What's your party affiliation (if any)?

[chmorley]

Having gone off-topic in the G5 thread, I am curious what parties people here align themselves with.

Chris

[RBMaraman]

I'm a member of the Democratic party, but I find myself aligning with many of the policies of the Green party.

[eric_n_dfw]

I picked Republican on the poll, but I don't nessesarily agree with them all the time.

I'd pick Libertarian except for their drug-legalization stance and lack of a stance on abortion.

(Maybe I'm an Independent then ?:confused: )

[alex_ant]

Woohoo! Another flame war waiting to happen.

[Taft]

Originally posted by alex_ant
Woohoo! Another flame war waiting to happen.

Shutup you left-leaning, pig-headed, butt-headed jerk!

Will that get it going for you??? :p

I lean left, but I disagree with many Democrats' policies. I generally don't like like Reuplican policies, but I side with them on some areas, too.

So I'm independant, with a lot of pro-environment, pro-social services, and anti-government in your personal business sentiment.

Taft

[evildead]

I am registered as "Declided to state" I dont vote party lines. I lean twards the right when it comes to some forgin policy and economic issues but I still think that there are some good programs out there (not many but.. some) I am against censorship, the entertainment industry, god in schools, i am pro-choice, religouse leaders that get to do what ever and who ever they want and get away with it. I am pro death penalty.

I voted Green party last time arround... not becuase I am a hippy or I even like them that much.. I just was not happy with the other major canadates and was hopping that the green party could get the 5% so they could get the feral campain funding and some day we could have more than a 2 party race.

-evildead

[stromie952]

I am 100% republican

And i love it :cool:

One of the few things that really irks me about being at a rich kids school (although I'm not rich) is the high percentage of bleeding heart liberals.

Sometimes, I just feel like blowing up the entire Middle East. Is that all that bad? We can still drill through the sheet of glass that would be created. :D

[cleo]

I'm registered with the Green Party of Florida and am an active member of the Green Party of Pinelass County. Incidentally, if you want to know what the Greens are all about, check out our (in-progress) site at http://www.pinellasgreens.org/index4.php

[Durandal7]

Blech, Party Affiliations

I am independent because the parties tend to be repulsive and power-hungry. I agree with some politics of the Democrat, Republican and Green party. I usually lean right because the local democrats are airheads. :rolleyes:

[chmorley]

Independent, all the way. I vote Democrat more than anything else because I abhor what many Republicans stand for (e.g., anti-choice, anti-gay rights, etc.), but will vote for any candidate I think is competent and would represent me well. However, I recognize that the worst of all parties are zealots.

I have always found it interesting that when you take Liberal thought to an extreme, you get Communism; when you take Conservative thought to an extreme, you get Facism. While their ideas sound diamterically opposed to one another, they look roughly the same.

Granted, each is a bastardization of the original writer's intent, but the point is that all zealots look pretty similar.

The problem with folks like Rush is that they bash the other side so much, and try to keep from acknowledging any positive contributions they might make. While he argues he's just trying to even out what is in the media, I don't know of a far left zealot who has a nationally-syndicated radio show. I can name 4-5 right-wingers. I have no idea why that would be.

Chris

[job]

Originally posted by alex_ant
Woohoo! Another flame war waiting to happen.

I think you hit it on the head there alex_ant...

I'm in sort of the same situation as eric_n_dfw..

So yea..

[King Cobra]

I'm not too sure what party is favored by who and why, and I don't care. As long as people from country A decide not to hate people from all the other countries, including their own (for whatever reason) I don't care. Even though that may be a whiles off (in some theories, impossible) I can't spend my life caring.

>Woohoo! Another flame war waiting to happen.

If you can't handle the flames...

http://raw.wwe.com/results/051302/images/merch.jpg

:D

[MacRumorSkeptic]

I'm a Libertarian. There are few differences between the 2 major partys as they both expand the size and role of the federal government in our lives. Libertarians would like to go back to a more constitutional form of government the way that our founding fathers had in mind.

[Chomolungma]

Originally posted by chmorley
Having gone off-topic in the G5 thread, I am curious what parties people here align themselves with.

Chris

I've learned the hard way about getting along in social situation (e.g. work, party, web discussion groups etc.), and that is you don't discuss politic and religion. These two subjects do nothing but divide people and unfortunately it makes some people question their present friendship(s).

[chmorley]

Originally posted by Chomolungma
I've learned the hard way about getting along in social situation (e.g. work, party, web discussion groups etc.), and that is you don't discuss politic and religion. These two subjects do nothing but divide people and unfortunately it makes some people question their present friendship(s). Which should be fine since we're neither in a social situation nor friends.

I actually think forums like this present an opportunity to discuss things you ordinarily might not. People have been very civil so far. Seems like we are respecting different opinions. Imagine that.

Chris

[Sun Baked]

Originally posted by alex_ant
Woohoo! Another flame war waiting to happen.

I'm still waiting for the Keg Party to be mentioned.

[chmorley]

Originally posted by Sun Baked
I'm still waiting for the Keg Party to be mentioned. See, that's the kind of crap that makes me hate the Keg Party. It's always all about them. They can't stand to see someone else get the floor. It's always, "But what about the Keg Party? Everyone loves the Keg Party!"

What do they stand for, anyway? Nothing but...fun and....beer and...hooking up...

So why weren't they included in the poll? I think I am a Kegocrat (or is it a Keggitarian?).

Chris

(and still, it's civil...)

[ejb190]

The local paper had the following quote in the editoral section just today:

"We have people on the right wing. We have people on the left wing. But what ever happened to the rest of the bird?"

[chmorley]

Originally posted by ejb190
"We have people on the right wing. We have people on the left wing. But what ever happened to the rest of the bird?" It is interesting, isn't it. Those of us who consider ourselves centrist, while claimed by both parties, seem to be unrepresented in many ways.

I also find it interesting that what is considered the "center" here would be right of center in most of Europe (and much of the rest of the world). Shows us how contextualized these things are. I think we have had the priviledge/misfortune of being isolated geographically and politically. While this has changed a little in the past year, we still often lose sight of how conservative we are on the world stage.

Chris

[jefhatfield]

the independents lead the poll...why does that not surprise me?

think different they say:p

[Backtothemac]

Well,
I am a republican, as if you all did not know that already. I am not an ultra-right republican that for some reason the party always is associated with. The majority of republicans tend to be more centrist in their views. For example:

I am.

Pro Life, and for the death penaltiy at the same time. And my brother is on death row. I am very defense / military minded. I think we need a large military, and should spend 20% of our budget on it. I am very pro education. I think that education is the key to break down all barriers. Social and economic barriers fall with education. I am pro gay rights, and pro church. I don't believe that church members who break the law should get away with it. I want the government out of my everyday life, and think that we pay way, way too much money in tax. I know how to spend my money better than the government does.

I think the current welfare system is a joke. I personally think that unless you are disabled then you should qualify for state assistance three times in your life for one year at a time, and not concurrent. You would not gain more income during this time based on the number of children you have, but yet, you would be given the average national income for that year. On top of that you would have state paid tution to a trade school, or college. At the end of the year, the school could help you gain a position in the community with your new training, or you could choose to gain financial aid in order to continue your education. This method empowers people, and does not berate them into being second class citizens that rely on the government to support them.

I am also pro ederly. I think we have an obligation to help those who have given us our freedom. At the same time, I think the government waste is at an absurd level, and the government should gain better control of the money they spend. So I am not your avg advertised right wing republican. I am the republican party. We are not extreamists, and we are not radicals.

;)
Sorry so long.

[eric_n_dfw]

I basically agree with everything BackToTheMac just said with the following differences:
[list=1]
I also am an advocate of educational funding, I have no problem with my LOCAL taxes going to schools. BUT, I think that the fed should have absolutely zero say in educational funding and/or administration. Schools are local - so should their funds be. (At least bring it down to state level if not city or county) I also support Voucher programs to get some kind of competition in there - everywhere they've tried it, it works.

Remember, education is not a "right" guaranteed to us by our constitution. (and I challenge anyone to find such a right it in there) It is, however, a fundamental thing that parents should take on for their children. I believe ONE of the biggest problems with students right now is that parents are too detached, they don't take pro-active approach to their children's education. If your young child is getting bad grades, ask yourself, "when was the last time I: talked to their teachers, tried to find out where they were struggling, consulted a tutor, etc...?" For far too many parent's they don't even know there is a problem until the report card comes - by which time it's usually too late. (I know, with teenagers it gets harder - but who said being a parent was easy!)

Being Pro-Gay rights sounds silly to me. Why can't we all just be "Pro-People rights"? I know that you are just trying to say that you are NOT anti-gay, but when you start saying pro-anything, then people start trying to have programs to support that pro-anything agenda, and then other people's money (taxes) starts getting spent on things they never asked for it to be spent on. We shouldn't need laws that specifically are pro-gay. We should enforce the laws already on the books that make it illegal to infringe on other peoples rights; including the rights of all groups, races, religions, etc...

[/list=1]

(Wow that turned into a bit of a rant didn't it! :eek: )

On the same side as you, I also am Pro-Life and Pro-Capital Punishment.

Pro-Life in support of innocent children
Pro-Capital Punishment in support of justice in response to the vilest of crimes.

[chmorley]

Originally posted by eric_n_dfw
I basically agree with everything BackToTheMac just said with the following differences:

I also am an advocate of educational funding, I have no problem with my LOCAL taxes going to schools. BUT, I think that the fed should have absolutely zero say in educational funding and/or administration. Schools are local - so should their funds be. (At least bring it down to state level if not city or county) I also support Voucher programs to get some kind of competition in there - everywhere they've tried it, it works.I agree with the funding issue, but am a bit more dubious about vouchers. I think the jury is still out on them, as these programs are so new. Anything that improves the quality education, however, I will support. Given the way the global economy continues to evolve, this may be the single most important issue in the next 10-20 years.

I also liked how you said "pro-people's rights." Living in a state that passed a law (later overturned by the Supreme Court) that said it was okay to discriminate against people for being gay, I have thought a great deal about this.

That being said, I am pro-choice, pro-capital punishment, and dubious about the ability of humans to be able to decide either responsibly. I am also in support of rehabilitation and supervision of offenders, as these things are demonstrated to reduce risk in our communities (and affect more people than either the abortion or capital punishment issues do).

Chris
____
"Where there is no vision, people perish."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

[jelloshotsrule]

i voted for nader. that was the last time i voted.

i answered "green" because he's the one candidate i've gotten fired up enough about to really pitch as a good vote.. and he's a green

but i'm not registered as a green

i think i'm either "independent" or no party if that exists... whatever the one is that has nothing to do with any party. word.

[FattyMembrane]

Originally posted by MacRumorSkeptic
I'm a Libertarian. There are few differences between the 2 major partys as they both expand the size and role of the federal government in our lives. Libertarians would like to go back to a more constitutional form of government the way that our founding fathers had in mind.

glad to see that i'm not the only one who has not been lulled into complacency by our bloated federal government.

Are you tired of the government stealing your money to pay for services you dont want?
Are you tired of politicians who increase the size of government and stifle the free market?
Are you tired of the government telling you what you can and can't eat, watch, smoke, read, hear, and drive?

http://www.lp.org has all of your answers
(... well, that and the bible :rolleyes: )

[Choppaface]

i will prolly vote left if I vote at all, but that doesn't represent my opinion at all....

I refuse to take a stand on any issue unless I have had the chance to analyze it to my standards, which means I don't have hardly any stances on any issues. Moreover, any stance made must leave room in order to be compatible with possible changes in the issue down the road, and must be compatible with the implications of all other stances, or at least the immediate personal implications. That said, I really can't see how some people can tie themselves to a party, or even generally associate themselves with one. I must admit that I have found no evidence of true absolutes in the world around us, and since parties like to take such firm stances on issues I find it foolish to not admit room for error. Perhaps I'm a bit of a perfectionist, but so far I've found that an opinion that does not know how ...incorrect... (for the lack of a better word at the moment) it is, is not an opinion at all.

I remember there once was a poster (at another board) that could argue very well, without much partiality, and never held back from presenting facts that might perhaps seem contradicting to an argument. I must say that this is perhaps one of the best ways to develop a world view, and I encourage people to 'play the hypocrit' until they're comfortable with it.

[iGav]

Well I can't really play on this thread.... but I'll tell you who I support in England.....

I voted Labour at the last General Election 2001, and the one previous to that 97.... After umpteen years of Conservative rule with exceptionally high unemployment, 14%+ interest rates, enormous national debt, exceptionally huge levels of national borrowing, combined with a weak pound and a weak willed leader in John Major..... something had to give......

Now we have Tony Blair and Gordon Brown (Chancellor), we have very low interest rates, good for borrowing, and mortgages, not so good for savers, very low unemployment, Gordon Brown has been incredibly prudent with the Governments purse and we have reduced our national debt, and need to borrow very little if at all, a strong pound against other currencies, 4th strongest economy in the world etc etc......

However, we still have the NHS, that I don't think will ever be as successful as was originally envisaged, we have a really bad rail network (but that's because it was privatised years ago, and lacked funding by the Conservatives, but it's beginning to be sorted, started wit the West Coast mainline this year) Education is getting there, but slowly...... and our Government needs to stop bailing out private companies and farmers who get into difficulties....... And lastly the housing market is totally nuts at the moment........ Houses are increasing at an unsustainable rate, where people literally will have to borrow way beyond there means, and if we do get the Conservatives back in...... then the inevitable recession will hit, and everybody that borrowed @ 4+x there salary to buy a house, will end up with negative equity and quite possibly lose there home..... But remember a puppy isn't just for christmas.....

Apart from that, I think that Tony Blair is doing a good job, he commands respect on the world political stage, arguably more so then possibly any other leader on the planet, and with Gordon Brown, they have provided Britian with economic stability for the first time in recent history.

We don't really have an viable alternatives to Labor, which is unfortunate...... The Conservative party are a joke, inbred with racists, and homophobics with a week willed leader...... and after their 19 or so years of rule from the lates 70's to the mid 90's, I hope they never get in again..... The Liberal Democrats are a real ********* joke, who nobody (except Lib Dem fans that is) take seriously at all....... We have the Green party, but they don't consider anything other than there own goals, are very anti- car, would get rid of Nuclear power etc etc........ we have neither the transport or energy infrastructure to carry this out at this time...... But they do have alot of strong policies that make sense, and would do our country good, but at the moment they're just too extreme and radical to be taken on by the population.

So that's my take on the situation........ :)

[jefhatfield]

the very short time i went to school in england, in london, there seemed to be a very strong anti thatcher feeling there

i remember a billboard that said three quarters of london disagreed with her or her policies and i found that to be an interesting billboard

at the time, reagan was in his second term and starting to lose steam in the states as do many second term presidents and the idealism that america had from 80-84 was starting to wane some...i voted for ronny in 84 and i felt really bad afterwards like i made some huge mistake once the trickle down theory, which sounded good at the time, was not panning out

what i found most interesting was some of the shocking tabloid photos i saw of the royal family on newsstands in the street....charles picking his nose, the worst possible photo of the queen, somebody falling off a horse...it was all in a way to sell the tabloid...way beyond what i ever saw in the states at the time

when i saw tony blair on television after the september 11 attacks, i was very impressed with his strong support of the united states and my wife commented, "now, why can't we ever get a leader that articultate in the united states?"...and i agreed

[alex_ant]

Originally posted by stromie952
I am 100% republican

And i love it :cool:

One of the few things that really irks me about being at a rich kids school (although I'm not rich) is the high percentage of bleeding heart liberals.
I thought that was supposed to be the other way around... rich kids' schools -> conservative kids.
Sometimes, I just feel like blowing up the entire Middle East. Is that all that bad? We can still drill through the sheet of glass that would be created.
Well, that's kind of... genocidal, but, I'm sure many of your fellow conservatives share the same sentiment, or something.

Alex

[Mr. Anderson]

Well, I put 'Other' cause politics annoys me. Most politians (but not all, I do realize) are a bunch of self serving egotists - ugh. So as for a party, I don't really have one, I'm more politically apathetic. So when it comes time to vote I try for the lesser of the evils.

D

[alex_ant]

Originally posted by FattyMembrane
Are you tired of the government stealing your money to pay for services you dont want?
Are you tired of politicians who increase the size of government and stifle the free market?
Are you tired of the government telling you what you can and can't eat, watch, smoke, read, hear, and drive?
No. :D

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by FattyMembrane


glad to see that i'm not the only one who has been lulled into complacency by our bloated federal government.

Are you tired of the government stealing your money to pay for services you dont want?
Are you tired of politicians who increase the size of government and stifle the free market?
Are you tired of the government telling you what you can and can't eat, watch, smoke, read, hear, and drive?

http://www.lp.org has all of your answers
(... well, that and the bible :rolleyes: )

i thought the libertarian party would become america's third party and that would be a good thing

the dems want to spend too much on social services and tell you what to do with your car and cigarettes and the republicans want to spend too much on the military and tell you what to do with your body and medical marijuana...sometimes, i feel like i can be a libertarian...the dems and republicans sometimes get too stubborn in their ways and both are into big government whether they admit it or not

but it seems to me that the reform party has done way better and the green party had a slight edge in the last election with nader

the american independent party and the others are way under the radar screen...and that includes the "keg" party:p

[FattyMembrane]

Origionally posted by FattyMembrane
glad to see that i'm not the only one who has been lulled into complacency by our bloated federal government.

i fixed the little misprint in my first post, i meant to say "has not been lulled into complacency", you know how things go :D

Originally posted by jefhatfield
but it seems to me that the reform party has done way better and the green party had a slight edge in the last election with nader

the american independent party and the others are way under the radar screen...and that includes the "keg" party:p
i realize that the libertarian party has very little chance of winning elections in the near future, but we grow larger every year, and if you only vote for someone because you think he will win, you will always lose.

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by FattyMembrane


i fixed the little misprint in my first post, i meant to say "has not been lulled into complacency", you know how things go :D


i realize that the libertarian party has very little chance of winning elections in the near future, but we grow larger every year, and if you only vote for someone because you think he will win, you will always lose.

that is so true

...i voted for reagan in 84 because of name recognition and wondered who the heck "mondale" or "mondull" was but then i later realized that though he was boring, he was warning of the coming major recession under gop rule

...and in 92, the usa economy was in the dumps with trickle down economics and clinton easily danced into the white house

in 2000, i was split between bradley (write in), nader, and gore, but i barely chose gore, not because i thought he had the best chance like many who voted for him did, but because i thought it was best for the economy

it could be a coincidence that the current us recession is due to george w bush, but in 2004, we will have a fuller picture...if the economy is good and we caught bin laden and got control over sadaam and weapons of mass destruction (if that is even real), then i can see myself voting for bush

now that i am older, i am less of a herd mentality person, but it took 4 decades to get the self confidence to say so

i knew this great navy master chief who was so pro-libertarian, he used to go around and say, "the us navy is twice as big as it needs to be and the govt should cut it in half because it is wasteful spending and it overtaxes us...and i am willing to be the first to get laid off from my job"....and this high ranking, highest ranking, navy non commissioned officer meant it

he worked for the defense department which, as a staunch libertarian, said was a waste of us tax dollars...he believed the states could individually fund their own militias and pointed to the fact that the california national guard and air national guard was alone the second most potent military force in world history...i asked my national guard army officer friend and he said in a way that was true

i didn't seemed completely convinced that the us govt could cut spending that much and do away with department of defense and cut the navy in half but the gulf war, done with just a fraction of our forces, was a good argument for his statements

in time, the libertarians and reform party will grow and the usa will be a 4 party system which will keep a tighter lid on corruption

in the past, we had strong parties like the whigs, the jeffersonian democrats, the progressive party, and the federalists...all similar but still different than the current dems and gop of today..but these are just things i read in textbooks...backtothemac knows a lot more about this type of stuff:D

[bousozoku]

I didn't read through all the responses (sorry!), but why wasn't keg on the list?