So why vote for McCain?
This weekend I tried to put myself in the position of a Republican voter. No, I didn’t pull any muscles or break any bones, I just tried to see things from their point of view. I was trying to find some reason to vote for McCain.
I kinda feel sorry for those voters because, try as I might, I couldn’t think of one thing that he stands for that would make him attractive as a president for Republicans this year.
I’m thinking there may be many Republicans who say they will vote for McCain, but when they are alone with that ballot in their hand, they may check off the name, Barack Obama. Why wouldn’t they? If I were in their place, I would.
I kinda feel sorry for those voters because, try as I might, I couldn’t think of one thing that he stands for that would make him attractive as a president for Republicans this year.
I’m thinking there may be many Republicans who say they will vote for McCain, but when they are alone with that ballot in their hand, they may check off the name, Barack Obama. Why wouldn’t they? If I were in their place, I would.
posted by pissed off patricia at 1:46 AM
26 Comments:
Bob Barr may well get many disenchanted GOP voters rather than McSame.
If I were in their place, I would.
But there is one thing missing from your exercise in objective thought, my dear. You didn't drink the Republican Kool-Aid. The fact you attempt to put yourself in their place already puts you at a disadvantage. The die-hard Republican has voted against his/her own best interests for 40 years and are incapable of seeing things from another point of view than the one they've been fed.
Dr Know says it all.
Bob Barr will get A LOT of votes. I do not see many Repubs voting for Obama, I just can't see that.
Although I would like to.
The fixer has the right of it. These folks have been voting against their own self interest and the best for the nation regardless of all the evidence presented to them. I have a post at SteveAudio that touches on this. We have a serious job ahead of us trying to get them to look at the evidence and the negative impact on their lives because of the the GOP. Big Job!
Ok all you Obama Republicans, Time to come out of the closet.
nick, vote for McCain. For all of his flaws, he loves America and the idea of America. NoBama hates America and the idea of America.
I've asked several McCain supporters directly why they're supporting him, and in my unscientific survey, the responses fell into two categories:
1) They are low-information voters who have fallen for the MSM's McMarvelous McMavericky McManure.
2) Because he's a War Hero and a Great 'Merkin. (Anon above clearly falls into this category.)
The low-info voters tend to be more independent minded, whereas the latter were to a man (or woman) social conservatives. McCain needs both constituencies to win. But to solidify his support among one, he must piss off the others: Rock/McCain/Hard Place.
so Betty, it's ok with you that NoBama hates america?
fixer has the truth, you think therefore you don't vote for McCain.
I live in an area that is incredibly right wing and I work with plenty of people who are. "John McCain survived being a POW, so vote for McCain" is what I hear a lot. "What is he going to do for YOU or for your country?" I ask. "He loves America," they say.
This is a circular argument that a person with a brain (me, in this instance) can not win. I end up with a head ache.
And remember, these are the same people who (4 years ago) didn't elect Kerry, because being a war hero was not important!
"I was trying to find some reason to vote for McCain."
Well, aside from severe brain damage with accompanying loss of cognitive abilities, I can think of a couple. Some folks still believe in his reputation as a "maverick." I, however, have seen him shedding that skin over the past eight years. He never could have been the nominee without doing so. He is now business as usual.
Or, they could be, as said above, poorly informed. I know folks who listen to the radio pundits and actually believe the unsubstantiated crap that they hear repeatedly. It's easy to identify these unthinking knobs. They say stupid things like "Obama hates America" over and over without the ability to put forth anything to support it. Like their radio masters, they figure that simply repeating it enough will make it true. Seeing as Obama's whole success story is classically American, I cannot see how this tripe could possibly be true.
I can also see voting for McCain if you truly are a person who hates America.
After all, to vote for McCain, you have to support having our troops continue to die for lies, in a losing situation that keeps them from doing anything concrete for America's security. You have to support their tours being extended without their consent, as if this were China or the USSR. You have to believe that they deserve to be shafted on the GI Bill and don't deserve adequate health care or housing when they return. You have to accept that we cannot afford to get them armor and equipment, but we can afford to hire mercenaries that cost far more. You need to favor killing more of them in a war with Iran without ever thinking of giving diplomacy a chance first. You need to support spreading our armed forces thinly across the world so that they cannot protect us here and they cannot be effective where they are.
You have to favor rampant war profiteering. You have to like wide open borders and ports that are given to middle eastern control - or at least you favor such an attempt as "good business", which is really all in the world that matters. You have to think that massive debt to China is okay.
You have to take a very dim view of women's rights. You have to be willing to blame your fellow Americans for economic downturns and disdain making repairs to our infrastructure while winking and nodding at the spending of $4000/second in Iraq that your children's children may still be paying back when they hit middle age.
I mean, you must really, REALLY hate America to support shit like that.
Wingnuts are going to vote for McCain, no matter how much of a commie pinko homo liberal he is compared to Chimpy or Unka Dick.
Sunday I was watching the talking-head shows and the repubs were all spooning out the usual pablum about the economy getting all better with the $600 fix.
one even spouted the oldie, 'tax- and- spend- dem'.
I couldn't believe anyone would still go for those old songs.
why don't the folks who consistently vote against their own best interests just look around and see the world as it is, for heaven's sake?
I'm not American so it's moot for me, but somehow I think, incredibly stupid thoug it might be, many Americans are not ready for a black president, and will vote accordingly.
@ anonymous - Like I said, I'm not American, but I'd seriously like to know how it is that Obama hates America??? It's a point of view I haven't seen..
It sad when you think about it, but Republicans haven't had anyone to vote for in a long long long time. John McCain is just another step on the way down.
That is a very good musing PoP, and worth understanding. I'm gonna say that once you get education into a redneck, they turn blue. True of me at least. Out of my my biological and extended family, my brother and I are the only ones to go to college.
My brother however, took his courses while still in the Navy, where he is today. 25 years next year, floating around in engine rooms. He managed to become a little purple, while I have gone totally blue.
I finally understand the whole thing now since a dear friend sent me Joe Bageant's book this Spring, "Deer Hunting With Jesus."
Every Democrat in America should read that book to understand how their low info redneck bretheren vote the way they do.
I used to like McCain. Not enough to vote for him, but I believed that he had genuine integrity, and I could respect that. Not sure anymore if that McCain even exists anymore, he's pandering too much to the party base these days.
Guns, guts, guns, God, abortion and the flag. And, always, taxes.
they are absolute opposites. this is really gonna be fun to watch johnny go down in a massive defeat. obama has class and mcsame always looks uneasy and creepy-as-hell. did you hear that chuck berry told mc cain to stop using "johnny be good" on his campaign stops? chuck's an obama man.
I think it is impossible for someone with compassion and an independent mind to really ever "channel" the single-mindedness of people who have voted for Republicans over the last 2 decades.
I had gotten one of those mass e-mails with the nastiness regarding Flag Pins and photos of the Pledge of Allegiance and "Hussein" and stuff - and responded that "This is MY senator - I'm quite proud of him, and if you have nothing better to say - shaddup". To Family.
One of the non-family folks e-mailed me back and said that Obama supports the murder of 1000's of children per year.... yeah, another Anti-Choice wingnut.
Single-issue "conservatives", especially the hard-core "christians" won't care anything about economy, war, diplomacy, etc. They'll only see their own personal pet issue - and vote for that, to hell with the rest of America.
Alot of people will vote for McCain simply because they are blockheads and selfish.
Think people who can't think beyond what their minister says.
Sunday, at a graduation party, I sat among friends, just quietly listening. The dems were all on fire, of course; that's a no brainer. Those who have historically voted republican, though, are more vociferously pissed off than I ever remember them. I've never heard so many eff-bombs in one place in my life. It's not "the economy" or "the war" anymore. It's "the fucking economy" and "the fucking war" and "the fucking idiots" sending "the entire fucking country" down "the fucking tubes."
"So, you guys gonna vote for four more fucking years of this fucked up shit?"
They say they're not. They fear their candidate is clueless about the economy, and they see the war as some kind of subterfuge -- they don't believe it's just, nor do they believe it's where our money's REALLY going. AMAZING.
But we're in Michigan, and our people are hurting perhaps a little more than some others, so I can't guess what those in other states are thinking or feeling.
I'm happy for the handful of converts here, though.
in response to marjorie--
I don't get it.
I get the "blockhead" part.
but I'm voting for Obama [and as a dem in general] precisely because I AM selfish.
I want my Constitution back.
I want a good education for our kids.
I want a good economy.
I want our kids to come home from an illegal and unjust war. and then, I want them to be able to get the benefits [health care, education, etc.] they were promised before they signed up.
I want our White House to obey the law.
I want our SCOTUS to do the same and to stop appointing our presidents for us.
I'm sure there's more I'm not thinking of right this minute--but you get the gist.
so, it seems a no-brainer to me. if you're voting for yourself, you'll vote Obama now and dem as a general rule.
I'm proud to say I'm selfish when it comes to voting for our country's [and the world's] leaders.
so, I don't understand how people who are 'selfish' can vote any other way.
I _do_ think the vindictive vote can go for McCain. but that's a whole 'nother comment -- or maybe a full post.
Heh. Bob Barr is running on the Libertarian Party ticket and may siphon off some of those Ron Paul acolytes and maybe even some small government conservatives as well.
Sort of a reverse Nader.
Please, God, let it happen...
Good Job! :)
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