Did anyone here vote for * in 2000?

[RPM]

Just asking. I almost did. I was a more moderate at the time than I am now. I bought into the whole meme about "the MBA president", "quality team around him" (I still do Like Paul O'Neill and would like Powell had he not lied his ass off for *, but I digress), and generally thought he would put in place a economic policy that would keep the good times of the 90s rolling.

But i couldn't bring myself to vote for him - for reasons i wont go into here, i couldn't vote for Gore either. (before you skewer me, i was in NY and it was going blue anyway)

Reason I ask is that I was thinking about a comment someone made about Rehnquist having "buyer's remorse" on the * selection. I hate the way things have gone the last 5 years, so I can't imagine the buyers remorse.

So, for the 2 or 3 of you here who did vote for *, I pose the following questions:
1> Why?
2> When did you start to feel buyers remorse?
3> What was it that broke the camel's back to bring you over here?

If you were a Gore (or Nader) person and know people who voted for * and got buyer's remorse, feel free to answer...

Thanks!

[PowerToThePeople]

1. If I did, it was a Deibold switcheroo. n/t

[RPM]

3. hahahahah

i hear you. you had touch screen back then?

[PowerToThePeople]

4. no, just making fun =)

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. I voted for Nader in a safe state, but if I had known that Gore's shot

at winning was in jeopardy I would have been more worried at the time.

But I just couldn't see an idiot like ** winning. Really couldn't.

[bliss_eternal]

9. I didn't see it either--not that he really won (ahem)...

I voted for Gore... I didn't bother discouraging my friends that were a part of the Green Party from voting for Nader, as I couldn't imagine how corrupt things were in Fla., and how organized they were. I really didn't think that their votes would have made much difference.

I didn't realize how many people hated Gore and Clinton and didn't care WHO it was and how stupid they were, they just didn't want more of that agenda. I heard people saying this on Fox the day of the elections--made me get off my ass and walk to my polling place that very moment.

Lot of good it did.
:grr:

[GreenPartyVoter]

18. The SCOTUS decision is what really thrust me into politics. I knew then

that the system was far more broken than I had thought.

So I voted for Kerry, even though I knew the fix was in.

I live for the day we overhaul the election system and make it transparent, accountable, and fair: http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/electionreform.htm

[bliss_eternal]

22. Thanks so much for the great link!

Always happy to have other sources for election reform!

:hi:

[bliss_eternal]

23. Friends don't let friends vote for bushies...

Sorry...it's just true.

:shrug:

[GreenPartyVoter]

25. Any time. And if you know of something I need to add to it, just give me a

holler :)

[MrSlayer]

5. No, I did vote for Poppy though before I knew any better.

My first Presidential vote went to Poppy. This was when I still thought my dad knew everything about the world. I was a fanatical Gore supporter in 2000 and correctly predicted everything that was going to happen if Chimp had won. Not that it is any great show of prescience. With Repubs you always get war, recession and scandal.

[bliss_eternal]

15. Isn't it insane? I knew * would find a way to take us to war...

Nice to have you in our ranks! :hi:

Don't feel badly, I was raised in a partial Repub home, too. (Parents divorced when I was very young--mother always voted Dem). I recall being punished and yelled out for speaking out against Nixon as a tot.

[MrSlayer]

29. I try not to beat myself up about it.

But in retrospect voting for Poppy over Big Dog makes me feel ill. How naive I was.

[fudge stripe cookays]

30. Don't feel too bad dude.

It took me awhile to wake up too.

I didn't vote until I was 30. My first vote was to Clinton in 96. When I think that Ann Richards lost as governor to Shrub here in 92 because of me and my disinterest, I literally feel my stomach roll over. I hate myself and my former ignorance sometimes.

FSC

[greenbriar]

6. not just no but HELL NO

hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL no
hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL no
hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL no
hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL no

hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL no
hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL no
hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL no
hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL nohell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL no
hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL no
hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL no
hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL no
hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL no
hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL no
hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL no
hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL NO hell no HELL no

[RPM]

8. please elaborate

i'm afraid i didnt understand youu ;)

[rzemanfl]

7. I live in Florida, so who the hell knows. n/t

[woodsprite]

10. Voted Gore.

Delaware has a history of being a bellweather state. They've made a big deal out of it not being accurate during these last two elections. Well, DUH!!! We went blue both times - I know that's not very scientific, but I'm sure it's telling.

[bullimiami]

11. i wouldnt call it moderation i would call it ignorance.

anyone that was truly moderate would have voted for gore hands down.
anyone that actually looked at the history of these 2 would have known what games the media was playing with the truth.
anyone who was paying attention and did a little research knew this well before the 2000 election.
gore was nothing but moderate but bushs' record reveals his pandering to business and the powerful.
he had a dirty past and a crap record as texas governor.

you are aware now and they say down in texas 'fool you once, shame on...fool you twice....wont get fooled again'

[RPM]

17. perhaps - but all the shit i know now i have to say that...

... we dems were asleep in getting the information out there. So much of his shittiness is past established facts. Yet, for some reason (did Gore run a clean campaign) all this shit that could have exposed bush for the turd he is was net given very wide play.

or perhaps i was asleep...

[bullimiami]

31. yes, you were a little sleepy.

the media really let us all down.

they played w like he was the second coming. printed whatever they were told, praising bush or belittling gore on the whim of the republican campaign.

its the same crap that started during clinton and continuing to the present. the kowtowing to the republicans.
either the media was scared of them, complicit or a combination of.

scared i think. and now its like a dog that has been beaten and beaten and beaten and now it senses weakness in the master.


pretty cowardly.

[Lilith Velkor]

56. Clinton fucked up when he signed that dereg bill in '96

That was a bill that paved the way for rapid media consolidation, and it immediately turns on Clinton, in between those bouts of absolute obsession with OJ Simpson.

Yup. That there pooch is screwed...

[DIKB]

12. I sure as heck didn't

He struck me as a greasy used car salesman back then. I do know people who toed the party line though. A guy I work with actually apologised to me b/c he supported * and he knows how much I detest that smirking asshole. I still find it hard to believe that people are that blinded by propaganda that they think * is good for the country. These people are completely brainwashed. If they don't have buyer's remorse, they're either scum, or they are mentally challenged.

[Roland99]

13. I did....but I've since learned the error of my ways

;)

[RPM]

19. as one who did - would you please answer the 3 ?s above

thanks!

[Roland99]

32. Oops...here ya go

1> Why?

Because I didn't like Lieberman and couldn't stand Gore and I was tired of the mess of Clinton (Monica, Whitewater, White House Travel Office, Chinese donors, etc.) I also can't stand Tipper and her parental advisory push for CDs


2> When did you start to feel buyers remorse?

Near the end of 2003. I noticed the Propagandist was spending a lot of time defending the invasion of Iraq. The near-constant defense got me wondering, "Why is he giving the press more fuel by replying to it? I wonder if there's something more here."

Then I started doing my research and came upon Seymour Hersh's articles in the New Yorker early on and then I learned of the PNAC.


3> What was it that broke the camel's back to bring you over here?

Abu Ghraib and the Swift Boat liars

[Bucky]

57. Welcome to the light side of the force, Roland99

"Roland, I am your fathah"

[mcar]

14. No way

But then again, I'm in Floriduh so maybe I did. :shrug:

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

16. NO! Compassionate conservative horsesh*t didn't impress me.

I knew he was a fundy neocon. Voted Gore.

[JuniperLea]

20. hell no!

nope! not me! heck no! i never liked those close-set shifty eyes... not too mention how cocky he is. i knew his arrogance would get us all into trouble!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

21. I would have put my fingers in the blender before voting for him.

Held my nose and voted for Gore & Kerry.

[AuntPatsy]

24. First time I ever took the time to vote, it was a no brainer as

far as I was concerned, even having no true political affilation, I had no trouble seeing #### as anything closely resembling presidential material, my first voting experience was Gore and obviously, the only regret that I have is that they stole it from him and from our country...

[bigwillq]

26. My Dad did.

Said Gore was too much of a "sissy" Thought Shrub was stronger in his beliefs.

Fastforward to 2005---"Shrub is a fucking asshole" Thanks for catching on Pops

[RPM]

27. cool - you mind addressing the 3?s in the OP

i am trying to compile info on this...

[bigwillq]

28. Uh, I can't really speak for my DAD

But here goes--
WHY? I think I covered that in my first message.


Buyers remorse? After the Iraq war started and we found out there were no WMDs, he started to really dislike Shrub.

Camel's Back---The lies Shrub spun during the campaign.

[Chichiri]

33. I voted for Harry Browne.

The Libertarian Party candidate.

Yeah, I was one of THEM for a few years.

[Zorra]

34. I made arrangements in 1999 to leave the country in the event that

Bu*h assumed power somehow. During that time I was trying to educate people on just what kind of evil rotten fascist scumbag Bu*h had been as governor of Texas. I was also very involved (ie - screaming 'til I was blue in the face) in trying to get Nader voters to understand what was at stake in the 2000 election. The choruses of "you were right!" that I heard from Nader voters did not make me feel any better; I knew America was doomed at that time.

I left my home about a week after the Supreme Court announced the Bu*h selection, and settled in Mexico, where I have lived ever since.

How anyone could ever consider voting for that evil snake I will never understand.

Anyway, I really hope that a lot of people that voted for him now understand the horror of what they helped create and are now solidly and permanently anti-republican.

[loudsue]

52. That's an awesome post, Zorra. You really knew...

I did, too, but wasn't in a position to leave. The minute the supremes shut down the recount and declared shrub the pResident, I went across the road to the home of an older couple I like a lot, and told them that "America, as we've known it, is finished."

Now, years later, they have spoken on several occasions about that day, and how true it was.

I wish there was some place in the world that was really safe from the government that America now has. I hope Mexico is good to you. I pray for the safety of all the people these days...even the ones who don't have a CLUE how dangerous it really is.

:kick::kick::kick:

[recoveringdittohed]

35. Guilty

(1) Why? I'd say two main factors (A) Disenchantment with Clinton (I had voted for him in 1992) and (B) An incorrect perception that the Republicans and * were for smaller government. I now feel both parties are for large government but I'd rather be ripped off to support the poor than be ripped off to support the rich.

(2)Buyers Remorse gradually built first resulting from local and State (Ohio) political issues. By 2002 I was voting for "Tax Hike" Tim Hagen for Governor over "Boob" Taft. In my case I had started out as a Democrat (in Tennessee) in 1971 became a Republican in 1976 and voted in my last Republican primary in 2000 (voting only in the General elections in 2002 and 2004 before deciding in Fall 2004 that while not totally comfortable with either party I was much more in agreement with the Democratic Party of 2004 than the Republican party of 2004 and voted mostly for Democrats in the 2004 General (including Kerry/Edwards) and will be voting in Democratic primaries in 2006 and beyond.

(3) So in my case it was not one camels back moment but a feeling that just as the Democratic Party had left me in the 1970's, the Republican party had left me in recent years and that with regard to some of the issues that caused me to have doubts about the 1970's Democratic Party (pushing for huge government and fiscal irresponsibility) the Republicans now are for huge government and are far more fiscally irresponsible.

[B Calm]

37. Welcome to DU recoveringdittohed..

[Ladyhawk]

38. Yes, welcome! :) n/t

[Tommymac]

39. Welcome to the Light!

Admire your courage to speak up.

:headbang:

[AuntPatsy]

40. A good post, sad though for many like you I am sure..

[RPM]

45. thanks

and welcome

[LSK]

55. "both parties are for large government"

Ok, please explain exactly what this large government is? Does this mean it spends too much?? Because for the past 25 years, the Republicans are the party that the spending has occured and the Democrats have simply tried to pay for it.

Clinton got the Bush and Reagan deficits under control. Gore would have continued that track. The current head of the DNC always balanced the budget when he was Governor of Vermont.

So if you mean large government as fiscally irresponsible, that is a republican myth that is unfounded.

[Ladyhawk]

36. Raises hand timidly

I really didn't like either candidate and came *this close* to not voting for either of them. Why did I finally vote for the weed?

1. I was sick of the Monica Lewinsky thing and thought maybe the weed really would restore honor to the WH. What a fucking laugh.

2. I was unaware of the right wing's lies and how they were trumpeted as fact in the "mainstream" media.

3. I thought Al Gore was a pathological liar. I hate liars. Of course, we all learned how he had invented the internet and all that rubbish. Only later did I learn these were media fabrications.

I started feeling buyer's remorse when attention focused way too rapidly on Iraq. It just didn't feel right. We were supposed to be fighting the terrorists who attacked our country and suddenly, here we were going after a nation that had nothing to do with it. Strangely, the way the war is started in Star Wars: Episode II had me thinking about politics and who had the most to gain by exploiting the 9-11 attacks.

I began to suspect that we were going to war to keep focus away from home while our civil liberties were raped. Also, the flag-waving madness started getting to me. I'm not much of a "joiner." The flags flying from cars and houses reminded me too much of out-of-control nationalism. I felt that the country was not introspecting enough, that we were on the warpath and that no one was really paying attention to the reasons why.

I decided to hear out Colin Powell and his talk to the UN. Later, I discussed the speech with folks on the Internet and learned that the whole thing was bogus. Within a couple of weeks, I knew what most of America was denying: there WERE no WMD in Iraq. The whole thing was a fabrication.

Meanwhile, I noticed that the media were acting like a bunch of war cheerleaders and never criticized Bush anymore. This made me suspicious of the accepted "fact" that the media is liberal. I watched the newscasters, incredulous, as they beat the drums of war for the president. No one ever said, "Wait a minute! Are we sure we're doing the right thing here?"

Then I found symbolman's site, Take Back the Media. His flash animations seemed to echo everything I had observed about the media of late. I also read Franken's "Lying Liars" and part of David Brock's book, Blinded by the Right. I couldn't finish reading it because it made me literally sick to my stomach.

The straw that broke the camel's back...gee...I guess it would be the final analysis of Powell's speech to the UN, the obvious fact he was lying and the media cheerleading the rush to war. It seemed so obviously wrong. Had I been well, I would have marched against the war that day in March. As it was, I switched parties as soon as I found an appropriate booth.

Right under my nose the Republican Party became more and more evil, more concerned about greed than people. I only noticed it when it became obvious that the media is NOT liberal. The knowledge that the media does not have a liberal bias broke its stranglehold on my thoughts. I no longer trusted America's media to tell me the truth.

It could be argued that this information should have come sooner, with the preposterous accusation that Gore claimed he invented the Internet, but like many Americans, I had my own troubles to worry about and didn't really think it through.

Breaking the media's hold on people's thoughts is one of the best ways to reach folks who don't hold politically dogmatic views. Franken's book is a good place to start, I'd guess.

[Lilith Velkor]

53. Wow

I always thought you were an anarchist, or maybe libertarian. Goes to show you never can tell.

Welcome to the desert of the real America, where the realest news is on fucking Comedy Central. And where cheesy space opera reflects a frightening reality, even though it was just based on Roman history with mystic samurai thrown in.

[Ladyhawk]

54. In actuality, I haven't been a true "Republican" for fifteen years.

I started drifting to the left while the party drifted to the right. It just took me awhile to realize what was happening. I never liked Rush Limbaugh, my family's hero. The nastiness of the hard right never found fertile ground in my heart. I never was a fascist, but I believe my family arrived there a long time ago. :(

[indigo32]

41. Absolutely not

I'm pretty much a yellow dog, but I at least look at the other side to see if they are worthy of any respect. None was earned and none granted. He had records as a Gov :puke: and came across as an idiot, especially in comparison to Gore. I couldn't imagine why he wasn't laughed off the stage :argh:

When did we get to the point where it's uncool to be smart, even as an adult? Morover even as a PRESIDENT?

[wallwriter]

42. No f***ing way

[KerryOn]

43. I did, I hate to admit....

1> Why?
There were lots of reasons, to many to post here. I have always been an independent and I didn't care for either candidate. I finally decided that Bush, was the lesser of two evils. Boy was I wrong there is no way that Gore could have screwed things up any worse. (My wife voted for Gore, so our votes were canceled out.)

2> When did you start to feel buyers remorse?
Shortly before Bush invaded Iraq.

3> What was it that broke the camel's back to bring you over here?
Last summer my wife and I became heavily involved with the Kerry campaign. Neither of us were ever involved with a presidential campaign, or any campaign before. Believe me we both did our part. I wanted to vote in the primary so I'm now a registered Democrat. My wife was tired of all the bull, and needed a break, but I still needed a place where I could vent and keep current. So here I am.

[DanCa]

44. I voted for mccain in the primairy and than gore

I didn't like the way mccain was being slandered by the chimp smear campaign. Especially considering that the chimp never saw active combat

[mvd]

46. Voted Gore!

I knew that Bush was a really bad one from the beginning - someone who would enable the religious right and do more against the common person than ever before - and he's been my worst nightmare.

[Kazak]

47. I didn't vote for anybody...

Showed up to vote (Oklahoma), name had been purged. Imagine that. Would've voted for Gore.

[AirForceof1]

48. I did

Why? Because at the time it seemed like Kerry was running on the I am not Bush platform. And that Ass-hat Michael Moore just pushed me further to the Republican party.

I have begun feeling buyers remorse manly over the Terry Schavio BS, He had so much political capital after the election that he could have pushed most anything into law and he wasted it on a coma patient.

As for what broke the camels back...nothing yet, However as I have educated myself more in politics I have found that I lean more toward the Libertarian party, so I am not sure who I would vote for if I got to do it again. But I would definitely still not vote for Kerry. I just cant stand the guy.

[Bucky]

58. Thanks for sharing, and welcome to DU

I can't guarantee we'll give you independents a better candidate than Kerry in three year, but I can guarantee you that who ever we nominate will not start wars with uninvolved third parties. That alone is all the difference in the world.

[mitchum]

49. No, I have NEVER voted for any republican pig...

and never will.
Fuck the lot of them.

[Warren DeMontague]

50. Well, he certainly is the MBA president...

Major Big Asshole.

And no, I didn't even consider voting for him- I was Gore all the way.

I'd sooner gnaw off my own foot than vote for a Republican, been that way since I turned 18.

[Massacure]

51. I was 12 years old in 2000, but all my classmates and I wanted Bush to win

I'm sure you know how rumors circulate among young kids.

[RPM]

59. uh, what was the rumor

PM me if it is unsuitable for the thread ;)

[Sewsojm]

60. No

I thought * was a lying sack of shit the first time I heard him speak, I still can't understand how anyone with a brain could ever vote for him for anything.

[Massacure]

62. The rumor was that Gore wanted to take video games away from kids, lol.

I don't know if that rumor was true or not now. However, I still think the government shouldn't thumb their nose into the matter as it is a matter of parenting. I find it kind of silly to say you cannot sell a certain video game to a kid under 18 because there are some 16 year olds who are more mature than 20 year olds.

[Barad Simith]

61. No, the tipping point for me was when Bush got the nomination

I was pretty conservative in the early nineties and voted for Dole in '96, but started moving leftward around '98. By 2000 I was pretty much on the fence. The first time I saw Bush and heard him speak, I knew he was the last person I wanted in the White House. Who knows, I might have voted for McCain or another Republican, if Bush hadn't gotten the nomination.

Watching the Bush campaign that year turned me into a full-fledged Democrat. Of course, during that time (1998-2000) there were changes going on in my life, in my belief systems and in my perception of the world that fueled my move to the left, but it was this one single candidate, George W. Bush, who was the tipping point for me.

[devinsgram]

63. Of course not

I am much smarter than a * voter and a lot more common sense.

[HughBeaumont]

64. That would be a gigantic HELL NO.

My only Puke vote was for Spookmaster Bush in '88, and I can safely write that off as "young 'n' dumb". Only took me a year to wake up after that - job market sucked worse than a motherfucker thanks to the recession and Bush too concerned about Iraq. After all, the Bushes have historically needed war or some kind of conflict to prop them up, as they're shit-all stupid domestically.

The fact that Lancelot Link even gained a following; even after it was PROVEN beyond belief that everything he previously touched, private or governmental, turned to cowshit, is testimony of how much influence the Repugnicans have in the media. Had his lousy business and governorship record been more publicized, this would have been a landslide.

Any wonder that the Pukes want nothing to do with voter reform?

[raccoon]

65. No way, Jose,

voted for Nader in 2000.

In 2004 I didn't vote for Kerry so much as I voted AGAINST Bush.
I would've voted for Ronald McDonald if he'd been running against BUsh.