Eight Presidential Candidates

[Pathless]

One of the things I like about living in Washington State is that for every election, the Secretary of State creates and sends to all voters a Voter's Pamphlet with information about each of the candidates, along with the candidates' statements. Yesterday, I got the one for the November 4th General Election. As I flipped through it, I was a bit surprised and glad to see a spread of eight presidential and vice presidential candidates represented. You can view the information for each of these tickets online here. Navigate the menu on the lower left-hand side of the screen: click "Federal" and then "United States" and you will be able to click on and view information about and statements from each of the candidates.

When it comes down to it, of course, only two of the candidates are 'electable.' Putting aside that notion and the media circus of campaigns and debates, take a few minutes and peruse the eight candidates, then vote here for the one that resonates the most with you. Which one represents you and your values best? Perhaps it's the Constitution Party, with their desire to create national self-reliance and pay close attention to the Constiution of the United States. Or maybe the values and plans outlined briefly by the candidates of the Socialism & Liberation Party make sense to you. Maybe Ralph Nader, maybe Cynthia McKinney, maybe Bob Barr get your approval and support. Or maybe you'll stick with one of the major two candidates.

I'll cast my vote first for Cynthia McKinney. I admire her courage and personal integrity, her dedication to civil and human rights, and her opposition as a member of congress to all of the reactionary bull**** that consumed this country after 9/11. Gloria La Riva and her running mate Eugene Puryear also interest me.

Unfortunately, I will not be voting for McKinney in the actual election. I will cast my vote in the polarized two-party system, because that, when it comes down to it, is what we have to work with in the United States at the present time. I look forward to the day when elections, and daily life, present us with more choices and diversity.

 

[wil]

This year to me is one of the perfect opportunities to actually make your vote count!

There are so many on the fence, don't know if they want Obama or McCain.

I can understand if you know which candidate you want, and support their issues and plans...by all means vote for that person.

However I've never understood voting against someone. I've always found the third party candidate I actually wanted to win and supported them, this is the only way we'll break the two party system is actually participate.

But if you are on the fence...look at all the third party candidates, it is ridiculous that they haven't been on stage for 4 debates.

So make your voice heard! Vote third party, vote for someone you actually want to win.

If McCain or Obama are the answer....what the heck was the question?

 

[Ciel]

Pathless, thank you for the opportunity to cast a vote from the other side of the waters.I was wondering how I might do it without US citizenship.
What's happening over there right now affects us all.

- c -

 

[bob x]

The problem is, that the kinds of people who go into third parties tend to be lunatics, with no realistic conception of what it would take to actually govern.

 

[Pathless]

The problem is, that the kinds of people who go into third parties tend to be lunatics, with no realistic conception of what it would take to actually govern.

Perhaps we are all lunatics. Perhaps the entire society is insane. Both major party candidates are promoting nuclear technology as part of their energy plan. Nuclear power plants create unfathomable amounts of radioactive waste that sticks around for hundreds of thousands, even millions of years. In extremely low doses these radioactive wastes cause cancer. No one has yet come up with a viable way to store these wastes, and many of them are just piled under the Earth, where they will stay, where they will leak--no, sorry, where they have leaked and are leaking and will continue to leak into the surrounding soil and water. And part of our future energy plans involve creating more of these wastes? And putting them where? And monitoring them how? Containing them how?

The fact that this is reality makes me think that quite a lot of us are insane.

AbeBooks: Search Results - lenssen and nuclear waste

 

[wil]

The problem is, that the kinds of people who go into third parties tend to be lunatics, with no realistic conception of what it would take to actually govern.

No realistic conception of what it takes to govern. Let's see... In my voting life: Bush gave us a terrible war and complete loss of faith in Gov't; Clinton abused his office to take advantage of an intern and brought to our teens that oral is not sex; Bush 1 enticed Sadam into GW1 which led to the aforementioned GWIIs; Reagan showed you can govern with Alzheimers and astrologers; Carter gave us 22% interest and tons of unemployment; Nixon provided us distrust of the gov't and crudeness, rudeness, and imperial attitude in the office (and don't forget Spiro).

I believe a Perot, Hagelin, Nader, Barr, McKinney, even a LaRouche could do as well as the line up we've had the past 30 years.

Shake em up, vote third party in the Presidential and vote your local and national House and Senate out...

 

[Pathless]

This year to me is one of the perfect opportunities to actually make your vote count!

There are so many on the fence, don't know if they want Obama or McCain.

I can understand if you know which candidate you want, and support their issues and plans...by all means vote for that person.

However I've never understood voting against someone. I've always found the third party candidate I actually wanted to win and supported them, this is the only way we'll break the two party system is actually participate.

But if you are on the fence...look at all the third party candidates, it is ridiculous that they haven't been on stage for 4 debates.

So make your voice heard! Vote third party, vote for someone you actually want to win.

If McCain or Obama are the answer....what the heck was the question?

Wil, maybe I will do just that. I know you'll appreciate this video of Ron Paul advocating for a third party breakthrough in the two-party system. As a matter of fact, I'm willing to bet that you've seen this one already:

YouTube - Ron Paul 9-10-08 Press Conference