Let's take a real POLL....

[kentuck]

.






Do you plan on voting in the next election and the election of 2012?

[Tumbulu]

1. I have voted in every election since 1976

and plan to keep doing so.

[kentuck]

3. That is very admirable..

Unfortunately, I think there may be a lot of people thinking of sitting out the next election. Maybe I am wrong.

[denbot]

6. Same here, I turned 18 in 76.

A liberal/democrat vote for a third party is a republican vote.

[HughMoran]

37. - since 1980 here

Anybody who doesn't vote can't complain.

[liberal_at_heart]

2. I will vote but this could very well be the first time I vote third party

[Hawkowl]

9. Ditto

I've always swallowed my disgust and voted democratic even when my guy in the primary didn't win. No more. I'll vote progressive and if the dem isn't sufficiently left leaning....then they can simply fuck off.

[mochajava666]

51. Well said

Until now, I always believed that a bad Democrat is always better than the best Republican, so I have voted straight Democratic ticket for over 34 years.

After being so badly betrayed by the Dems, a third party vote doesn't seem as futile as it used to be. It's not my fault that my party has sold its soul. We need real change.

[Cant trust em]

4. I have a tough time imagining ever not voting.

I only get this opportunity once every 4 years. I'd prefer to write someone in than not vote.

[RoyGBiv]

5. I always vote ...

... and I don't mark my voting in terms of congressional and presidential elections.

So, yes, of course.

[yourout]

7. Not sure right now......might sit out the 2010 in protest if things dont improve.

[Chulanowa]

24. Real meaningful protest, there

Maybe next you'll do one of those rolling hunger strikes? :eyes:

[yourout]

36. You would rather I voted Republican?

[Iggo]

44. I'd rather you vote against Republicans.

Also, there's gotta be more on your ballot than just Dem vs Rep races.

Don't they vote on laws, ballot initiatives, judges, city council, bonds, hell even dog catcher?

Get your ass out there and vote. Every time. Staying home proves nothing.

[yourout]

48. If I vote it is going to be for someone that has earned my vote...not for someone less lousy than...

the other guy.

[Iggo]

49. So you're just gonna shine anything else on the ballot...

...just because there's no Democrat you feel like voting for?

That's what I'm getting at.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. I'll be voting in both..for the most progressive anti-war candidate on the ballot.

Even if I have to write one in.

[Mari333]

50. me too. wont vote for any candidate that escalates war

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. I ALWAYS vote. ALWAYS.

[Iggo]

41. ALWAYS.!!!

What's wrong with these people?

[quiller4]

11. I haven't missed an election since 1971 and don't plan to start now.

I'm registered as a permanent absentee in a state that doesn't register by party. I've voted for 2 Republicans in my life. In one case the Democratic incumbent was under indictment at the time of the election. I've never voted for a third party candidate and I don't plan to start now.

[vadawg]

12. if i dont like the candidates then i simply dont vote, why waste my time voting for someone

who i know is just lying to me....

[Bluenorthwest]

33. So in your part of the country, do you have many elections

that are free of non candidate choices, such as propositions or potential changes to law? Your elections have just candidates? No issues?

[UrbScotty]

13. I've voted in EVERY contested election since I turned 18.

President, Governor, School Board... heck, my first vote was to renew a school district sinking fund!

You bet your Ashcroft I'm gonna vote in those elections - and whichever ones come up in between!

And yes, there's a pretty darn good chance I'm voting straight Democratic in one or both of them. VERY rarely is the Democrat not worth voting for - i.e. not better than the Republican. I despise what the DLC has been doing to our Party, but even most DLC-ers are preferable to the nightmares the other side is offering.

[snot]

14. totally F-uk'D-UP that you have to ask

Of course, I'm voting for Dean.

[Autonomy]

15. I pull the 'Democrat' lever

regardless of who is running. I actually don't even look at who is running.

[alp227]

16. If you sit out, you're part of the problem, not the solution.

If the minor parties could recruit more voters, those parties would be counted more significantly in the final vote.

If those ex-Democrats who "sat out because a minor party vote is irrelevant" actually voted for the Green, Socialist, Communist, or Peace & Freedom candidate, then those party candidates' vote totals would have higher percentages in the final results.

As a US history teacher once told me, those who don't vote have no right to complain about the government's performance afterwards.

So please vote for whichever candidate you feel reflects your progressive views. Even if the candidate is from some weird political party whose name you found only on the voter guide.

[1]

17. hell yeahs! we vote. that's what we do. don't vote? you are a fucking coward...

[JoeyT]

25. I'm not sure that word means what you think it means.

I'm not sure how you get that it's cowardice, since it isn't as if voting can backlash on you in any way.
It's stupid to not vote, but not cowardly.

[H2O Man]

18. Definitely

yes. I always vote.

[lamp_shade]

19. 11 "no" votes... hmmm... probably the 14-yr-old shit-stirrer freepers who post here so often.

[Historic NY]

20. When you don't vote you can't complain.

[vadawg]

21. and when you do you share the blame :)

[Iggo]

42. I prefer to call it "responsibility", but yeah...po-tay-toe/to-maw-toe.

[Ohio Joe]

22. Anyone that does not vote is not thinking clearly - nt

[Enthusiast]

23. It will be more important

than ever to vote against the right wing loonies.

[gleaner]

26. I chose yes ...

especially in the Democratic primaries.

[mmonk]

27. Absolutely. I get to attempt to help defeat Burr (R) NC.

Will I vote across the board this time? Probably no.

[liberal N proud]

28. If you answered NO, why are you participating on this board?

IMO: Those who do not vote have no right to complain when things are not as they would like them to be. Voting at the very least gives one the right to complain about their elected officials.

But if you are so disheartened that you are saying this early that you are not going to vote, why are you even participating in this politically oriented discussion board?


:shrug:

[Brickbat]

29. When I was in college, I worked on the college paper and we had random poster in the newspaper

office showing people in some unnamed central American country being shot and gassed as they tried to vote. While I already felt strongly about voting in every election, it made a huge impression on me. I am not a praying person, but whenever I vote -- whether it's my township board election or for the president of the United States -- I take a second and think about how I can vote without worrying about being shot in the back, and how not voting is an insult to those who fight and die to do so.

[sendero]

30. It depends on the choices..

... if there is no real choice, then no.

[quaker bill]

31. I have never missed one

since I became eligible.

[shotten99]

32. and vote against the GOP as always.

[jaxx]

34. You bet I'll vote.

I won't be cutting off my nose to spite my face because it wasn't all done my way.

[66 dmhlt]

35. Of course. I'm from Chicago, home of "Vote Early, Vote Often" ;-)

[bigwillq]

38. Yes

I've voted in every election on every level since I was 18.

[azmouse]

39. I will proudly vote for the Democrats on the ticket.

Of course, living in AZ it won't help much but I do what I can.

[kentuck]

40. About 13% are saying they will not vote?

That is very big percentage.

[Iggo]

43. Thank goodness...

...it's only 13% of the people who voted in a poll on a specific internet website.

Of course, we could only get about 80% of the registered voters here in California to the polls 11/4/08, so what the hell do I know...lol.

[bemildred]

45. I always vote.

It's the only time you exercise any real power.

[freddie mertz]

46. Voted every election for what will be 40 years in 2012.

Not sure who or what I will be voting, though.

[blondeatlast]

47. Of course I will--and there's 17 people who I would like to "ignore."

But only one has officially 'fessed up.

[Toasterlad]

52. Absolutely. I Will Be Voting for a Progressive Candidate In Every Election.

[Beacho]

53. Might as welll ask me if I'm going to continue breathing

no matter how sucky the choices I will always cast my ballot. At various times I've voted third party in some offices or wrote in 'NOTA' to at least cast a vote of 'present'