Pagan Political Party

[Graey]

When you vote, (if you vote at all) for which party do you vote and why?

[runewulf]

Why bother with a party. None of them are right all the time. I look at what the individuals are saying and go from there, not what given logo they are listed under.

[RurouniTriv]

I'm with Runewolf on this one.



As for voting: if you don't vote, I don't see how you have any right to complain about politics. You've opted out. Personally, I think that half the problems with the current political situation could be solved if people would actually get off their butts and demand competent, honest leaders instead of griping and moaning about how their votes don't count and not even making the attempt.

[davisherm]

I'm also a fan of listening to what each candidate has to say before casting my ballot. I'm a registered independent, which means that I can't vote in any primaries in my county as we're almost all republicans up here.



In general, I'm pretty middle of the road on just about everything.

[Debbrah]

As for voting: if you don't vote, I don't see how you have any right to complain about politics. You've opted out. Personally, I think that half the problems with the current political situation could be solved if people would actually get off their butts and demand competent, honest leaders instead of griping and moaning about how their votes don't count and not even making the attempt.

Is voting the solution? When you are choosing between two (and ocasionally one to three minor parties) and there is almost never someone who you want anywhere near a position of power? When it isn't even the lesser of two evils because neither is lesser, just different, you are supposed to go vote to elect someone you don't support? I believe it is possible to have a principled anti-vote stance that still entitles you to complain. There are only so many times you can vote for someone who does not represent you and still think that you are voting against the other person rather than for the one you punch. That person will still count your vote as support...you still might help elect him/her... and there are times when that is more than I can stomach. I leave a lot of blanks when voting.....



Is voting going to get competent, honest leaders when there are none on the ballot? No. And the way our system is set up makes it incredibly difficult to change that. Everyone voting isn't enough.

[RurouniTriv]

Is voting the solution? When you are choosing between two (and ocasionally one to three minor parties) and there is almost never someone who you want anywhere near a position of power? When it isn't even the lesser of two evils because neither is lesser, just different, you are supposed to go vote to elect someone you don't support? I believe it is possible to have a principled anti-vote stance that still entitles you to complain. There are only so many times you can vote for someone who does not represent you and still think that you are voting against the other person rather than for the one you punch. That person will still count your vote as support...you still might help elect him/her... and there are times when that is more than I can stomach. I leave a lot of blanks when voting.....



Is voting going to get competent, honest leaders when there are none on the ballot? No. And the way our system is set up makes it incredibly difficult to change that. Everyone voting isn't enough

Voting is the most basic, ground-level aspect of political participation. Someone who doesn't vote has, in most cases, also given up the idea of trying to reform politics or make things better through participating in the political process. Note that I said in most cases: there are some that do not see any inconsistancy between refusing to vote and being involved with political movements, but from what I can tell, most of those who don't vote have simply given up on the political process completely.



If you are involved in improving the situation, and not voting, then why not? It might just be for that one candidate that you managed to get into the ballot (or against the one you couldn't get off the ballot), but at least you're still trying. I can certainly understand leaving blanks, I've done that myself - but I do vote, every election I go to the booths.



But if you've given up... well, like I said, you've opted out. If you aren't going to work for a solution, you don't have the right to complain about the problem.

[melina]

i can't vote, but i usually don't choose my favorite candidate by party. i do that for two reasons:

1: i don't care enough to really get into political parties

2: im kind of a mix of all of them( im not completely liberal, but im definitely not completely conservative)



right now, i like clark even though i know he wont win. i haven't seen much this year on the candidates (sick of tv) but i think im siding with him because of how mean everyone was to him when he said he needed southerners to vote for him. he really didn't say anything mean or prejudiced, he just said the truth. I think it was that mean al sharpton. Im not racist in the least bit, and i wouldnt mind having a black president, but al sharpton is a joke. he has nothing going for him, and he turns everything into a racial issue, purely to get black voters on his side, and make them gang up against his adversaries.



well anyways sorry i went on a tangent(spelled right?)

[davisherm]

I think we should just take a page from JK Rowling and start a Ministry of Magick.



Now back to reality - if you don't vote, you don't have the right to complain. Our system does work, but it takes more than voting and not voting. Letters to your seneters and congressmen make an important difference too. If we don't let them know how we feel about certain issues, they could very well go against our wishes.



You have a voice. Use it.



-ahem-

I will now step off my soapbox.

[Debbrah]

I think that if you are active, and cannot find anyone you can vote for, and there are no issues on the ballot... I think it is possible for it to be bad enough to not be worth showing up. Voting is an important resposibility, and I think that to demean it by some of the psuedo votes I've been allowed to participate in is irresponsible. I would rather be active, vote when it actually means something, rather than pretend to support a system that passes off nothing as an important and valuable part of the political system (which is what many of the ballot options, at least in Utah, are: no difference.) As long as people accept that voting is the measure of political involvement, anything can be dumped into the ballot and claimed to give the people a voice...and I don't accept that.

[Han-Shan]

You all being the self procliamed satanist that be, i'm not surprised you all voted for george dubya bush

[runewulf]

To whom exactly are you referring? The folks who have posted on this thread are not Satanists in any way, shape or form.



wassail

[Maelroth]

We're Pagans and therefore Can't be satanists.



As for voting I try to pick the candidate who sounds the most practical/sincere in adressing the issues relevant at the time.



Davisherm is right "If you don't vote you should'nt #$%&! (I know I'll get censored for that, sorry)

[Draconia]

Agreed, If we don't vote how can we change the way the law and society feels about us. Who knows maybe one day we'll have a pagan president and ignorant people who think we're all satanists will crawl back under their rocks and stop the persecution.

[davisherm]

You all being the self procliamed satanist that be, i'm not surprised you all voted for george dubya bush

Um... yeah.



You might want to maybe try reading the rest of the posts here before you go making assumptions. And yes, despite the fact that I disagree with him on a number of issues, I fully intend to vote for Bush. He's seen the US through a terrible time and he's taking active steps to protect against something like the tragedy of September 11th from ever happening again.



Welcome to the Pagan Library. I hope you enjoy your stay.

[Stormy]

Personally, I think we should all vote for a reformation of the voting ballot itself. Everyone's vote counts and it should be allowed to count in the way that they WANT it to. Therefore, there should be a place on the ballot where you can choose to use your vote to take away a vote from a candidate. This way, when there isn't a good choice to vote for, instead of picking the lesser of the evils you can vote AGAINST the worst of them - there by making your vote count in a way that is meaningful to you without helping to vote in someone who you don't want anymore than his or her opponents.



Stormy