October 30, 200817 yr I consider myself more of a libertarian than a conservative on most/many issues. Voting for Barr is a complete waste of time and simply silly. Some will say its a protest vote. About as effective as standing in an open field and protesting a fighter jet straffing you by raising your middle finger at it. Feels good for the moment until reality sets in. McCain is not a libertarian, no doubt about that. But he's one heck of a lot closer than Senator Obama is. People who will only vote for someone that agrees exactly with all the views of the person voting need to remember the maxim: there is only one absolute in life and that is, there are absolutely no absolutes in life.
October 30, 200817 yr ^That pretty much sums up my position on this election. I have never been a McCain fan but he has won more of my respect by the way he has run this campaign. His decision to stick with public financing even after Obama reneged on the agreement showed a great deal of character and courage - although I still vehemently disagree with him on the horrible McCain-Feingold Act that invited the kind of spending binge in which Obama and his left wing 527s have been engaging.
October 31, 200817 yr I consider myself more of a libertarian than a conservative on most/many issues. Voting for Barr is a complete waste of time and simply silly. Some will say its a protest vote. About as effective as standing in an open field and protesting a fighter jet straffing you by raising your middle finger at it. Feels good for the moment until reality sets in. McCain is not a libertarian, no doubt about that. But he's one heck of a lot closer than Senator Obama is. People who will only vote for someone that agrees exactly with all the views of the person voting need to remember the maxim: there is only one absolute in life and that is, there are absolutely no absolutes in life. Awesome, LN. That gave me a good belly laugh.
October 31, 200817 yr Awesome, LN. That gave me a good belly laugh. Doing what I can to keep things light on here.:thumb: Vote McCain!
October 31, 200817 yr Author I consider myself more of a libertarian than a conservative on most/many issues. Voting for Barr is a complete waste of time and simply silly. Some will say its a protest vote. About as effective as standing in an open field and protesting a fighter jet straffing you by raising your middle finger at it. Feels good for the moment until reality sets in. McCain is not a libertarian, no doubt about that. But he's one heck of a lot closer than Senator Obama is. People who will only vote for someone that agrees exactly with all the views of the person voting need to remember the maxim: there is only one absolute in life and that is, there are absolutely no absolutes in life. Voting for Bush didn't do one thing to push through my libertarian ideas as I'm sure voting for McCain won't help either. Call it silly, but I'm not going to be the "libertarian" complaining in two years when McCain has pushed this country further into socialism. I guess I'd rather be "silly" than continue to help the problem. To me that's silly.
October 31, 200817 yr IMO here is it it boils down to. A lot of people on this site (LN, Hoot, myself, Hearsay, HHSDad, UKMustang, FKY, maybe even Habib and H) identify ourselves as very libertarian. Those of you who are older have been through many elections and realize that only a D or R has a chance to win. You call yourselves realists, and vote for the lesser of two evils. The younger ones- me, FKY, UKMustang- haven't been around as long, but have still become sick of the current options. I think since we realize change is a long, long process, we've decided to stick with our beliefs. You may think we are wasting our votes, but we are just idealists- for better or for worse.
October 31, 200817 yr Author IMO here is it it boils down to. A lot of people on this site (LN, Hoot, myself, Hearsay, HHSDad, UKMustang, FKY, maybe even Habib and H) identify ourselves as very libertarian. Those of you who are older have been through many elections and realize that only a D or R has a chance to win. You call yourselves realists, and vote for the lesser of two evils. The younger ones- me, FKY, UKMustang- haven't been around as long, but have still become sick of the current options. I think since we realize change is a long, long process, we've decided to stick with our beliefs. You may think we are wasting our votes, but we are just idealists- for better or for worse. Very well said. Now that the "older" guys have got the mandatory reminder of my wasted vote out of the way, does anyone have any comments on the actual linked article?
October 31, 200817 yr IMO here is it it boils down to. A lot of people on this site (LN, Hoot, myself, Hearsay, HHSDad, UKMustang, FKY, maybe even Habib and H) identify ourselves as very libertarian. Those of you who are older have been through many elections and realize that only a D or R has a chance to win. You call yourselves realists, and vote for the lesser of two evils. The younger ones- me, FKY, UKMustang- haven't been around as long, but have still become sick of the current options. I think since we realize change is a long, long process, we've decided to stick with our beliefs. You may think we are wasting our votes, but we are just idealists- for better or for worse. There is a time and a place to be idealistic for sure. I fully understand that. I was much idealistic when I was younger. Heck, I was a Democrat. But there is a time when you do have to be a realist. In my opinion a vote for Barr is a vote for Obama. And Obama's beliefs are much, much more contrary to a libertarian's than McCain's are. And if Obama gets elected, due in part as a result of libertarians voting for Barr, you shouldn't be complaining in two years at all about Obama moving this country towards socialism because you will have had a role in making that happen. That's realism. And if I'm being condescending (again) I apologize. I won't deny that I generally feel that younger people don't have the life experiences necessary to have informed positions on a lot of issues facing this country. No doubt about that and I'm sure that comes across in my posts and irritates younger people. But hey, I'm honest about how I feel. Edited October 31, 200817 yr by leatherneck
October 31, 200817 yr There is a time and a place to be idealistic for sure. I fully understand that. I was much idealistic when I was younger. Heck, I was a Democrat. But there is a time when you do have to be a realist. In my opinion a vote for Barr is a vote for Obama. And Obama's beliefs are much, much more contrary to a libertarian's than McCain's are. And if Obama gets elected, due in part as a result of libertarians voting for Barr, you shouldn't be complaining in two years at all about Obama moving this country towards socialism because you will have had a role in making that happen. That's realism. Let's say that enough people vote for Barr (or McKinney, or Nader) and it pulls the election away from McCain. Do you think that this could be a "wake up call" for the Republican party that the majority of America, while not necessarily supportive of Obama, are disenchanted enough with the Republican party as it is today, that it could effect real change? Let's suppose Obama's hypothetical presidency is as horrific as many are predicitng. Would the Republican party be willing to look within itself and realize that the disenfrancised are willing to take a stand on principle versus continue to put up with a party that represents them in in name only?
October 31, 200817 yr There is a time and a place to be idealistic for sure. I fully understand that. I was much idealistic when I was younger. Heck, I was a Democrat. But there is a time when you do have to be a realist. In my opinion a vote for Barr is a vote for Obama. And Obama's beliefs are much, much more contrary to a libertarian's than McCain's are. And if Obama gets elected, due in part as a result of libertarians voting for Barr, you shouldn't be complaining in two years at all about Obama moving this country towards socialism because you will have had a role in making that happen. That's realism. How about the electorial college, the truth is Obama can not win in the state of Kentucky, the electorial college will vote for Mccain here, so all votes for Obama are basically wasted right? So realistically they are wasting their vote. Out in California, MCcain has no chance of winning, so those people are wasting their vote, right? The electorial college will give its votes to Obama. To me there is no difference in those people's rationale than why I and a few others are voting the way we are. Am I wrong on any of these points? I would understand, if the President was determined by popular vote, but as it was proven in the last election it is not. That is reality.
October 31, 200817 yr There is a time and a place to be idealistic for sure. I fully understand that. I was much idealistic when I was younger. Heck, I was a Democrat. But there is a time when you do have to be a realist. In my opinion a vote for Barr is a vote for Obama. And Obama's beliefs are much, much more contrary to a libertarian's than McCain's are. And if Obama gets elected, due in part as a result of libertarians voting for Barr, you shouldn't be complaining in two years at all about Obama moving this country towards socialism because you will have had a role in making that happen. That's realism. And if I'm being condescending (again) I apologize. I won't deny that I generally feel that younger people don't have the life experiences necessary to have informed positions on a lot of issues facing this country. No doubt about that and I'm sure that comes across in my posts and irritates younger people. But hey, I'm honest about how I feel. you're my hero. Because of your stance and because you articulate it well.
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