Nov 13, 2023·edited Nov 13, 2023Liked by Susan Campbell
If a person feels Trump is the most horrific President (or DeSantis, say) we could have, then I have no patience with Stein or Kennedy or alternative votes. Do I wish Biden were younger? Sure. Do I always agree with him? Of course not. But a vote for the others is a vote for Trump and I just cannot stomach that. To me, this election is between a good, but imperfect man who believes in Democracy and recognises we are part of a WORLD, and an intentionally ignorant would-be narcissistic dictator. Sorry. I am just terrified for the future this year.
Thinking about this post, with which I agreeI thought:
(1) I am not interested in voting to chastise a candidate for their imperfection. It is ineffective. Even if they knew me and cared about my views, I would have a conversation with them instead.
(2) I now think consciously about my vote in a dynamic framework: if the candidate I vote for wins, how will that move the polity? I won't ever have a beer with these guys, but I will likely be alive somewhat longer, and I haven't liked seeing my county move toward normalizing plutocracy and dictatorial cruelty at all.
If I think that the top two candidates for one position are both retrograde monsters I'll write in a candidate. (I did not vote for Joe Lieberman for Senate in 1992.)
In a galaxy far, far away a 3rd party candidate, John Anderson entered the fray. He was a good candidate, a WW2 vet and a pragmatic guy. Sadly he tarnished his reputation when he supported Nadar's candidacy that left us "Bushed." Stein is a Putin plant, recall photos of her in Russia at a dinner honoring her comrade. Kennedy is a poster child for the need for us to focus on mental health care. Of course I left out Perot who was just a cartoon character with wads of cash to spend on his ego trip. In the final analysis Anderson took votes away from Jimmy Carter leaving us with Reagan! Nadar took votes from Gore no further comment necessary. Stein took votes from Biden and will again which makes Putin as happy as a Russian soaked in vodka. As we approach the 60th anniversary of JFK's unsolved murder in broad daylight on a street in the city of hate we must all come to grips with how far we have fallen since the days of promise JFK offered. Each time I have voted nationally I have chosen between candidates that didn't really excite me much, except for Obama. So I understand why some voters go to the 3rd party candidate who has NO chance of winning BUT as we have seen elections have consequences. Reagan, Bush and Trump did great harm to our country! Sorry for the rambling - just be thankful you have the right to vote unlike the countries and leaders 45 is enamored with!
Absolutely! His 'speech' in Claremont yesterday certainly was telling, as he told him supporters he planned to "get rid of vermin" (Adolf's words) and praised Hungary's tyrant.
Nov 13, 2023·edited Nov 13, 2023Liked by Susan Campbell
A lot of this is an argument for ranked choice voting. I voted for Anderson in 1980 and regretted it ever since. In retrospect, I don’t deserve to hold Jimmy Carter’s hat.
If someone truly believes in their choice in voting third party I can live with that but I have no use for the snarky, listless lefties who have said to me there’s no difference between Bush and Gore, Trump and Hillary, etc. I considered Bill Clinton a pig in 1992 when I voted for Jerry Brown in the Connecticut primary but I still voted for Clinton in the general and I’m glad I did. I’ve worked for some candidates that I thought were intolerable a-holes on a personal level but I wasn’t doing it for them to be my friend. Voting is a push in a direction. It’s far from perfect but I like to think I’m helping to push.
I'll see your "I voted for Nader" and raise it with my Kennedy-Democrat-always-voted-(D) sister voting for Trump in 2016. She shared that info with me last year after spending his entire term pissing and moaning about everything he did. To say I was shocked and disappointed (I had to end the phone call right after she told me.) is an understatement, and while I try to get past it, I can't. I cannot help but be uncomfortable around her.
It does give you a new view on someone, doesn't it? My middle brother, who voted for Trump in '16, voted for Biden in '20. He'd never voted for a Democrat before but he said he just couldn't make that leap with Trump.
She may have hesitated to tell me before the election based on a conversation we had when she said some rather misogynistic that I blasted her for even thinking much less saying.
I think that misogyny has had an enormous amount to do with women's ability to become candidates and to win. The demands for many-dimensioned and multiply conceived perfections for women candidates to be viable are exorbitant. Thanks for letting your sister know what she'd said.
Nov 13, 2023·edited Nov 13, 2023Liked by Susan Campbell
More and more women are becoming candidates and those women are winning. The Campaign School at Yale is helping make that happen. I personally know two women that now hold public office in Connecticut after attending that program. On another note, women are not always other women's best friends.
Similar experience voting for Trump in 2016 because of my disgust with how Bernie Sanders delegates were shut out of the DNC convention by Hillary's minions the minute it started.
Held my nose and voted Biden 2020. Currently resigned to voting Blue no matter who in 2024 because Holy Christo-Fascist Nightmare, Batman!
You voted. I went to jail back in “63” , cause some folk couldn’t vote and still can’t. You voted. I served in the army during Viet Nam cause some folk couldn’t vote and still can’t. Girl friend, don’t you never apologize for doing something too many can’t. You voted.
I voted for Bill Clinton though I condemned his behavior. I asked a Trump supporter why she won't even condemn his behavior. She didn't have an answer but took my point saying she remembered what I'd had to say about Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal.
I voted for Nader once. I don't remember if it was in 2000 or one of the other times. Never again. I believed CT to be "safely" Democratic, at least on a state-wide level. I'll never assume that again.
I didn't vote for Jill Stein in 2016, but I did send money to her to pay for recounts in key states. I'll never do that again, either. I didn't know she was running again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
As for RFK Jr, that's just sad. But will he peel more votes away from Biden, or from Trump? I can't begin to guess.
No candidate is ever going to be the perfect candidate. That's asking for a unicorn. As someone else so wisely said here, a vote is a "push in the direction" I want to go, and I want to preserve democracy.
I won't waste my vote and I can't stand the thought of another Trump presidency!
However, I can't help but wonder why we don't have better candidates sometimes. For such a great, powerful country, with plenty of talent, it's puzzling that the choices we're given don't appear to reflect our nation's best!
If a person feels Trump is the most horrific President (or DeSantis, say) we could have, then I have no patience with Stein or Kennedy or alternative votes. Do I wish Biden were younger? Sure. Do I always agree with him? Of course not. But a vote for the others is a vote for Trump and I just cannot stomach that. To me, this election is between a good, but imperfect man who believes in Democracy and recognises we are part of a WORLD, and an intentionally ignorant would-be narcissistic dictator. Sorry. I am just terrified for the future this year.
We. Are. Going. To. Be. OK.
If. You. Say. So.
I know. Periods between each word are very dramatic, yes?
Yep. 🤣In this case, thoroughly appropriate.
Being young and not in love with nuance! I gotta steal that. Voting ones' "personal" conscious is not a great option when facing fascism.
True that.
Thinking about this post, with which I agreeI thought:
(1) I am not interested in voting to chastise a candidate for their imperfection. It is ineffective. Even if they knew me and cared about my views, I would have a conversation with them instead.
(2) I now think consciously about my vote in a dynamic framework: if the candidate I vote for wins, how will that move the polity? I won't ever have a beer with these guys, but I will likely be alive somewhat longer, and I haven't liked seeing my county move toward normalizing plutocracy and dictatorial cruelty at all.
If I think that the top two candidates for one position are both retrograde monsters I'll write in a candidate. (I did not vote for Joe Lieberman for Senate in 1992.)
In a galaxy far, far away a 3rd party candidate, John Anderson entered the fray. He was a good candidate, a WW2 vet and a pragmatic guy. Sadly he tarnished his reputation when he supported Nadar's candidacy that left us "Bushed." Stein is a Putin plant, recall photos of her in Russia at a dinner honoring her comrade. Kennedy is a poster child for the need for us to focus on mental health care. Of course I left out Perot who was just a cartoon character with wads of cash to spend on his ego trip. In the final analysis Anderson took votes away from Jimmy Carter leaving us with Reagan! Nadar took votes from Gore no further comment necessary. Stein took votes from Biden and will again which makes Putin as happy as a Russian soaked in vodka. As we approach the 60th anniversary of JFK's unsolved murder in broad daylight on a street in the city of hate we must all come to grips with how far we have fallen since the days of promise JFK offered. Each time I have voted nationally I have chosen between candidates that didn't really excite me much, except for Obama. So I understand why some voters go to the 3rd party candidate who has NO chance of winning BUT as we have seen elections have consequences. Reagan, Bush and Trump did great harm to our country! Sorry for the rambling - just be thankful you have the right to vote unlike the countries and leaders 45 is enamored with!
This year? My conscience tells me to fight dictators.
Absolutely! His 'speech' in Claremont yesterday certainly was telling, as he told him supporters he planned to "get rid of vermin" (Adolf's words) and praised Hungary's tyrant.
I have voted Democratic since 1976 whenI first reached voting age. I am your last paragraph.
I was disappointed with Bill Clinton’s morals but felt that Monica had that goal in mind herself. Irregardless I liked Bill’s political views.
I have always felt that I am liberal in values and more conservative in economics and it’s not an oxymoron. I voted for Weicker.
Each election seems to be more of a choice between calamity and calmness. I vote for calmness no matter what.
That's a great way to look at it. You vote for calmness. I have voted for maybe non-Democrats in my whole life. I regretted it twice.
A lot of this is an argument for ranked choice voting. I voted for Anderson in 1980 and regretted it ever since. In retrospect, I don’t deserve to hold Jimmy Carter’s hat.
If someone truly believes in their choice in voting third party I can live with that but I have no use for the snarky, listless lefties who have said to me there’s no difference between Bush and Gore, Trump and Hillary, etc. I considered Bill Clinton a pig in 1992 when I voted for Jerry Brown in the Connecticut primary but I still voted for Clinton in the general and I’m glad I did. I’ve worked for some candidates that I thought were intolerable a-holes on a personal level but I wasn’t doing it for them to be my friend. Voting is a push in a direction. It’s far from perfect but I like to think I’m helping to push.
Voting is a push in a direction. I'm stealing that.
I'll see your "I voted for Nader" and raise it with my Kennedy-Democrat-always-voted-(D) sister voting for Trump in 2016. She shared that info with me last year after spending his entire term pissing and moaning about everything he did. To say I was shocked and disappointed (I had to end the phone call right after she told me.) is an understatement, and while I try to get past it, I can't. I cannot help but be uncomfortable around her.
It does give you a new view on someone, doesn't it? My middle brother, who voted for Trump in '16, voted for Biden in '20. He'd never voted for a Democrat before but he said he just couldn't make that leap with Trump.
Did she say why she voted for Trump?
She may have hesitated to tell me before the election based on a conversation we had when she said some rather misogynistic that I blasted her for even thinking much less saying.
I think that misogyny has had an enormous amount to do with women's ability to become candidates and to win. The demands for many-dimensioned and multiply conceived perfections for women candidates to be viable are exorbitant. Thanks for letting your sister know what she'd said.
More and more women are becoming candidates and those women are winning. The Campaign School at Yale is helping make that happen. I personally know two women that now hold public office in Connecticut after attending that program. On another note, women are not always other women's best friends.
https://www.tcsyale.org/
Yeah, we're all tutored in misogyny and make women's candidacy a path of thorns. Blessings on those who follow it for the public good.
He was a "good businessman".
That's what one of my brothers said. And then he was dissuaded of that.
A. Oh, Christ.
B. Why has that become a mantra in politics?
Similar experience voting for Trump in 2016 because of my disgust with how Bernie Sanders delegates were shut out of the DNC convention by Hillary's minions the minute it started.
Held my nose and voted Biden 2020. Currently resigned to voting Blue no matter who in 2024 because Holy Christo-Fascist Nightmare, Batman!
I get that. I do. Similarly, I voted because I was pissed at the Democrats, but for me, that wasn't a really effective way to handle that.
My conscience dictates I wrote for a candidate who will win. No intention of wasting my vote.
What YOU said.
Susan,
You voted. I went to jail back in “63” , cause some folk couldn’t vote and still can’t. You voted. I served in the army during Viet Nam cause some folk couldn’t vote and still can’t. Girl friend, don’t you never apologize for doing something too many can’t. You voted.
Your best buddy.
Deacon Art
You really ARE my best buddy. And thank you.
Mine too.
I voted for Bill Clinton though I condemned his behavior. I asked a Trump supporter why she won't even condemn his behavior. She didn't have an answer but took my point saying she remembered what I'd had to say about Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal.
That was a far more grown -up way to handle it.
Gore won in Connecticut in 2000
Even if you voted for him , it wouldn’t have changed anything
Local elections are another matter
I voted for Ross Perot in 1992 , Nader in 2000 , but after that I didn’t vote for a presidential candidate again until 2020
I didn’t feel any guilt for not voting for Hillary because of the electoral college
Watching the shit show that is and was trump charged that bigly
And watching the Republican Party goose step to his insane behavior was something I won’t be forgetting or forgiving for a long , long time
And watching the change in some of the goofballs that I know was and is even more illuminating
It’s one thing to have a difference of opinion
It’s another thing to have a difference of reality
You said a mouthful. I can certainly talk to people with whom I don't share political views, but when we get to not sharing values, well...
And in some cases, so far as I can tell, the values amount to Winning, or Sneering at Them Guys.
Looks that way to me, too. Now: Everyone? Bump chests!
I voted for Nader once. I don't remember if it was in 2000 or one of the other times. Never again. I believed CT to be "safely" Democratic, at least on a state-wide level. I'll never assume that again.
I didn't vote for Jill Stein in 2016, but I did send money to her to pay for recounts in key states. I'll never do that again, either. I didn't know she was running again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
As for RFK Jr, that's just sad. But will he peel more votes away from Biden, or from Trump? I can't begin to guess.
No candidate is ever going to be the perfect candidate. That's asking for a unicorn. As someone else so wisely said here, a vote is a "push in the direction" I want to go, and I want to preserve democracy.
I won't waste my vote and I can't stand the thought of another Trump presidency!
However, I can't help but wonder why we don't have better candidates sometimes. For such a great, powerful country, with plenty of talent, it's puzzling that the choices we're given don't appear to reflect our nation's best!