To all my friends who are voting for a President candidate simply because he is not (insert name):
Please don’t.
By that, I mean you should not vote for a candidate because he is not the other candidate. That’s how we’ve gotten into this mess. People voted for Bush because he wasn’t associated with Clinton. People voted for Obama because he wasn’t Bush. All that does is get somebody out of office. But who does it put in?
When you vote for President, vote for the candidate whose positions you agree with. This should be positions they have held consistently throughout the campaign, and the positions of their party platforms (as opposed to the positions they suddenly adopt to get votes at the end of the campaign). Once the udder guy is out of office, these are the positions they are going to be working towards — what they will work to legislate, the positions that judges they nominate will support. These will be the goals of their administration — both social and political. If you can agree with those positions, then support that candidate. If you can’t agree with those positions, then find a candidate you can support. If you can’t stomach any of the candidates, don’t vote. Don’t just vote to get someone out of office; remember your vote puts someone in an office for four years.
As insight into this, there are two good articles in today’s LA Times I recommend. The first explores how Mitt Romney makes decisions. The second explores how Barack Obama makes decisions. Ask yourself: In a Chief Executive, which decision making approach do you want?
As always, an informed and educated voter is a better voter. Even if they vote for someone I disagree with.
