Darius Bacon ([info]darius) wrote,
@ 2008-01-20 23:52:00
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Dear lazyweb,
I'm a California member of the Decline-To-State Party. I have till Tuesday to change my registration. While voting is one of the least influential things you can do politically, it's sort of bad to just skip it. Should I:

1. Register Democratic and vote for Obama? He seems like the least-bad leading candidate. (Some evidence. The linked post takes this as evidence of effectiveness; I'm more impressed by the choice of what to be effective about.)

2. Register Republican and vote for Ron Paul? There will be a Republican Party for the foreseeable future, that even wins some elections, so its future character matters a lot. Paul, for all his, ah, imperfections, is the only candidate to really repudiate the Bush administration (besides repudiations like it's too liberal or not warlike enough); a good enough showing might make some marginal difference.

3. Register Republican and strategically vote for Romney? I suppose keeping McCain out of the general election, which he might win with the press fluffing him, would make a bigger difference than influencing the Democratic choice. Downside: this is dishonest.

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[info]enochsmiles
2008-01-21 08:28 am UTC (link)
I've torn between Paul and Gravel myself. Though keeping Hillary out of the general election is important.

I wouldn't vote Romney, but that's just me.

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[info]darius
2008-01-22 07:19 am UTC (link)
I'm not thrilled with Clinton, either. Hooray for our choices!

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[info]fictualities
2008-01-21 02:39 pm UTC (link)
*points to icon* :)

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[info]darius
2008-01-22 07:20 am UTC (link)
*steals it, begs forgiveness*

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[info]ruht
2008-01-21 05:42 pm UTC (link)
Probably the author I trust the most on politics is Nick Szabo, and he convinced me to vote for Paul.

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[info]darius
2008-01-22 07:22 am UTC (link)
Thanks for the pointer. I donated to Paul's campaign a while back, a little before the newsletter news came out. I'm less optimistic about him building an effective bloc for liberty, though we can hope.

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[info]wazm
2008-01-21 06:40 pm UTC (link)
I'm not entirely convinced Ron Paul's policies would be generally good, though I like the idea of a radically different viewpoint being thrown into the mix. An example of deregulation causing unintended consequences is the repeal of Glass-Steagall act that has lead to the current subprime mortgage mess the country is facing. I also think the telecommunication deregulation acts passed in the 90's have also negatively affected progress. I really dislike his viewpoints when it comes to the environment and government support of the sciences, and I'm not entirely convinced returning to the gold-standard is any kind of win. But I am happy to see more libertarian views being brought up in debates.

So, I'll probably end up voting for Obama myself. He's the only candidate that seems like a real person, and his viewpoints don't make me immediately annoyed.

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[info]darius
2008-01-21 10:19 pm UTC (link)
Yes, I'm looking at this as a bid to promote a constituency for peace and freedom and to confront the other candidates. Though I think Paul has big problems from that POV too, sigh.

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[info]naturalborn
2008-01-22 02:39 am UTC (link)
If you wish to vote strategically you could also vote for huckabee, since he's also a real possibility for getting the nomination and likely to get absolutely slaughtered in a general election.

I'd most suggest voting for Obama though, since the chances of any republican winning the general election are kinda small. I happen to not actually be registered, mostly out of concerns about leaking my address, although I suppose I should get over that at some point.

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[info]darius
2008-01-22 03:56 am UTC (link)
Yeah, I settled on Obama at the end.

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[info]enochsmiles
2008-01-24 06:08 am UTC (link)
Not anymore. Huckabee's staff is walking off their posts because he's out of cash apparently.

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[info]spoonless
2008-01-22 03:19 am UTC (link)
That's funny... I just put my voter registration form in the mail today, to change my party to Decline to State so I can vote in the primaries :)

How is this possible?

Well, the Democrats are officially letting Decline to State Californians vote in their primaries this year. You can't do this if you are registered with any other party (unless it's really obscure). I have been registered as a Libertarian for 13 years, but I finally decided a.) I'm drifting apart from some of their political ideology, and b.) as an independent it gives me more flexibility and allows me to vote in the Democratic primary at least for this election.

I'll probably vote for Obama, but I'm still not sure.

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[info]darius
2008-01-22 03:53 am UTC (link)
Oh, that's convenient. :-) Though I need to send this in anyway to declare a change of address.

I generally voted Libertarian before 2004 but never registered as such.

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[info]enochsmiles
2008-01-24 06:09 am UTC (link)
Consider Gravel, if he's even still in the race by then. I lean Libertarian, and I think he's got a better plan than Paul.

But yeah. If it's a matter of preventing Hillary from getting the nomination, Obama is the way to go.

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