Who did you vote for in 2016?

[Jigsaw]

No idea if political discussions are frowned upon here - it's been so long since FE's been really active that I both don't quite remember and more so, wasn't into politics back then.

I'm simply curious, should you be an American citizen, who you voted for in the Presidential race last year, and a quick explanation of why. Also, if you chose not to vote (which is a valid choice), that'd be interesting to know also.

No idea how many FE members care to discuss politics, but screw it, thought I'd make a thread about it.

As for me, I wrote in Jill Stein of the Green Party. Now, Indiana only had three names on the actual ballot (Trump, Clinton, Johnson), but 15 approved write-in candidates. Stein was one of those approved write-in candidates, and thus I gave her my vote.

Two other candidates I considered writing in included Mimi Soltysik (of the Socialist Party USA) and Monica Moorehead (of the Worker's World Party) - both decently solid choices, though my heart was with Moorehead. All that said, Stein seemed the practical choice, and thus I voted for her without too much hesitation.

As an aside, I didn't vote for a single Republican or Democrat down-ticket (Indiana had both a gubernatorial and senate election 2016), and even voted for a Libertarian for my district's House seat.

If you're at all interested, what's your election day/early voting story?

[Shadow]

I wrote in Sanders simply out of spite for literally everyone else, including him- I don't even agree with any of his socialist hoo-haa in the least but I'd rather "throw my vote away" than contribute to a shitshow. I was half tempted to just write in Harambe or something.

Having said that, I'm really not upset that Trump beat Clinton. One thing I couldn't stand was the fact that she, the Democrats, celebrities, and the media basically tried to roll out the red carpet for her despite all her innumerable flaws- if it wasn't for her name/hubby no one would have ever even given her the time of day. Not that Trump was any better but at least he beat out everyone fair and square despite the fact literally just about everyone tried to stomp on him, including the bulk of the Republican party.

Plus, since no one really seems to like him on capital hill, he will likely (hopefully) be fairly ineffective- which is fine by me since I think the executive branch has gotten far too big for its britches since 9/11. And of the things that he has done so far I haven't been really irate/pissy over or anything. Just eye-rolly at worst.

Politics usually isn't a topic we discuss here too much since it's touchy... but since there isn't anyone around to speak of I wouldn't mind talking about it. I've always found it pretty interesting despite how insufferable pretty much every politician is.

Who knows maybe this'll be the thread that gets people talking again. Maybe we should talk about Brexit next to bring Dorkie back?

[Jigsaw]

Did you look into the bigger third parties (Libertarian and Green) at all? I ask because I know many people hated both Clinton and Trump (as do I), but not everyone looked at necessarily all the choices they had (third party candidates, official write-in candidates, what have you).

Did you have anyone in the Democratic or Republican primaries who you were most hoping would win? A Jeb Bush, maybe, or a Martin O'Malley?

I consider myself a progressive, a leftist, a socialist, whatever term you care to use. And from my far-left perspective, I am glad that Clinton lost - like you said, everyone was acting like she was 100% going to win, and she didn't need to do anything to earn the votes that would cause that win.

Remember, she told the DNC to boost up candidates like Ben Carson and Donald Trump because she thought she'd have an easier time winning against the "crazy" Republicans as opposed to the John Kasichs and Jeb Bushs of the Party.

Also remember that Clinton lost Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Michigan last went Republican in a presidential election 1988. Last time Wisconsin went Republican was 1984. Ohio last went Republican (sort of - there's evidence of machine rigging) in 2004. And Pennsylvania last went Republican in 1988.

And not only did Clinton lose some of these states, she lost all of them (along with Iowa, which is just embarrassing)..

Without a doubt, Clinton was one of the worst Democratic candidates in a long time. Honestly, I think Michael Dukakis (1988) was a better candidate.  No Democrat worth his or her salt should be losing those four states like she did.

Like you said, Trump is terrible, but everything we've seen shows that the RNC allowed the people to choose their candidate, and though they didn't like Trump, they didn't rig any primaries against him, which is completely unlike the outright illicit actions of the DNC.

I dislike Trump, but Clinton losing to him serves the corrupt Democratic Party and Clinton right. The fact she lost to Trump is so laughable - just shows what an atrocious candidate she was.

Trump's done some negative things, but to me, it's basically no different from what any other Republican would like to do. Only difference is he's more open and blunt about it.

I went for a political science degree from college, and am deeply informed (or at least, I like to believe so) on the issues I find important, so I always like talking politics. I can't stand the Democratic or Republican parties, and am basically right now just a supporter of people looking at third party choices, as we need to break away from this stifling two-party system.

Looking at Clinton and Trump and choosing the lesser of two evils is like trying to nail a pin on a donkey while drunk - it doesn't matter how hard you try, you're not going to do well.

Sorry for the lengthy reply, but as I said, I find politics deeply interesting, and am always willing to give my two thoughts on anything going on.

Out of interest, if you had Senate races or gubernatorial races to vote on, did you choose to vote in those races? Or are you a purely presidential voter, with little interest in other races?

[Shadow]

I looked into all the options available, mainly at the "realistic" ones- I was impressed by none. Trump's a jackass, Clinton I'm pretty sure is an robot that needs battery change, Stein is a hippie, and Johnson just came off as even more bizarre this time around than last time.

As far as political ideology goes I've taken plenty of tests and they place me somewhere along the lines of having libertarian ideals, and leaning just a teeny bit to the right- which I tend to feel is accurate enough, depending on the topic. However, I don't identify with any party, nor will I likely ever.

Shy of a few of times where I simply didn't have the time or some other circumstance, I've voted every chance I can get in every election I could since I turned 18. A couple of years or so ago I finally signed up for the early election ballot, so now I have less worry about lines and such. And as far as who I voted for it really all depends on the person's record and what their platform is. Along with how much of their crap I believe they'll stick to.

For the propositions this past year in Arizona, I voted yes on 205 (weed decriminalization) and no on 206 (minimum wage). I went yes with weed just because it makes sense- it would have been a new source of revenue (especially for schools, which it was targeted towards in theory) and it would have helped to counteract a law which I don't think should be in place. Not that I have much sympathy for the jackasses that got caught knowingly and willingly breaking the law or anything- but it does need to be changed.

I voted no on 206 (minimum wage) simply because I didn't like the way it was written more than anything. It should be higher, I agree (was $7.25, I think?), but I know a few small time business owners and the amounts they want over time would be too much for most of them considering the jobs being offered. Plus I don't really see why someone should be getting paid $12.00+ per hour to flip burgers or other menial tasks- min wage jobs should be transitory work not something to live your whole life off of. All I think that'll do is potentially push small businesses over, while giving big businesses more incentive to move even faster towards self automated everything- and then who ends up getting screwed in the process? Plus along with all that there was also a statute relating to sick pay. I think sick pay should be an employer-employee negotiation, not a law.

I actually lost out on both in this case, but it doesn't really bother me all too much. Recreational marijuana will eventually get passed- we simply need more of these retired reefer madness fearing old fucks in Sun City to die off. And minimum wage did need to be raised some. Maybe something will get renegotiated down the line if things go south? Maybe it'll work out? Who knows. I try to keep an open mind and neither of those things affect me at all so meh.

With Federal Senate and House seats I ended up voting for McCain and a mixed bag for House. State Senate and House seats were a complete mixed bag- along with the other office positions in state. You can bet your ass that I didn't vote for Helen Purcell or any of the council people who caused that snafu the last time here.

So did you finish your degree?

[Jigsaw]

Not yet, no - I have one more year to go. After my father died, I took a break, which wasn't intended to be as long as it's been, but about eight months ago, I found out my mother has cancer, and so right now I'm living with her. I have every intention to finish up my degree, but I honestly don't know when. For the time being, I'm working 40 hours a week and basically biding my time.

Thanks for the full break-down of your political viewpoints. I disagreed with some of it, as you might expect, but I appreciate you taking the time to go over that all.

By the way, you may not know this, but Green Party nominee Gary Swing got 5.4% (138,000 votes or so) in that Arizona senate race, which is pretty damn high for a third party. You have any ideas as to why that is? Just asking out of curiosity. After Kirkpatrick defeated Leonard Clark in the Democratic primary (which was, alas, entirely expected), I had zero interest in seeing her win, so I'm glad she got land-slided by McCain.

[Shadow]

Well fuck, sounds like everything is just falling apart. Is she terminal, or is it still treatable? Hopefully you'll at least be able to save up your money to keep things going.

And even if school doesn't work out it isn't the end of the world- experience tends to pay off better than a piece of paper anyways. Particularly if you have a clear idea of what you want to/can do. And with the way college rates keep going up nowadays... there's another bubble I'm betting will explode sooner rather than later. I ended up 20k in debt for a degree I don't even use, and that's nothing compared to what some of these other people get themselves into.

I had noticed that about Swing here... I honestly have no idea why, for certain. I know he's from around the Tucson area- which is generally the more liberal part of the state- so I can only imagine that the bulk of the votes came from that area with disillusioned Dems? Just a wild guess, I could be completely wrong. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a relatively higher turn out rate amongst the college students, too. And considering U of A is located in Tucson... that has to be the disillusioned lefty ground zero of the state right there.

[JasonzSon]

There was exactly one candidate on the ballot (for POTUS) who wasn't an anti-vaxxer. I really don't give a damn if two of them only claimed to be because of their lunatic fringe bases and one of them believes that your right to give all the children in your community polio supersedes their right to not get polio. That alone was enough to narrow it down to one person.

[Shadow]

Out of curiosity what else were you looking for in candidates? Not even relating to all the crap sandwiches we were given this cycle... but just in general?

[Evil1]

I liked neither Trump nor Clinton. With Sanders out of the race i voted for Stein as her views were similar to Sanders. I knew she wouldn't win but i just couldn't stomach voting for the main two.

[Jigsaw]

Out of curiosity what else were you looking for in candidates? Not even relating to all the crap sandwiches we were given this cycle... but just in general?

though potentially cliche, I was looking for a candidate who actually cared about the people of this country. Neither Trump nor Clinton gave a fuck about the average person, but candidates like Mimi Soltysik (Socialist Party USA), Monica Moorehead (Worker's World Party), and Jill Stein (Green) did, in my estimation.

[Shadow]

That's not true. Trump cares as long as you're on his side, and Clinton cares as long as you pay her.

[Jigsaw]

That's not true. Trump cares as long as you're on his side, and Clinton cares as long as you pay her.

Just saw this reply now. 

I stand corrected - you are entirely correct.

[Shadow]

Unfortunately.

Well off of the original topic, but completely in the same political vein- what do you think about all the drama bombs that have been going off on both sides lately? Menendez, Paul, Moore, Franken (now, apparently)... the myriad of Hillary/DNC leaks. Lots of juicy stuff has gone on since this thread started up.

Seems like the only political-related news I've seen lately that I thought was kind of nice was Scalice challenging people to wheelchair races.

[Jigsaw]

To be honest, while the sexual assault and allegation thing is, in my opinion, a serious issue, I feel it's becoming more of a distraction.

Look at it this way - Roy Moore is an individual with terrible political views across the board (as a leftist, through-and-through, I get that you may not agree with me, but hold on) - on things from school prayer to abortion to gay marriage, Moore is wrong about almost everything.

But are his issues being discussed? No, just this allegation of dating a teenager. Is it important? You can certainly make that argument. Is it more important than his politics? Ehh, not in my opinion.

Al Franken is another one. Now, I admit, I used to like Franken - he won re-election in 2014 by refusing to go to the center, unlike almost every other Democrat who got slaughtered (look at, for instance, Mark Pryor's devastating loss in Arkansas, or Alison Lundergan Grimes' defeat in Kentucky).

But I've not cared for him in some time. If he was up for election, would people be talking about his opinions on the issues? Or just laser-focus on this sexual harassment allegation?

Above all else, issues are what matter to me. That's why I'd vote for a non-charismatic academic prude if his issues and mine were in alignment.

I'm interested in your view.

[JasonzSon]

I agree that sexual misbehavior as a fad is a bad thing. That said, I feel like this may have a benefit in the long run. I was very critical (though not very vocally) of the Weinstein thing because I felt if just one person was being focused on, the crime was getting caught, not doing it. We all know that way too many people are committing those crimes. So I considered it a good turn when half a dozen or so people were outed as abusers within a very short time after that. It meant that this time, the movement may have more sticking power; that people were fed up enough not to take down just one sacrificial target, but actually to attack the system. If removing abusers actually influences elections, that's pretty big, if it lasts.

Abusers aren't very big on people's rights, even if they talk a good talk, so I do think if this has widespread impact then it will have an overall positive effect on policy. Generally, policy is only of many factors to determine if someone actually gets elected, and I'm happy to see something like this take the place of whether or not they're "someone you'd have a beer with" or "Christian enough" or something like that. In a perfect world, sex offenders would be prosecuted before even running for office, never be considered on the ballot, and people would focus on the issues, but we know this is not a perfect world: elections will almost always be more about exciting the crowd than about reality. I do think if this movement has a lasting effect, it will be a step in the right direction.