco tax hike on the ballot, I'm not eligible.
The only race in Kansas is Governor. The Democratic gov. is popular and leagues ahead of her Christian Right challenger, so the Genji is staying home election day.

You don't want to make sure the Democrat governor gets back in?

You don't want to make sure the Democrat governor gets back in?No. It would be alot of trouble just to vote for Governor. She's a shoo-in incumbent.

I'll vote, if I'm still living on election day.

Then again, I'd likely be voting if I'm not living were I a registered Democrat or of a contestable status.

Funny how life & death works.

I'm voting tomorrow! We get our ballots in the mail here.

I'll just barely make the age requirement for the next presidential elections.

I always vote, since my eighteenth birthday. This election is quite important. It will decide whether we keep fighting in Iraq until the job is done, or run away. My vote may even make a difference this year as Indiana has some contested races and every house seat counts. It'd be really cool if my vote kept the Republicans in power.

I always vote, since my eighteenth birthday. This election is quite important. It will decide whether we keep fighting in Iraq until the job is done, or run away. My vote may even make a difference this year as Indiana has some contested races and every house seat counts. It'd be really cool if my vote kept the Republicans in power.As long as you commit YOUR kids to the BushWars I agree!

We should run fast from blowing a trillion dollars, thousands of lives and creating chaos. What have we gained? Conservatism isn't what it used to be!

I shall be voting and voting Republican across the board.

I plan to vote Democrat straight across the board.

I devoutly hope a preponderance of the few per centage of Americans who still bother to vote will select the Democratic party line button.

Normally I'm a proponent of not voting as long as at least 5% of the population does, in which case it's like winning the lottery for your vote to change the outcome. But I will play the lottery this time. Also it's a way for me to get a little vengance against the Republicans who are intentionally ruining the country and to a large degree the world; no doubt many liberals will vote this time for this reason alone.

I devoutly hope a preponderance of the few per centage of Americans who still bother to vote will select the Democratic party line button.
Yeah, and I hope a significant portion of the left doesn't split their vote yet again (by voting for the Green party, say). Many liberals have a habit of indirectly voting for Republicans that way. They don't grasp that a plurality, not a majority, wins.

We should run fast from blowing a trillion dollars, thousands of lives and creating chaos. What have we gained? Conservatism isn't what it used to be!
Surely you're talking about the "tax & spend" Democrats, not Republicans. That's one reason why the Republicans will keep winning--the majority still thinks they are the more fiscally conservative party.

Surely you're talking about the "tax & spend" Democrats, not Republicans. That's one reason why the Republicans will keep winning--the majority still thinks they are the more fiscally conservative party.With the biggest growth in federal government in US history, under this administration? The largest debt ever in US history, accrued under this administration? The Patriot Act, a foreign war costing trillions with no end in sight, and you think the Republicans are "fiscally conservative?" They have taxed and spent us into the hole for generations. If you're just drunk I'm jealous, if you're serious you have my sympathies.

It was sarcasm. I'm in the minority that knows the Democrats (and liberals in general) are proven to be far more fiscally conservative.

It was sarcasm. I'm in the minority that knows the Democrats (and liberals in general) are proven to be far more fiscally conservative.Ohhhh.:rolleyes: I make that mistake alot and...well, make new enemies because of it. Sorry! I was wondering wtf you were talking about!

It was sarcasm. I'm in the minority that knows the Democrats (and liberals in general) are proven to be far more fiscally conservative.
Even your powers of observation and deduction have edges of sarcasm -- though it's the Universe's wit, not yours. ;)

The ballot falls out so simply this year, at least for me, that I've found myself dithering over silly questions. Mainly, I've wrangled with the issue of unopposed candidates: do I owe them a vote? Can they live without it? Do they deserve a vote? (No, that last is not a redundancy. At least, how I see it.)

And then there's the toss-up issue of our Public Utilities director; the incumbent is a business-background candidate who stepped up and fended off Enron during the crisis. The challenger is an engineer of some sort, picks out as a campaign issue that the sitting director saw a large rate increase during her term, and doesn't seem to fail at making sense. The question, in the end, is enlightening.

See, I prefer the ballot box. Yet for some reason, Snohomish County--under the guidance of (I'm not kidding) Bob Terwilliger--has switched to a mail-ballot system. That is, I don't get to go to a voting site and cast a vote. I just sit back, eat pizza, smoke, and fill out my ballot with the comfort of all the voters' guides I could possibly ask for.

Really, these petty questions are interesting. In the current cycle, they're, well, petty. But I have no idea how I'll feel come the day I actually have to stop and think while filling out a ballot.

Nonetheless, it's worth noting that the challenger to the PUD has one serious drawback. He's endorsed by a number of organizations, almost all of which appear to have connections to the Democratic Party. Now, I'm long a liberal, and prefer Democrats to Republicans, but I do find it worrisome that the Party seems to be putting its voice in a candidate for nonpartisan office.

Oh, the niggling frustrations!

Oh, right ... there's my protest against the District for requiring deposit funds from poor people. But still, a choice for nonpartisan office between a generally decent incumbent and a Democrat in nonpartisan clothing.

Hell, see? Had I not a week to consider the ballot, I might have forgotten entirely how pissed off I am about people having to pay out 2-for-1 just to receive service in the first place.

Damn it! Give me back my ballot box. Voting naked is still just voting. It's no more gratifying, and only takes longer.

Envelope sealed, of course, with a very special kiss ....

Er ... never mind.

:cool:

Being politically conflicted is a point in your favor.

Mainly, I've wrangled with the issue of unopposed candidates: do I owe them a vote? Can they live without it? Do they deserve a vote? (No, that last is not a redundancy. At least, how I see it.)

I often wonder about that too. I mean, what if they get no votes? I generally don't bother to vote for them, assuming they'll be alright so long as they vote for themselves.

I'm also annoyed by judges. I generally don't know anything about them, so I have no idea which one to vote for.

I'm also annoyed by judges. I generally don't know anything about them, so I have no idea which one to vote for.

Indeed. Thankfully, most of the judges were running unopposed on my ballot. In the end, I only skipped a couple of votes.

But there's another thing that bugs me about mail-in ballots. It's not even a bubble-card. We have a broken arrow, and draw a half-inch line segment to connect the parts. Good heavens, how stupid is that? Perhaps we have some old folks in Florida to thank for that one? (If I could find the lyrics for the Capitol Steps' "There's a Hole in the Center of the Ballot", I would include them here for effect.)

I am disillusioned republican. or perhaps I should say that I am a republican, and thus want to see power taken away from the fascist white house.

fiscal responsibility and constitutional rights are my primary political motivators. this administration seems to hate both. national health insurence? nah, blowing up Iraq is a much better use of $380 000 000 000 (+?).

I am giving every vote I have to the democrats in protest of republican policy.

fiscal responsibility and constitutional rights are my primary political motivators.
Every Republican in my lengthy lifetime has been fiscally irresponsible. That makes them against the Constitution, for a country that ever weakens financially is bound to eventually dissolve. How many decades of Republicans showering their friends with billions of borrowed public dollars would it take for you to admit that they do not, and have no intention of, supporting your "political motivators"?

I not vote, mainly because there are no robocratic selections available.

very Republican in my lengthy lifetime has been fiscally irresponsible. That makes them against the Constitution, for a country that ever weakens financially is bound to eventually dissolve. How many decades of Republicans showering their friends with billions of borrowed public dollars would it take for you to admit that they do not, and have no intention of, supporting your "political motivators"?
thats a good point. there are other things as well though.

for one, I don't think people should get paid to have children, but they essentially do. I know a young couple who had a kid, and even they say its ridiculous how much government aid they get. however, its usually the dems who push the welfare.

however, its usually the dems who push the welfare.
It's the opposite. Reagan and Bush Sr. left welfare to fester. In the interest of the nation's finances, Clinton substantially cut the program. Now in the vast majority of cases it's only temporary assistance. (States may be more generous though.) That's one of the ways that Clinton was able to balance the budget.

I started voting absentee when I traveled a lot in my job. I had the ballot mailed to my home because I knew I'd be home before the election, but not necessarily on election day. Once I got in the habit it was so easy to keep doing. I can vote at my convenience instead of finding the polling place, finding a parking space, waiting in line, and going through what is often a fairly lengthy process while standing up, referring to my own notes on that tiny shelf. Although where I live now they'll let me bring one of my dogs with me, that's cool.I'm also annoyed by judges. I generally don't know anything about them, so I have no idea which one to vote for.Google them. I found that a couple of mine were appointed by the Governator as part of his strategy to steer California politics in a moderate, non-partisan direction and that's all I needed to know. Fortunately, because a surprising number of them had managed to maintain extremely low public profiles. I had to weigh the opinions of the various partisan rags to try to find the truth about them. Some had no info at all. I didn't vote, hoping that a few people who know them better will vote their consciences.

I am disillusioned republican. or perhaps I should say that I am a republican, and thus want to see power taken away from the fascist white house.

fiscal responsibility and constitutional rights are my primary political motivators. this administration seems to hate both. national health insurence? nah, blowing up Iraq is a much better use of $380 000 000 000 (+?).

I am giving every vote I have to the democrats in protest of republican policy.

You are a conservative, I'm not sure if thats the same as Republican.

I will vote for everything except senators. Poor Michigans economy is in the pits and neither person is doing anything about it. Same with our incompetent incumbent (say that 5x fast) Governor and her big business opponent. I'll still vote for him because I doubt the next 4 years can be worse than the last