Who Should I Vote For?
The 2008 election is pretty dismal if you’re a libertarian atheist, as I am. As it stands right now, I’m not planning to vote for president, because I don’t see any good choices. However, the thought of not voting really bothers me, so I’m throwing my blog open for people to make suggestions and arguments. I’ve always tried to keep my political views off this site, but now I need help. I’m pretty sure I’m going to regret this, but we’ll see how it goes.
Except for Bush in 2004 (I’m so sorry), I’ve never voted major party before, but I’m willing to consider it if I can be convinced that it’s a good decision. Here’s a little of where my thought process has gone so far…
Obama is a non-starter for me. For a libertarian, his fiscal positions are an absolute nightmare, and I tend to consider fiscal issues more important than social issues. His gun control policies are also a big problem for me.
During the primaries, I was supporting Giuliani, because I think he’s the only guy who really understands the war we’re fighting. When McCain clinched, I was going to just bite the bullet and vote for him, even though I’m by no means a fan of his. Once he picked Sarah Palin, I could no longer support him in good conscience. Her religious views scare the hell out of me, and McCain’s age makes his VP choice way more important than it would usually be. No one seems sure exactly what kind of Pentecostal she is, but I’d like to keep snake dancing off the White House lawn. The potential for a Pentecostal President almost makes me miss Mitt Romney and his magic underwear.
So, I started to look at the third party candidates, as I have typically done in the past. Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party candidate, seemed like a good fit. I saw him on Glenn Beck, and I liked most of what he was saying. However, when I did some research on his past, my support for him faded away. He has been EVERYWHERE on the political spectrum at some point in his life, and he seems to be a total political opportunist. I can’t vote for a guy who has no convictions. Look him up on Wikipedia if you’re thinking about voting for him.
That led me to consider writing in Ron Paul. However, after a few Google searches, I found his position on the separation of church and state. For a guy who claims to champion the Constitution, he really misses the boat on that issue. He claims that the Constitution is “replete” with references to god (there are NONE), and that the founding fathers never expressed a desire for a separation of church and state (“Mr. Jefferson, build up that wall.” – Christopher Hitchens). If you’re going to base all of your positions on the Constitution (and I think you should), you should probably read it first.
So, that’s where I am. I’m a libertarian atheist without a candidate. Convince me.
~I AM~
P.S. If Aaron still visits here, I’d particularly like his take on this.
September 15th, 2008 at at 10:58 am
Just do what i will do on election day and vote for the future generations. Chances are the new President will appoint one maybe two new Justices to the Supreme Court. Do you want McCains philosophy guiding the country for the next unknown number of years? Obamas philosophy? There is no way to remove ourselves totally from Religious influence no matter how much we would like to do so. All we can do is mitigate it as much as possible. We know for certain where Caribou Barbie stands on Religion and should that ticket be elected and given McCains health problems, well, you do the math.
September 15th, 2008 at at 11:04 am
No to both. That’s my problem.
Until the 2004 election, I always voted for someone I WANTED to vote for. Then I voted for Bush because I hated Kerry, and look where that got us. The lesson I learned is not to vote for the lesser of two evils. I don’t want to vote for evil at all.
September 15th, 2008 at at 11:53 am
We have been deluged with US campaigning coverage, more so than usual, and I do not envy you your choices! There is a feeling here in the UK that there ought to be another option on the ballot paper which reads ‘None of the Above’. Only other option is to spoil your ballot paper as a token protest.
September 18th, 2008 at at 12:12 am
I think you should just sit out every election until the the perfect candidate comes to you r recue. Them’s principles!
September 24th, 2008 at at 1:23 pm
I feel as if you should vote for Mccain, which is what I’m doing, based on the decision that he will at least do LESS government spending due to the split congress and presidency. If you have a republican president and a democratic congress they are less likely to be able to be productive and wont spend as much as far as federally funded projects go.
However, if McCain dies on me while in office and Palin takes over I will literally wish I had never voted.
September 25th, 2008 at at 2:25 pm
Here’s an interesting take on it. And, I mostly agree with it:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2008/09/23/letter_to_independents/
I can’t tell you much about the author and I’m aware it’s always good to see their credentials before taking their views in, but, I already had pretty much agreed with most of this.
I will absolutely be voting for Obama. To me, there are things he can do with the right cabinet that McCain will NEVER be able to do.
September 27th, 2008 at at 4:23 am
As Heinlein said, “The difference between bad and worse is infinitely more important than the difference between good and better.” When it’s ‘good’ vs ‘better’, you can afford to sit at home. Choosing ‘better’ won’t get you fantastic wealth, immortality, or a pony. Picking the lesser of two evils is the most important vote that you can cast. Allowing ‘worse’ into office can get you (and a lot of others) tortured, killed, impoverished, forcibly converted to Christianity (or committed to a heretics asylum where they will eventually find the right cocktail of psychoactive drugs to help you let Jebus into your heart), drafted, etc.
Your admitted voting track record leaves a bit to be desired, but here’s your chance to redeem yourself.
October 8th, 2008 at at 4:48 pm
This may not be the place to say this, but I like that you have all those sites listed under “know your enemy”. It’s a great addition to atheist blogs, and I have yet to witness it anywhere else.
October 14th, 2008 at at 10:14 am
I’m voting for Obama. I don’t like big spending either, but lets face it. We spend WAY more on military than most of the world combined. We need to pull our military back. We need to pull ourselves out of other countries affairs and work on energy independence. I’m also a fan of the 2nd amendment, but it was put in place to make sure we could do our civic duty of overthrowing those who mean to destroy our country from within. The problem is that the 2nd amendment doesn’t cover tanks, jet fighters and aircraft carriers. If you think owning even ak-47s will make you a formidable opponent to an M1 Abrams I’ve got bad news for you. Gun control sucks, but that battle is already lost. As far as health care goes.. I hate Obama’s plan for health care. It’s stupid to make it affordable when they just aren’t going to pay out on your claims anyway. So, what I’m left with is:
Do I vote for McCain who has lied constantly about who he is, and will do anything at any cost to get in power, and if he dies we are stuck with a borderline retarded person or
Do I throw my vote away on a third party candidate, or
Do I vote for a guy that is really smart that I don’t agree with on most stuff.
As an atheist I tend to favor the smart people. I also favor people who are tolerant. Not much tolerance on the republican ticket in quite some years.
October 16th, 2008 at at 2:38 am
Hey I AM, I was cleaning out old emails, stumbled across one from you, and I thought I’d stop by. If it means anything I’m voting for Obama. From a fiscal view I understand your reservation. Mine and your views on fiscal policy are probably very different. It’s just not that hard a choice from my perspective.
Ultimately, I think the first comment above is really the most salient. The next president is certain to have one and probably more opportunities to appoint Supreme Court justices. The most likely candidates for retirement are Stevens, Ginsburg and Souter. That’s three out of the four moderate to liberal justices. If McCain is elected, he will have the opportunity to significantly shift the current balance. Due to a Democrat majority in Congress, he probably wouldn’t have carte blanche to put just any crazy extremist in, but whoever he nominates, will be social conservatives. Social conservatism is almost always bad for atheists.
If Obama is elected, the court will stay pretty much the way it is. McCain, on the other hand, says, “I want people who interpret the Constitution of the United States the way our founding fathers envisioned for them to do so.” McCain, of course, referring to the same “God fearing” interpretation of the founding fathers vision as Ron Paul. In just three years, the Bush appointed Roberts court has chilled desegregation efforts, allowed the first abortion ban with no exception for a woman’s health, made it harder to claim employment discrimination, and easier to mix church and state. A McCain judiciary would be even worse. Who knows, we might even see Christianity declared the national religion.
Given the fact that neither of the men destined to be the next president will practice fiscal conservatism, social policy becomes your only differentiation. You could choose to abstain, but I think the court is important enough an issue to compel action. The current financial crises is going to hurt, bad, and we’ll be paying for it for a long time. But, we’ll be paying for the next Supreme Court for even longer.
October 20th, 2008 at at 7:36 am
I’m a Brit so i don’t get to vote in your elections. That said i do follow your nations politics very closely, its like a soap opera, but if the wrong guy gets in, Iran gets invaded.
So, cast your vote on my behalf. Vote Obama. My reasoning is thus.
Obama may tax you slightly more. However, he isn’t going to bankrupt your country anymore than the republicans have already and will probably do more to help your finances than McCain.
McCain has a hard on for war with Iran. This would be a fantastic disaster for America. Your military literally cannot take it, it needs some recovery time.
McCain is not in any sense a maverick. He will follow the same neo-con policies that have destroyed much of America’s wealth, reputation and military might over the last 8 years.
The Democrats are far from perfect but what is really needed now is a return to the clinton years or something even better. Peace, economic prosperity and social progress.
As a libertarian you should care that the republicans will try and restrict your freedoms (often on religious grounds) and invade your privacy. The democrats may tighten up on gun control but really, thats neither here nor there, they aren’t going to ban them and you don’t need a rack of assault rifles.
If you are happy with the way your nation has been run the last 8 years, vote for McCain (and hope he doesn’t get ill). If you are unhappy with the way your country has been run (and in my mind you should be furious) then vote to change the way things are being done and vote Obama.
Gribble
October 20th, 2008 at at 5:09 pm
Vote Bob Barr. I mean, he has no chance of winning, so the fact that he’s pretty scary and not really a libertarian shouldn’t scare you. Plus, it adds a vote to the third parties that have grown atrophied in the current political system.
Frankly, I view voting as an exercise in absurdity. As absurdity, I find it perfectly acceptable to vote for someone you know ahead of time will not win. Then again, my strategy is usually vote for a third party if possible, against the incumbent if not, and Democrat if there’s no other options.
Obama’s winning Colorado anyway, so cast your vote for anyone who strikes your fancy. And Bob Barr just has a cool name.