2012 United States Presidential Elections

[KEK Inc.]

The elections are nearing, and the debates are about to begin.  Just curious what people's stances are.

From the bias and comfort of the 4 main candidates' propaganda, here's their respective web pages:
http://www.barackoba...rce=primary-nav
http://www.mittromney.com/issues
http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/issues
http://www.jillstein.org/issues

There's also a lot more candidates; however, they're not available on the ballot on enough states to possibly win.  Therefore, they won't get the 270 electoral votes necessary to win.  Yay for broken systems! 

Obama and Romney are in the ballots for all 50 states (538 electoral).  Gary Johnson is available on the ballot for 47 states (515 electoral), and Jill Stein is for 39 states (448 electoral).

You can also take certain political tests if you're lazy; though, I'd advise doing your research and critically think for yourself. 
http://www.isidewith.com/

[Beltway]

Voting is done in secret.

[hbelkins]

Roseanne Barr is also running. (Yes, THAT Roseanne). I had the misfortune of hearing her rendition of the national anthem live on WLW-AM because the Padres were hosting the Reds in that game.

I think my answer to this question is fairly obvious. I didn't support Romney in the primary, but I want Obama defeated and Romney is the only candidate who can possibly oust him. A vote for anyone other than Romney is a vote to re-elect Obama.

[Beltway]

Roseanne Barr is also running. (Yes, THAT Roseanne). I had the misfortune of hearing her rendition of the national anthem live on WLW-AM because the Padres were hosting the Reds in that game.

I think my answer to this question is fairly obvious. I didn't support Romney in the primary, but I want Obama defeated and Romney is the only candidate who can possibly oust him. A vote for anyone other than Romney is a vote to re-elect Obama.

Obama's record has been horrendous in every category — economic, debt, national security, military strength, energy dependence, social cohesiveness, religious liberty, race relations, health care and business. America is significantly worse off than it was when Obama took office. It will be extremely difficult for Obama to overcome the reality of his terrible record with his fictional whitewashing of that record.

Americans haven't given up on America yet. They recoil at Obama's socialist rantings, redistributionism, class warfare, race baiting, apologies for America, attacks on business and domestic energy producers, and bizarre and offensive statements that "the private sector is fine"  and that the death of our ambassador was "a bump in the road."

[corco]

I'll be voting for Obama not because I think Obama is particularly amazing, but because Romney is absolutely terrible, and at this point let's just stick with the plan in motion to see the thing through. If we still haven't made a lot of progress in four years, I'll probably be voting Republican next go around- I'm of the belief that both economic policies can work but we really just need to stick with one of them for at least eight years. Definitely by the end of eight there needs to be a decent amount of progress, though.

It's funny - I hear all these people who say we're collectively worse off with Obama in office, but I can't find anybody who actually says (and can prove) they specifically are in worse shape than they were four years ago. My brother-in-law for instance is a diehard Romney supporter. He's also a contractor. Four years ago he was building condos, barely scraping by. Now he's building custom homes again and just bought a new car but insists that Obama has screwed him over. He can't tell you why, but by golly Obama has screwed him over.

[KEK Inc.]

Roseanne Barr is also running. (Yes, THAT Roseanne). I had the misfortune of hearing her rendition of the national anthem live on WLW-AM because the Padres were hosting the Reds in that game.

I think my answer to this question is fairly obvious. I didn't support Romney in the primary, but I want Obama defeated and Romney is the only candidate who can possibly oust him. A vote for anyone other than Romney is a vote to re-elect Obama.

Obama's record has been horrendous in every category — economic, debt, national security, military strength, energy dependence, social cohesiveness, religious liberty, race relations, health care and business. America is significantly worse off than it was when Obama took office. It will be extremely difficult for Obama to overcome the reality of his terrible record with his fictional whitewashing of that record.

He's doing a good job campaigning, though.  I think a lot of people are going to blindly vote for him, without doing research. 

@ hbelkin:  I'm voting for Gary Johnson, knowing that it's not going to really influence much; however, it's not a waste of a vote.  If people voted more honestly, our election outcomes would be much more different.  Due to the nature of the electoral college system, your vote really doesn't matter unless you live in a swing state.  I live in liberal Washingotn, so voting for Romney is as fruitless as voting for some write-in candidate.

[US71]

Roseanne Barr is also running. (Yes, THAT Roseanne). I had the misfortune of hearing her rendition of the national anthem live on WLW-AM because the Padres were hosting the Reds in that game.

I think my answer to this question is fairly obvious. I didn't support Romney in the primary, but I want Obama defeated and Romney is the only candidate who can possibly oust him. A vote for anyone other than Romney is a vote to re-elect Obama.

Obama's record has been horrendous in every category — economic, debt, national security, military strength, energy dependence, social cohesiveness, religious liberty, race relations, health care and business. America is significantly worse off than it was when Obama took office. It will be extremely difficult for Obama to overcome the reality of his terrible record with his fictional whitewashing of that record.

Americans haven't given up on America yet. They recoil at Obama's socialist rantings, redistributionism, class warfare, race baiting, apologies for America, attacks on business and domestic energy producers, and bizarre and offensive statements that "the private sector is fine"  and that the death of our ambassador was "a bump in the road."

I don't see Congress doing anything besides blocking everything the President is trying to do.  Funny how no one discusses that.

[Beltway]

It's funny - I hear all these people who say we're collectively worse off with Obama in office, but I can't find anybody who actually says (and can prove) they specifically are in worse shape than they were four years ago.

Where to you live ... Chicago?  Or somewhere like that?

[corco]

Arizona- one of the hardest hit states by the recession. My brother in law is from Idaho, which was hit really hard by the housing crisis.

[hbelkins]

I'll be voting for Obama not because I think Obama is particularly amazing, but because Romney is absolutely terrible...

This election should be viewed as a referendum on Obama, plain and simple.

[Beltway]

Arizona- one of the hardest hit states by the recession. My brother in law is from Idaho, which was hit really hard by the housing crisis.

IOW, they are in much worse shape than they were four years ago.

[NE2]

Obamney/Ridin 2012.

[corco]

This election should be viewed as a referendum on Obama, plain and simple. That's the way I view it. Like I said, Romney wasn't my first choice for a GOP nominee, but he's not Obama.

I figure even though Obama hasn't been as amazing as hoped, in a contest between two uninspiring people I just assume stick with the incumbent, especially when we have a hole to pull ourselves out of because a second term president is more likely to have the balls to try something innovative to fix problems. As a Democrat, I almost certainly would have voted for Bush in 2004 for the same reason.

IOW, they are in much worse shape than they were four years ago.

People say that, but I have yet to find an Arizonan that can tell me how they, personally, in worse shape than they were when Obama took office. There are people who were unemployed four years ago that are still unemployed, and that sucks, but it's not actually worse than it was four years ago.

[hbelkins]

And with my comments above, I'm out. I have a feeling this thread is gonna blow up like my Facebook feed does sometimes. 

[Beltway]

IOW, they are in much worse shape than they were four years ago.

People say that, but I have yet to find an Arizonan that can tell me how they, personally, in worse shape than they were when Obama took office. There are people who were unemployed four years ago that are still unemployed, and that sucks, but it's not actually worse than it was four years ago.

Look at all the empty storefronts, the empty houses, the much higher unemployment rate.

[Beltway]

And with my comments above, I'm out. I have a feeling this thread is gonna blow up like my Facebook feed does sometimes. 

Either that, or the moderators will blow it up, i.e. send it to File 13.

[corco]

Look at all the empty storefronts, the empty houses, the much higher unemployment rate.

Those storefronts were empty four years ago too, and the housing market is indisputably coming back in Arizona. According to the BLS, Arizona was at 9.9% unemployment in 2009 and is now down to 8.3%. Yeah, it would be nice if that number were lower, but you can't say it's worse than it was because it's not.

Look- you dislike Obama. Is your situation worse than it was four years ago? Are you paying more in taxes? Have you been directly negatively affected? Do you have anything less than you did in 2009? If you have, then fine, vote for Romney. I would too if I were you. My life isn't worse than it used to be- in fact since I can now be on my parents' healthcare plan and pay them every month until I graduate and get a career job, I'm saving money. My grad assistantship is funded by a federal grant that was a direct result of the stimulus. I'd be stupid to vote against that. 

[Beltway]

Look at all the empty storefronts, the empty houses, the much higher unemployment rate.

Those storefronts were empty four years ago too, and the housing market is indisputably coming back in Arizona. According to the BLS, Arizona was at 9.9% unemployment in 2009 and is now down to 8.3%. Yeah, it would be nice if that number were lower, but you can't say it's worse than it was because it's not.

The national unemployment rate is much worse than it was 4 years ago... 43 months over 8.0%, the worst since the Great Depression.  MILLIONS of Americans are much worse off.

[US71]

I'll be voting for Obama not because I think Obama is particularly amazing, but because Romney is absolutely terrible...

This election should be viewed as a referendum on Obama, plain and simple.

And this has nothing to do with it?
The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president. Mitch McConnell

This should be a referendum on the "do nothing" Congress, IMO.

Nuff said.

[Duke87]

Ridin 2012.

They see me rollin'...

[3467]

I agree with you US71 but I am in Illinois north of I-72 where even  the smaller towns are Obama Country.............I want to know what its like to be the only Obama supporter in Arkansas US 71!

And Obama is a big proponant of better infrastructure of all kinds

[NE2]

And with my comments above, I'm out. I have a feeling this thread is gonna disagree with my dumb arse.

[roadman65]

I do not think anybody can make things right except ourselves.  I am writing in a vote cause I think we need to voice and show both Democrats and Republicans that their constant war needs to STOP and it is time we Americans dump the whole party system once and for all! It seems that both parties are a secular religon and nobody wants to ask the people they represent what they want!  We are who they work for and not the party belief.

We can only change things NOT Obama, NOT Romney, or our Congress.

[corco]

One tangential question- I'm just curious as to the thought process of Republicans here. I won't judge, I promise.

Assuming these are correct of the typical Republican:
1. The election is a referendum on Obama.
2. Romney is a fairly meh candidate.
3. The idea behind voting for Romney, as a meh candidate, is that he'll tide things over until we get somebody good in there.
4. I'll be voting for Romney.

Then what happens if Romney actually wins? A heavy-hitting Republican like McDonnell or Daniels or something isn't going to run in 2016 if Romney is up for re-election, so by voting for Romney you're basically saying that 8 years of Romney is better than 4 years of Obama and 4 years of a useful Republican (if Obama still hasn't made substantial progress on the economy in four years, you can bet your ass the Republicans will win 2016 and if he has then who cares?). Right?

I guess there's an off chance that Romney surprises and is amazing, but is that (slim, from what I gather, even from the Republicaniest of Republicans) chance worth forgoing the guarantee that a useful Republican will take office in 2016? If Romney wins and does a meh job, the 2016 election is going to be competitive. If Obama hasn't made very substantial progress and a high-quality Republican runs, I suspect that election will be a GOP shoo-in.

[Beltway]

And with my comments above, I'm out. I have a feeling this thread is gonna disagree with my dumb arse.

Creative editing from one of the trolls.