Question for the "This is my first election" people

[LittleClarkie]

For those of us who for whom this is the first election we've been truely involved in and informed about, what was your personal breaking point. What finally drove you to shout "Anybody But Bush!"

Guananamo detainees did it for me. Realizing they could detain almost anyone they wanted to, without regard to rights, scared me to death. Realizing that there were detainees that we didn't hear much about who'd been there for almost two years with no recourse for release until the "war on terror" was over did it.

And you?

[mrbassman03]

1. Yeah, Patriot Act...

The destruction of civil rights is probably the scariest thing that really hit home.

[greyXstar]

3. Same here

I was already scared of Bush because of his comments about Wiccans in the military, but the Patriot Act pushed it over the edge.

[Proud liberal Kat]

6. What comment did he make...

I haven't heard that one and if it was disparaging and you have a source, I might have an undecided it would sway.
Kathy

[nonconformist]

10. Here you go

"I don't think that witchcraft is a religion. I wish the military would rethink this decision."
-- George W. Bush to ABCNEWS, June, 1999

Although I do have to ask... you know a Wiccan that is thinking about voting for Bush??

[Proud liberal Kat]

14. Nope

she is an atheist who is a bit disturbed by Bush's mingling of religion and state, but hasn't seen anything that has really pushed her over the edge in it. I had shown her the quote of Bush Sr. of not considering atheists patriots, but that was the father not the son.
Kathy

[Silver Gaia]

15. MM greyXstar...

I'm by no means a first time voter, but yes, I agree. I knew we were in for it when one of the first things he did was to establish the executive order in favor of "faith-based" charities. That, and Ashcroft's appointment. I saw the beginning stages of the formation of a theocracy right then and there. There's more, much more, that I won't go into here, but yes, the Pat Act just added to my already growing fears. And again, so much more.

[Nana]

2. Always voted before..

..never involved like this..it was the 2000 crap that made this election my focus.

[crispini]

4. It was a gradual process, starting with the war

I never believed in this war. I never thought this war was justified. Then the patriot act, then Gitmo.... I did a little bit of volunteer work for Clark in the primaries. Then backed off a bit and waited to see how it all shook out... Then in June (actually, probably right around F9-11) I started getting out and working hard. Not going back! Now I see how much of a difference I can make!

edited to add: I always voted before and was somewhat well informed... but I've never done ANY of the stuff I've done in this election. And a lot of people say the same thing.

[Proud liberal Kat]

5. Iraqi War

and the smothering atmosphere surrounding it which took out any rational debate in our media or even on the corner of the street about whether the War was just or necessary. The 2000 election got me upset and a tad more involved. The raping of our environment got me ripped and paying more attention. The absolute fumbling idiocy of our President in any public forum embarrassed me and made me watch more in horror like when you pass a car accident. The shredding of international treaties and spitting on alliance made me afraid and got me motivated. But it was definitely the Iraq War and the herding of the American people and smothering of dissent in regards to it that absolutely flipping threw me over the edge and turned me into an internet addicted, campaign donating and volunteering (NEVER done either before), constantly debating hoping to even sway one vote royally pissed off American.
Kathy

[Arancaytar]

13. Gradual, but Iraq war for me too.

I'm only 17, so I can't vote yet, but I think this being 'my first election' is true because it's the first one I'm paying any real attention to.

These 4 years have been the time in which I gradually became more aware of what happens in the world (I was 13 in 2000). I remember reading in the newspaper that Bush had been elected, and that it royally pissed off a bunch of people, but it never was that close to me (I grew up and live in Germany, though I was born in New York, so I have a US passport). So when 9/11 happened in 2001 (I remember that I heard it in the train on the way home from school, around 16:00 here, so about 1 hour after it happened), I was in the age in which I thought that Osama should have his bloody head cut off slowly when he was caught. I cheered when they mobilized to 'kick his butt' in Afghanistan (hey, I was a kid then...).

Around the end of 2002, beginning of 2003, I heard some weird stuff on the news about an ultimatum to Iraq, and that the weapons inspectors were leaving there. I was old enough to understand that if the US invaded Iraq without direct provocation, it'd have some repercussions (even feared that if Saddam had WMDs he might strike Europe). Well, it happened in March. That's also around the time when I got regular Internet access, by the way, which means I got to see much more of world events and politics than before. I got my head around the fact that Bush was an idiot. Nothing much to do about it, I thought then, and the world is going to end one of these days anyway, so why bother?

I laughed about the Iraqi information minister's quotes (what was his name again?), and was quite relieved that the world was still standing when they announced the end of the war there.

Pity that the enemy didn't play fair, they just wouldn't stop fighting when Bush declared the war over. I got that something was wrong when the average casualty became more than 1 dead per day, and every week they announced another terrorist attack.

So I've been hoping on and off that Bush would eventually get impeached at the beginning of 2004, and when that didn't happen, I just yearned for the election to approach (I was convinced that someone who had messed the world up this badly wouldn't stand a chance). Wrong. I still can't believe it, but I guess this is the wrong place to ask, since most people are here because they also cannot believe it.

[Nimrod]

7. My first election as a yellow dog

I've always examined each candidate on a personal level before looking at the party affiliation.

But lesse here...

War.
Patriot Act.
Economy.
Civil rights.
Corporate elitism.
Theocratic elitism.
Destruction of the environment.
Destruction of worker rights.
Assault weapons.
This entire vile, disgusting, blindly antagonistic campaign.
Me being constantly accused of terrorism.
etc.
etc.
etc.
etc.

I can't help it. It honestly seems that every republican is either a)Evil, b) Stupid, or c) Hopelessly under the control of evil and/or stupid people.

This will be the first year ever that I vote a straight party ticket.

[elperromagico]

8. Bush was given two great opportunities to be a uniter,

one after the 2000 election, and another after 9-11.

9-11 in particular was an opportunity to bring this country together. Democrats and Republicans alike were ready to work with him. He could have pursued a moderate course, sought compromises across the aisle, and healed some of the wounds from 2000.

But he squadered that opportunity. He reverted to the same partisan tactics he had used prior to 9-11. And now he had an added tool: He could paint his opponents as unpatriotic. What he did in 2002, particularly against Max Cleland, was unacceptable in the extreme. For him to accuse those who love this country - many of whom have put on the uniform and faced death and great bodily harm - of unpatriotism, simply because they disagree with his misguided policy, goes beyond simple politics. It's rotten.

Bush talks all the time about what 9-11 meant. I don't think he understands what it meant. It was a body blow to this whole country - not just to the red states and not just to his conservative base - and for him to attack a citizen of this country whose views don't fit his rather narrow view of the world is highly disrespectful to anyone who truly understands what 9-11 meant to all Americans.

I can never support a man who uses 3,000 dead bodies as a way to destroy political enemies and further his own ambitions.

That answer your question?

[tech3149]

9. March 19, 2003

Without any real knowledge of the facts, I knew instinctively the reasons given were BS. If there were weapons it would have been insane to trigger their usage. It would also have been political suicide. That started my journey of knowledge and everything I found reinforced my judgment.

[nickgutierrez]

11. Age, mostly

This is the first election I've been old enough to vote in, so I've taken extra care over the past few years to make sure I know what I'm talking about. DU has helped. :)

[strategery blunder]

12. This is my first election because I'm 19

I have a confession to make...in 2000, I thought both major parties were evil and corrupt, so I spoke out in favor of Ralph Nader.

When bu$h* stole Florida, it made me lean towards Gore.

The first six months of his pResidency were horrendous, as I saw that he was pandering to the oxyrush types.

When I was first informed about the WTC attacks on 9/11, I first shot the messenger (he was one of the more oppressive teachers so I replied by saying that he "wasn't credible"). When I got home, I watched the TV footage play over and over, and honest to God, one of the first three thoughts to go through my head was "Our civil liberties are going out the window, a la Reichstag Fire."

While I was surprised that bu$h* didn't declare martial law, the Patriot Act was bad enough. I was one of the 15% of Americans who did not approve of bu$h* on 9/12.

One summer later, corporate scandals, and bu$h* starts warmongering re Iraq. By March 2003, I could tell he was lying through his teeth because he seemed so DESPERATE to convey a message of war to a skeptical world. When he gave the UN the bird, I instantly knew there were alternative explanations. Six months later, I dug up Executive Order 13303, which waives liability for all American corporations dealing in "Iraqi petroleum products." PNAC would not be discovered until I joined DU in February of this year.

I wrote the following the Friday after the first debate, solely from memory and in the timespan of less than an hour:

100 reasons to vote bush out in November

Mine is the 33rd post on that thread under the name "Evil Woody Thoughts." Enjoy:)

[strategery blunder]

16. Kick

:kick:

[soggy]

17. I'm 27

i just started paying attention to politics a little in '00 and after seeing monkeynuts try to speak a couple times, i wrote him off and just knew gore would win in the end. i waited too late to register, but didn't really care b/c my vote wasn't gonna matter in texas.

there's been literally thousands of things bush has done that's made me roll my eyes, but the war on iraq made me sit up and pay attention...

i know the bush/hitler comparison gets used too much and is overblown, but looking around me in the runup to the iraq invasion, i knew unequivocally that this was how it all began in 1930's germany as well. and for the first time ever, i was really scared for our country. with enough fear, every one of our checks and balances can be manipulated, and they were. we were told we were invading iraq because of this or that, but NOT ONCE did i hear any credible evidence to back up their claims.

so, for the first time in my life, i feel that my country needed me, that it needed all of us, to exercise the last power check still left... vote them out.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

18. Well I NEVER liked bush

and never voted for him OR his daddy, for that matter.

So I knew I was ABB from the moment they appointed him pResident.