Who you voting for in the 2008 President election?

I dont know how old you guys are. Whether your young or old, this next election will probably effect you all especially the younger people. It will be up to us who gets elected. We owe it to our Country and in fact the whole world to make the best decision. So, I urge all of you consider carefully who your going to vote for and choose the best candidate.

I will tell you who I personally support and that man is Ron Paul, he is a man of courage, truth and freedom. He served as a congressman for 20 years. He has never voted to raise taxes or governmental powers. He has consistently defended the constituion and the founding fathers philosophy of staying peaceful and prosperous.

You may ask yourself, what's gonna change if I vote for Ron Paul? Well I'll tell you. You will no longer have to pay the income tax! Your work will not be illegally taxed and your hard earned money will not be wasted on government spending and burecreacy! You wont have to fight off in far-off wars that have nothing to do with our security. The government will leave you alone and the free markets will lower prices of goods and the economy will prosper.
The truth is, the government has never been good at managing things like healthcare, money or services. Usually when the government get involved, things get more expensive, harder to get and of less quality. We need to have less government and not more of it!
Ron Paul's policy towards North/South Korea is to pull out all troops along their borders and to leave them alone! Contrary to popular belief, pulling out of there will not cause a war, in fact, our presence there may be intefering with peace negotions and etc. Ron Paul believes that if we never had troops there, North and South Korea probably would of combined by now! If you believe we should stay out the business of other countries and mind our own business, than you want Ron Paul!
Ron Paul supports free trade and diplomacy with other countries. He also believes in free business and allowing companies to govern themselves.

If you want to learn more, visit Ron Paul's website: http://www.ronpaul2008.com/
Ron Paul is also on a variety of social networks like myspace and facebook. Add Ron paul as a friend and Join Us.

Look for Ron Paul on google and check out the thousands of videos of him on Youtube!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWfIhFhelm8

P.S. Ron Paul supports free-thinking efforts like Starcraft. If your a online poker/gambling player than your gonna want Ron Paul because he plans on freeing all strictions on such things and you'll be free to gamble all you like!
All Ron Paul is trying to do is put the money where it belongs, into the hands of the people and not the government!!!!!

 

1. Gore isn't running, at least not yet *crosses fingers*
2. This should be who would you vote for in the 2008 Presidential primaries as if you were to select someone like Kucinich who is certain to lose in the primary you won't be able to vote for him in the general.
3. This topic belongs in space junk.

 

Where's George W. Bush?

I'm not from the united states so I'm not really aware of the USA politics.. but I thought George could try again for the 2008 election.. no??

If not, tell me why.

no, it doesn't belong to the space junk.. it's a serious discussion.

 

US Constitution

Amendment XXII

Bush has already stolen two elections, and as such, has served two terms.  Therefore, Mr. 29% (refference to Bush's approval ratings) may not seak to steal a thrid term.  Instead a hole slew of other candidates are trying to get the position.  There are 7 candidates belonging to the Democratic Party and 10 belonging to the Republican party.  In each state, there will be held a primary election in which members of the state's Democratic party will be able to vote for one of the 7 Democratic candidates to be the Democratic parties nominee.  The Republicans get to do the same.  In some states, such as New Hampshire, independant and/or unaffiliated people may choosed to vote in the Democrat's or the Republican's primary.

The primary elections will occur in late winter and spring, the time of each election varies from state to state as they get to choose when they wish to have their primaries and some choose to be early in the year and others choose to be later.  After the primaries are over, essentially the candidate from each party that won the most votes in the primaries becomes their respective parties nominee.  it is a little more complicated than that but that is what it boild down to.

Once each party chooses a nominee then those two nominees face eachother in the general election held the first Tuesday following the first monday of November every 4 years.  Additional thrid party candidates or unaffiliated candidates may also participate if they meet the requirements of any given state to be on the Presidential ballot.  Generally this means getting a certain number of citizens from that state to sign a petition saying that the candidate deserves to be on the ballot.  Again, the exact details differ from state to state as the constitution give states the right to make their own election laws.

On the general election, people will vote for whom ever they believe should be President.  Except they aren't actually voting for the President, they are voting for and elector to represent them and cast a ballot for who they think should be President.  Almost always, meaning will over 99% of the time, they will vote for the person they are expected to vote for.  Occasionally one might decided to vote for someone else but this has never effected the outcome of an election.  The number of electors each state has is determined by the number of member os the US House of Representatives they have( a number dependant on the state's population) plus 2 ( the number of US Senators each state has).  So a state with a very low population like Alaska has 3 electors.  1 for their single Representative in the House and 1 for each of their two Senators.  A large state like California has 55 electors.  On a given date, all the electors meet and vote for the President and a majority vote wins, although the outcome is a for gone conclusion by this point.  This is because, if someone votes for the Democratic nominee, they are actually voting to send the electors who said they would vote for the Democratic nominee.  Genearlly they are picked from party loyalist who would almost never change their mind about who they would vote for, however, there is nothing to prevent them from voting some other way, but again this has never effected an election.

If neither gets a majority, meaning they tie or a thrid party candidate wins some of the electoral votes and neither main party candidate gets a majority, even if they have a pluarality, the election goes to the US House and Senate.  The Senate will elect the President and the House will elect the Vice President.  This infact has happened a number of times.

Any questions?  Now you know why US civics are complicated lol.

 

Don't forget that Florida's primary might not even count this year!

Yay! Go retarded Floridian legislators!!!!

Firstly, I take issue with this being posted in our forums. It's an advertisement. But as we promote free speech, especially in the lounge, I won't get too worked up.

But I won't be voting for Ron Paul. If anything you've lowered my opinion of him by posting because I wasn't aware of his stance regarding foreign policy. It's incorrect and panders to the masses.

Furthermore, bringing StarCraft into this is... just wrong... it's almost blasphemy. How can a presidential candidate "support" a video game???

On second thought, and contrary to my previous statement, I don't like this post one bit. It's an outright advertisement and even asks for money!

While Ron Paul is certainly a more progressive candidate and does have some positive points, I don't feel he's any better than any of the other current crappy choices that are presenting themselves for the presidential race.

I will declare here and now that any front-running candidate from either party (Republican or Democrat) who drops out and goes Independant will instantly have my vote.

I am forever bent against the two-party system after growing up with it. And no, people like Ron Paul are not the answer. But stepping outside party lines might help.

 

There is about zero chance of any of the candidates becoming independant and running. For one thing, doing so would split their parties vote in half while having a minor effect on the other party. Also, the only person even remotely likely to do this would be Clinton and only if she lost the primary. However, I don't think that is likely since she is a Democratic party loyalist. On the Republican side, possibly but doubtfully Guilliani or Romney. I also don't think either of those two possibilities are likely.

Bloomberg might run for President, but he has said he won't. if he did he would run as an independant.

 

Lol, Quanta, I wasn't pretending to say that this is likely, or I would have phrase it as "I hope a candidate decides to go independant!!!".

Furthermore, dropping out and becoming independant after losing the primary doesn't count. Then it's just a second option.

Just for the information, I'm planning on voting for O'Bama.

 

I've lost faith in the 'democratic' process.

 

Me too. But that doesn't mean you can sit by an not vote, Fenix.

You must still vote while voicing your disappointment.

It is clear to me, and to a lot of people in our generation, that a time for change is upon us.

 

Here are changes I'd like to see in, at the very least, our Presidential election system.

1. Public financing of elections. Why? It serves several purposes. First, it would go a long way of getting big money interests out of politics. It would also open the door to third party candidates whose biggest problem is money, especially in Presidential elections. If you are a thrid party candidate, to even have a chance of having a chance you must be a billionare.

2. Get rid of the electoral college. It is a pointless relic of the past. It no longer serves its original purpose and it would mean if your candidate only got 49.9% of the vote, your vote still counts for something. Of course, at the same time, if your candidate got the 50.1% of the vote, your vote would count a bit less but that's only fair

It would also allow for thrid pary candidates to have some hope. As it is now, a thrid party candidate could easily get over 20% of the popular vote and zero electoral votes. If you vote for a thrid party candidate, since they have next to no chance of winning the majority in your state, with the current system, that vote is pointless.

3. Run off elections. Again, this would be of huge benefit to thrid party candidates. It makes it very painless to vote for a thrid party candidate. Imagine a Presidential race between a Republican a Democrat and an Independant with a run off election. If you vote for the independant and he gets the least votes of the three, you don't have to worry about the greater of two evils winning because the independant "stole votes" from the lesser of two evils. Instead, you would then have to choose between the Democrat or Republican the Independant having lost. However, if the Independant gets the second most votes or the most votes, there will be a run off between the independant and which ever main party candidate that did better of the two.

Oh BTW I'm supporting Edwards in the primary, unless one of two things happen. Gore shocks the Democratic party and decides to run or it looks like a vote for Edwards will be pointless because Clinton and Obama are the only two real possible victors. In which case I'd pick Obama over Clinton.

 

To hell with our government now! I say we go back to the good ol' Roman Republic way of doing things where we solve all our problems with coups and Senators duking it out in the Senate building....or of course a good ol' Communist Revolution would work too, the Soviet States of America...has a ring to it

Anyway, out of the Democratic candidates...I'd have to say I like Edwards the best, but chances are he won't even have a shot unless some huge scandal happens, and if Gore decides to surprise the world...that's lights out for him.

The only Republican candidate that I like is Ron Paul. The rest just seem like douches to me

 

@ Quanta , I've argued quite a bit with different people about publicly funding election campaigns and I agree 100% with your proposal.

No donors should be allowed. Personal contributions, corporate contributions, etc. should all be prohibited. However, donations to the larger fund that could go toward general election funds would be acceptable.

That means that candidates would be able to spend an allotted amount of money on campaigns that would be decided by the funds available.

I've also argued that candidates should be allowed only to campaign through public channels, such as NPR, Government Access Channels, Websites(not web advertisements), and speeches.

While this might allow media outlets to choose coverage, it would certainly cut down on these ridiculous advertisements that greatly benefit the already-rich-and-becoming-richer-by-the-minute candidates.

 

I will vote in the Primary.
But in the real election, nothing we do or say matters. The damn electoral college does it all. In my state, it will always vote conservative. I vote liberal. Therefore, my opinion does not matter. Another thing, it's not a democratic election, it's a republican election. Not the political parties, but the system of government. I am fully for a democracy, or a republic, either one, but at least call it what it is.

Course, I'm really a limited libertarian, but they're not gonna go anywhere anytime soon.

 

I'm really liking this public funded elections. It would really cut down on the underhanded practice of laws for money that happens with election funding. Also, it would let me realize my lifelong dream of winning the presidency as a third party candidate. Sigh..if only Ralph Nader was running....

 

What state are you in?

I feel your pain. My State and County always go Republican..... The County I live in also has one of the lowest per capita incomes in the state.... hmmm...... why would they be voting Republican...... hmmm.....

Yes, lower taxes mean you pay less in the short run... people are retarded when it comes to politics.

Anyway, that doesn't mean your vote doesn't count, dude. You still have to vote just to show your defiance, if anything. It takes 5 minutes, and part of the reason your state always goes Republican is that there's too many of us (in the new generation) that don't vote. If we turned out more, we might make more of a difference.

If you feel that badly, then vote Independant. It could still have some effect in bringing attention to a couple issues.

But I think we all pretty much agree that Democrat or Republican, the current system is not working.

And I agree Fenix, this is wholly a Republican system of government rather than a Democratic one. A Democratic system would involve direct election, rather than representative election (although we have a watered-down version of this, it's similar to what England has). And the Electoral College produces this "representative election."

It's outdated. Big time. It was originally designed to lock out the overall masses and black voters. And oh, wait, it's still doing that.

 

Seems like you're missing Hillary Clinton up there. That's who I'll probably vote for. I don't know much about politics anyways.

 

Jon, I'm in Utah, the only state I think still supports Bush.
And legally, yes, my vote does not count. The Primary is still democratic, and therefore I will be voting, because it's worth my time to express my opinion there.

I despise this two party system, but it's probably the best system there is.....Remember, Hitler took control with only 40% of the vote, because there were something like 7 parties running.

The purpose of the electoral college was basically to keep the huckleberries (Hillbillies) from being conned into voting for certain people....People who couldn't read and all that. But we can more or less read now. We don't need it.
(Interesting thing, Ron Paul wants to abolish the electoral....A strong point in his favour)

 

i live in holland and my guess is that our system is a litlle more democratic than the one of america, but not usefull on such large scale.

every person above 18 has the right to vote for a person in a partie, some parties are: party of the labour, party of the animals, cristian democratic appel, list pim fortuyn, and a couple more
these persons come in seats of the tweede kamer, the person that leads the partie with the most votes becomes premier, which is the important politician, the other people can all propose laws, and if a law gets two-third of the votes it gets to the eerste kamer, and if it gets two-third of the votes there, the law is accepted.

thats pretty much the general idea of our democracy

 

To a couple of the above statements. If it seemed I was advertising or selling Ron Paul, please forgive me. I am just expressing my own personal opinions and what I really want to do is to encourage you guys to do YOUR OWN RESEARCH.
I think if you guys do even a little research, you may find that you dont like your chosen candidate.
John Edwards has very few good points in my opinion. His plan for Iraq still includes leaving about 100,000 american soldiers in Iraq. There is no reason for our soldiers to be there at all! There is a civil war going on and our troops shouldnt have to be sacrificed so that Washington politics can keep their honor.
When we first toppled Saddam, many leaders and arabs in the region thought that we would just leave. But we didnt leave, we stayed there and imposed our government and polices into the Iraqi people and government. If he had left right after we toppled Saddam, our troops wouldnt be bogged down there and Iraq might just be our ally and be more peaceful. The best thing to do in my opinion and Ron paul's is just to leave.

I never said Ron Paul supported Starcraft directly, he supports free enterprise and innovation among companies and self-regulation. Take for example, the entire gaming-industry. The government does very little to control or regulate the industry unlike other industries...The result is that the gaming industry regulates it self without using taxpayer money. The gaming industry has it own rating system and is constantly competing with itself to create the best games possible. That is ron paul's policy and he plans it to spread these free-market ideas to other industries and companies.

Ron Paul plans to eliminate the illegal and unconstitutional income tax. The income tax only makes about 38% of the total budget, and with the cutting of expensive wars, the government will still have plenty of money to Run. There is no reason, that 4 months of your working year has to be taxed!!!
It is a tool by the government to control and manipulate your behaviors!! Dont stand for it!!

We have a real chance here to create real change. I dont want to be negative about other candidates. But truthfully, their all pretty much bought and paid for by special interests and big money people.
Think about where you found about these guys? The media? The often bias media that is controlled by only about 4-6 giant corporations.
There are already many thousands working for the message of Ron Paul, and if you join the effort, you will know that you will be part of a Revolution. If you dont support him, that fine, but at least give him a chance. thats all im saying.

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I'd also like to say that Ron Paul does not plan on running as a independant. Reasons why is because the laws and general public is pretty bias against independants. Independants face huge uphill challenges and usuaully have little chance of winning. We gotta work with the system we have, and then we can bring the appropriate change.
And a note about President Bush. The reason people like John Mccain and Fred Thompson are so tough on terror or whatever you wanna call is because some polls were taken in a number primaries that included president bush and it was found that Bush won with like 83% support among republicans.

Its important to note that the Republican party has been shrinking and its base has grown small. We need to grow it back with a new generation of real republicans. If you support Ron Paul, swtich over to the republican side and make your mark! It really is just a label, and many of the so-called "republicans" today have drifted far from what Republicans used to be.

Lets restore the Republican and lets vote for Ron Paul

 

No one right now, not until the democrats get off the moronic national health care horse and the republicans recognize the economic issues and not distract us with the word "war" or "Iraq". I'm still waiting for a sensible candidate.