Is this a good reason to vote...(R)?

[hopein08]

Gulp...I hate to ask this question but I need some advice.

I live in a little (and I do mean little, I can vote at 5:30 p.m. and be #70) suburb of Erie, PA and the mayor is up for re-election. He is a Democrat. I don't know much about him aside from the fact that I didn't like his daughters when I went to high school with them. The position of mayor however, is a part-time & unpaid position. My dad, a very good Dem. who hasn't really ever voted for a Rep. says I should vote against the current mayor because he is bad...something about using the Neighborhood Watch fundraising money for his personal use. An old neighbor (also a Dem.) hates the current mayor with passion. The woman running against the Dem. mayor is the Vice-President of the Council and that's all I know about her.

So, here's the dilemma. Do I vote for a sitting (at least 11 year) Democrat mayor who everyone I know who knows something about seems to detest or do I do what they want and vote for a Republican who I know nothing about?

Sorry if it's a silly question...I just need some help.

I am inclined to go straight Democratic, as usual.

[PatriotGames]

1. Well, if you vote Rep., you probably just end up with a corrupt

mayor. It's just that she'll be a Republican. Local politics are filled with corruption on both sides.

[sproutster]

18. This is what happened to get Bush Cabal into office

If they are corrupt get them out. It should go BEYOND party lines.

[...of J.Temperance]

2. No, it's not

There's never a good excuse to vote Republican, they're all pigs EVEN Lincoln Chafee and Olympia Snowe so-called "moderates"

So do what you always do, and vote Democratic.

Just my opinion.

[ismnotwasm]

3. Don't vote republican

Do a write in candidate if you have to. But do not vote republican. It feeds the corruption, and supports the ideology. No doubt there are good republicans out there-- but this one you don't know anything about probably isn't one of them. (I personally don't know any that aren't self-servicing and/or self righteous to an abnormal degree.) But now more than ever we have to stick together especially in the smaller areas.

[eallen]

4. Agree. Nothing is more important now than bringing down the GOP.

There are many moderate Republicans whom I would happily support on issues or character alone. Alas, we live at a time when the GOP has become the religious right's weapon against American democracy. It has to be defeated. I look forward to a time when party polarity is neither so strident nor important. That's not today.

[PowerToThePeople]

5. Never vote (R). Hand write in someone if you realy need to. n/t

[MadisonProgressive]

6. They're settin you up! Go with the democrat!

[B Calm]

7. Use this letter to the editor as helpful tool in your decision..

WHAT HAS GOP DONE FOR WORKERS?

CLINT C. GOLD
10/24/1999
Tulsa World


Not too long ago, my wife and I attended a TV football
party in south Tulsa. With a lopsided score, the
conversation turned to a livelier subject -- politics. The
crowd was, of course, top-heavy with Republicans. With each
point expressed their faces became more flushed, eyes
bulging a little more and veins popping in their foreheads
as they railed against the liberal programs.

Finally a lone, liberal voice asked: "Will you people
name me one bill your party ever passed to help the working
man of this country?" The question created much din and
clamor, and someone sputtered, "Well, what have the
Democrats done?"

The liberal responded with a few programs and was
interrupted by howling and disdain. He noted that he had
not promised they would like the programs and he asked to
complete his statement -- a difficult task to ask of
Republicans.

He spoke of Social Security; Medicare-Medicaid; Peace
Corps; unemployment insurance; welfare (for the poor and
corporate); civil rights; student grant and loan programs;
safety laws (OSHA); environmental laws; prevailing wage
laws; right to collective bargaining (which brought about
paid medical insurance, paid vacations, pensions, etc.);
workers' compensation; Marshall Plan; flood-disaster
insurance; School Lunch Program; women's rights.

He spoke of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which
established a minimum wage, instituted child labor laws,
and set up time-and-a-half pay for over a 40-hour week.

He mentioned FHA-HUD with its public housing, urban
renewal and 44 million residential homes (before WWII
almost 70 percent of our nation were renters; by the 1970s
this had been reversed). And farm-conservation
subsidies -- USDA programs, Farmers Home Administration (the
bankers didn't want to make rural loans), small
flood-control lakes (more than 3,000 in Oklahoma alone),
rural water districts, rural electricity (REA).

The GI Bill was passed, which the Republicans at the
time bitterly opposed. They were salivating over millions
of returning veterans to hire as cheap labor. More than 8 million have used college benefits, creating millions of
entrepreneurs; most of us had never dreamed of college. For
the unemployed GI, there was $20 a week for 52 weeks to
help get started (a lot of money in those days). The
Veterans Administration provided more than 2 million home
loans.

For the bankers at the football party, it was pointed
out that the liberals saved their industry with the
creation of FDIC and FSLIC, insuring their deposits, and
saved Wall Street with the establishment of the Securities
Exchange Commission.

The oil men came on bended knees to FDR at a time when
East Texas oil was 4 cents a barrel and begged him to save
their industry. He did; prorationing overturned the rule of
capture and the days of flush production were over.
Prorating has served this great industry (and nation)
well.

And the list went on and on, but of course this group
didn't let him get halfway through. He noted they were
weary, inattentive, so again he challenged them to offer up
any Republican legislation examples.

"I'm sure your party has authored one or two comparable
bills from time to time, but I can't think of any, and
apparently you can't either. What it boils down to is this:
the liberals dragged you into the 20th century scratching
and screaming with your heels in the mud, fighting anything
that's progressive, everything that's made this country
great. You Republicans have never understood that the
spending power of blue-collar workers, obtained through
Democrats and unions, is what really made this country
great. You really believe "The Good Life" was obtained from
your own endeavors. You cloak your greed in religion and
patriotism, railing against any form of tax, never
comprehending that these programs have benefitted all of us
and our country."

Well, I almost didn't make it out of the house. My wife
and I didn't even get to see the end of the football game.

If Reps. Steve Largent or J.C. Watts had been there,
perhaps politics would never have come up, only the game
plan ... pity.
Clint C. Gold is former mayor of Moore and a retired
savings and loan executive.

http://www.MikeMalloy.com/

[bobbieinok]

19. simplistic question...where is this on your link??

I know it used to be at Malloy's board, but I didn't see it

[cynatnite]

8. Find out more about the repub...

I don't believe in voting for someone just because there is a 'D' next to their name. There are good and bed dems and repubs.

My advice is to vote with your conscience and do some research. Who knows...the repub could be a decent person who would do a good job.

[PowerToThePeople]

9. Let me repeat. NEVER vote (R). If current dem is corrupt,...

vote independant or hand write in someone who would be good. Never vote (R), you will only be voting for big $$$.

[B Calm]

10. I agree!

[cynatnite]

11. It's $$$$ 90% of the time anyone votes...

Big business and corporations donate to dems AND repubs all the time.

There's no getting around it and all we've got left is to vote our conscience.

[Dark]

12. In local elections, the differences aren't as clear.

Research the two. Hell, call them and ask them (it's only a town of 70 or so, it shouldn't be that hard.)

Don't be a one issue voter, even if that one issue is party affiliation.

[hopein08]

13. I've looked all over the internet for info on both candidates

and come up with a big fat goose egg. Maybe I'm missing something. But about the size, voting is definitely not a priority but the pop. as of the 2000 census was 3,617. I know where the Repub. lives, it's one street over so I'm sure I can find out a phone number, but what would I say?

In case you, or anyone else was curious, I'm talking about Wesleyville and the candidates are E. Paul Johnson III (D) and Sheryl Kyle (R).

[cynatnite]

14. Ask why you should vote for her...

If she truly cares about your vote she'll take the time to explain why she's the best person for the job and what she plans to do.

[crispini]

15. Make like a job interview.

What is your experience in the public arena? Why do you want the job? What do you think about (insert local issue X here)? What are your plans for the future of the town?

Just start a conversation. It's easy peasy!

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

16. Has your local paper published anything about the candidates'

stand on issues? Or maybe a local radio station has covered the race? Call them and ask.

But don't vote Republican. Local races are like a "gateway drug" for them. Keep them off the school board, the judge's bench and the city council. Don't give them the foot in the door they need to expand their power.

[Straight Shooter]

17. Vote your conscience.

I voted for a Republican mayor in my town because I know the woman personally and because the Dem who already was the mayor is a total scumbag. I will not support corruption in either party and will do my best to vote them out. Voting for a Dem because he or she is a Dem, even if people you trust tell you that person is corrupt, that doesn't support your party; it supports corruption.

If we say never vote for a Repub because that's how they get their foot in the door, that's being unfair to ethical politicians whose only fault may be that they don't belong to the same party that you do.

edit: When I say I know the woman personally, I mean that I know she has integrity and is a strong environmentalist. She is a Repub because she comes from a family of Repubs. FWIW, she supported Howard Dean and voted for Kerry. Not all Repub politicians are scum, and not all Dem politicians are worthy of trust and respect.

[bobbieinok]

20. would be a real problem for me...IMO every time a R wins, the

party leaders crow that they're the party people trust

I can't stand what the national party represents; in OK all R candidates I know of are RW