Non-election election thread

[BeBMan]

This is surprisingly not meant to be another Hillary/Trumpy thing.

It's more like "what are you looking for when voting for X or Y?"

Personality? Programs? Specific Issues?

Ideology if defined in more strict terms (I'm a whatever-ist and so support whatever-ist parties in elections)?

Ideology in the wider sense (general compatibility to my belief system)?

Combis like "best package at least failures" - so maybe some sort of the "lesser evil"?

Discuss.

[rah]

Only fitting that this thread is started by someone with a retarded elephant head as an avatar.

[BeBMan]

hehe

[rah]

when possible (if they have one), their voting record. Anything they claim or say can be a lie. How they vote is defines just what they stand for.

[Lorizael]

Made a thread about this 6 years ago. I'll just copy/paste for now:

I know there's a dedicated US election thread, but I think this is a subject with a broader potential scope.

Over the years, I've slowly come to the conclusion that there's no point in voting for candidates because you want them to enact specific legislation or policies. There's simply no guarantee that your vote, or that candidate, or that piece of political action is going to bring about what you want. What's more, my actual stances on certain issues are so crazy that there isn't always a suitable corollary in any of the candidates or policies from which I have to choose. Additionally, I'm not particularly concerned with the fate of the Unites States (or any other country, for that matter). All that concerns me is that humanity persists.

So, instead, I've come to realize that my interests are best served by voting for candidates that share ideas I support. This is, I believe, an important distinction from voting for candidates that will actually do things I support. My goal in this is to change the national conversation, to slowly shift the culture of the country closer toward the kinds of ideas I have - not so that those ideas are eventually put into law, but simply so that there are more people that share them.

To that end, my voting strategy this year has been to identify those ideas that are most important to me and figure out which candidates have ideas that are on the path toward those ideas. These issues are:

Science - I want to achieve omniscience. Unfortunately, we don't quite have a handle on how to bring this about, so I want as much as possible to promote the advancement of science and technology.

Energy - It's going to take a lot of energy to conquer the universe and we won't be able to do it with coal plants. Whether we need to look at fusion, wind power, Dyson spheres, or forcing poor people to run in giant hamster wheels, I believe we need to do whatever it takes to exploit the energy of the universe before it's too late.

Healthcare - Dead people don't do much. It's my firm belief that people should not have to struggle simply to live productive lives, and that the right to the opportunity to live a productive life must be universal.

Education - Stupid people don't do much, either. It is inexcusable that kids are still made fun of for being smart, and it is inexcusable that most people are thoroughly unaware of their own limits and capabilities.

Civil Rights - I don't particularly care if black people run faster than whites, Jews are better with money than non-Jews, or gays have better fashion sense than straights. I want everyone to be able to sprint like a cheetah, have a stash of gold hidden somewhere, and wear snazzy clothes. The more we distinguish and discriminate between people, the less productive our population is as a whole.

So, what's your voting philosophy? What do you look for in your candidates? What do you ultimately want to accomplish by participating in the democratic process?

My stance on civil rights/diversity has changed substantially in the last 6 years, but I don't have time to expand on how at the moment. Really need to pee and then learn about cosmology.

[rah]

Education - Stupid people don't do much, either. It is inexcusable that kids are still made fun of for being smart, and it is inexcusable that most people are thoroughly unaware of their own limits and capabilities.

I don't have as much problem with the made fun of part. Yeah, sure I was made fun of. I think it made me tougher. But more importantly, with the exception of the .1% of the jocks that actually make it to the pros, I have done considerable better than all those that made fun of me. A good number of them work in service positions where I tip them for service. (always sweet) So let them have their brief moment in the sun, it's quite fleeting.
And while I'm against bullying, I think we've gone overboard these days to be PC. A lot of the good matured kidding that I suffered would be considered bullying today.

But back to the thread. For me if someone votes 100% of the party line, I have a tendency not to vote for them. Figuring if they're too lazy to think, they're not representing me.

[Bereta_Eder]

I do care a lot about ideology but I'm not "closed" to snomething else if I think it's ok and will do good.

The previous two party system had reached its limitations and it was very obvious.

I don't care if you're a neoliberal or a lefty, I care if you are in a position to rectify the ills of the system WHILE keeping in mind the welfare of the people. (I guess that makes you necessarily leftie)


There are a lot of pathogenies that need to be rectified and from a certain point on it became obvious, this was impossible to be done with either of the two previous parties.

Also, they were so entrenhced in vested interests, triangilar power structures that they absolutely had no sense what the world was going through with the austerity program.


Syriza was the obvious choice.

I'm glad for how things turned out and positive that if there is a solution within a european framework (without it being a primary concern - BUT an important concern) syriza was is and will be the only party to pull it through.

PASOK got decimated, it doesn't exist anymore.

ND, the neoliberals/conservatives are still entrenhced in previous triangular power structures. They are still useless. Plus I hate right wing with a passion. BUT, I'd consider a right wing that actually could live up to its better side/aspect. Those people, don't.

Also, I'm not saying that if given a complete free hand, Syriza would have turned as into Cuba. Maybe they would have (and there would have been great unrest).

However, within the european framework and with syriza I belive this is the best deal this country can get right now.

[OneFootInTheGrave]

Primarily on candidates record to date, second is the program which is mostly bs, but at least outlines the general direction they wish to pursue.

[Aeson]

Don't vote for any and let God sort them out.

[BeBMan]

Personally I make a diff between national and regional elections. In the latter I do experiment much more. I sometimes vote for small parties that have no chance to "win" - forming the gov - but have ideas I support or bring up issues the majors do not so much care about.

With proportional representation they can make it into some parliament without getting to rule. I usually don't want this because many of those smaller parties have limited scope or are still way too amateurish (pirate party, never forget ). I see them as a "corrective", not as major alternative.