Most of us all are aware of the recent developments in Barak Obama and John McCain's race for President of the United States: Obama chose Joe Biden as his V.P. runner and McCain chose Sarah Palin.
I know that people vote for various reasons: Many people vote party line and they don't vote for a person, but rather, they check the box where the name is followed by "Republican" or "Democrat" (once a republican/democrat, always a republican/democrat). Others vote for the person whose values are the same as their own (even if it means voting for a "green" or independent" etc. rather than a Republican or Democrat). Sometimes, people insist on voting D or R so they choose the person they dis-like the least. And I am sure there are many other reasons as to why people vote the way they do.
I am curious why people vote the way they do. If you wouldn't mind, I would like to know what issues influence your vote (just 2 or 3 of them) and if the candidate's party (Republican, Democrat, etc) weighs in on your decision at all. Also, no need to say where you stand on the issues, just which issues are the most important to you. For example, one of the issues that is important to me when I choose a candidate to vote for is where they stand on the issue of abortion. By stating it that way, it doesn't say whether I am pro-life or pro-choice (although if you know me well, you probably know which side of the issue I stand on). It simply tells you one issue that I place value on when choosing a candidate.
I hope that everyone feels comfortable sharing what issues, etc. influence your voting decisions or other insights on how you determine which box to check on election day. I would encourage you to leave your comment as anonymous if you want to. Also, the point of this particular post is not to facilitate any discussions on politics, it is just to satisfy my curiosity of learning why people vote the way they do.
It is important to realize that everyone values different things and that is ok =)
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In addition to the abortion issue, 2 other issues that are important to me are the candidate's stance on taxes/finances and social programs.
I don't vote party-line just to vote party-line, but there seems to be a consistency in the party I vote for based on the majority of the issues that I value most.
I definitely haven't ever agreed with all the candidates positions on issues, but I guess that pretty much never happens for anyone.
My biggest issues I guess are:
Abortion
Healthcare
When Healthcare becomes something you rely on day in and day out it makes you realize what a flawed system we have and while I realize that the President doesn't directly make decisions regarding healthcare he obviously influences those that do!
I can't think of a 3rd issue right now... How about Bio-Fuel! :)
I also (will) vote party-line on most occasions but...
Top Three:
1. Social Issues (abortion, healthcare, or welfare)
2. Financial Issues (Taxes, healthcare, and social programs)
3. Foreign Policy
*notice how they tend to overlap
ahhhhh.... politics. i dread every 4 years because i get so sick of political campaigns. i'm trying to get better though. i actually studied the candidates so i could vote accurately in the primaries!
but yes, my vote is mostly influenced by party line. a lot of times i don't vote though. you know, the ones that say "do you want to keep this person in office?" YES or NO. stuff like that, that i have no idea about, i don't vote on. i'm gonna answer to God someday for EVERYTHING and i don't want Him asking me why i voted to keep some evil person in office! (yes, i guess that's why i should do a little more research too!)
oh, the biggest issue to me is abortion. can't think of too many issues right now. it's a little late for me to be thinking politics!
Politics!!! I know very little, yet they stress me out tremendously. The main issues that are important to me and that I look for in a potential presidential candidate are: government support programs such as welfare, WIC, and financial aid for college students. Another issue is taxes, who and how much should pay what. Last is like many others issue, abortion. God Bless everyone and God Bless America because WE need it!!!
Great question. You always come up with interesting topics.
My top three considerations are:
1. Abortion
2. Strict Constructionism (for judicial appointments
3. Government spending
Those of you who know me more than through a passing hello know that I care about politics quite a bit. My three main political issues are:
#1 Social Welfare Programs
If you didn't earn it and you have the physical capability to earn it, please don't take it from the government and tax payers. Why is it that those who pay the majority in tax dollars are the ones who see absolutely nothing in the form of social programs other than things like roads?
#2 Environmental Issues
Please don't waste the tax payers money on over hyped, almost cult-like, Global warming programs. If you believe that the earth is heating up and we will all die due to this heat, you take God out of the picture and admit that he is not in control of our planet. Yes we need to conserve our resources, but please don't do it in a "save mother earth" mentality.
#3 Foreign Policy
When we are threatened at home, I want our government to use all and any necessary force to protect it's citizens. I know soldiers are dying, but they signed up to protect their home and bless them for it. I know people want out of Iraq, but do you honestly think that our government leaders are over their just to make a few bucks off of oil? I doubt it, Bush spent over $100 million dollars on his campaign in 2004, I don't think he needs the money. When we are not in a war situation, I think we need to be completely uninvolved with foreign social programs. We don't need to spend hundreds of million dollars to help a foreign country with their AIDS epidemic just because they don't know what abstinence is or don't want to acknowledge their sin. We don't own the world as Americans, and the world certainly doesn't need our help.
Sorry about breaking the rules of telling where I stand on top positions, but there they are.
Never vote independent. It is a waste of a vote. Would God want you to vote for Huckabee or some other person who APPEARS to be ethically correct, or would He want you to vote for the candidate who has a chance of keeping the other candidate (the one who will legalize the killing of unborn children who are created in the image of God) out of the oval office? You decide.
My personal stance on abortion and gay marriage are also important issues to me, but they are not the main reasons I will base my vote upon.
My biggest issues are:
Health Care
Abortion
Government Spedning
I am not overly thrilled with either of this elections picks.
I am very interested in politics, but they stess me out, so I try to stay informed at a distance, if that makes any sense. As far as parties, I think that it is sad that we are stuck in a 2 party system. I don't believe that voting for a third party candidate is throwing your vote away and I think that that belief is one of the factors that contributes to third party candidates not having a chance. Really in the end I belive in voting for the candidate that has a similar stance to your most important issues, no matter if that candidate is rep, dem or any other party. Just remember, like Jess mentioned, it is unlikely that you will ever come across a candidate that matches your beliefs perfectly. Just like in life, in politics we also have to make comprimises.
*Just a quick sidenote, once I pick a candidate I think I might want to vote for, I try and find the time to look up their voting history. It is available to the public and with a little work you can find out if your candidate has represented the things they are claiming on their platform.
Now as I step down from my soapbox, the most important issues in this election for me are:
Education
Government Spending
Foreign Policy
Abortion
Dang, Charlie.
This topic is too hot for me.........
Just as an FYI:
It wasn't my intention for this to get to be a "hot" topic discussion. I was simply curious what influenced people's votes (party, specific issues, etc); not where people stand on certain issues.... =)
Platform. It's all about the platform.
I generally vote along party lines because I have chosen the platform of the party that aligns with my beliefs and values. However, when considering an individual candidate, the issues that I primarily consider are:
- Foreign policy (particularly this year)
- Government supported social programs (health insurance, school programs, social security, etc.)
- Taxes (who pays what and how that's determined, who receives tax breaks, what we are taxed on, etc.)
- Environmental issues
Jessica, I think the timing of this question is great. I have never before seen so many people consider the "other party", whether they are Democrats considering McCain or Republicans considering Obama. I don't think that this reflects poorly on either candidate, but only exemplifies how invested we all are in the outcome of this election as well as in the state of our country and government.
Happy voting!
Jana
Hi Jana, I agree... I have met so many people who are considering the candidate from the "other" party and both ways as you stated. It's definitely important to consider the individual candidates and what they stand for, apart from their party label =)
Thanks to everyone for their input!!
The single most important thing for me when choosing a presidential candidate is his stance on economics. In my opinion, the government serves three roles: Investing monetarily in the country in a way that is advantageous for the whole, but not advantageous for the individual (economics), protecting the rights of the citizens, establishing some kind of unifying moral code.
While i find all very important, of those three i find the "unified moral code" least important for several reasons, first because the government can't force me to be immoral, only force other people to be moral. i.e. there will be never be a law that says i have to have pre-marital sex, that i have to do drugs, that i have to lie. Also I honestly am not sure where to draw the line in making other people live moral lives. Obviously we can't say, "I will not tell you how to live your life at all" or things like murder, rape, theft, or vandalism would be permissible. Yet, we can't force people to behave how we would like in every respect. There has only been one God sponsored theocracy in the history of the world, and they couldn't even really pull it off with prophets knocking at their doors.
Protecting the rights of the citizens is something that is very important to me, yet isn't as important as economics. Economics are honestly our best offensive weapon against our enemies. Our foreign aid food and welfare programs keep much of the world at bay. Does it make sense to bomb a country who supplies 90% of your food, medicine, and water? A strong economy supports the military. Wars are no longer fought by numbers, but by technological and economic superiority.
I vote for whoever has the better looking vice president candidate!!!
... so in 2004 i voted for Kerry/Edwards
That's funny "anonymous" =)
I know who you are by the way!
1. Taxes(financial issues)
2. foreign policy
3. Environmental issues
why people vote the way they do? Well, there are many factors such as religion, race, occupation, educaation, gender, age, political efficacy and party identification.
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