Am I one of the last undecided voters? Who should I vote for?

First, some background: I'm a centrist, moderate, unaffiliated, independent American voter. In the past I've voted for both GOP and Dem candidates, in various elections.

I realize that polarization and divisiveness are such in American politics these days that most people have made their minds already, regarding the November presidential elections.

I feel like I'm one of the rare birds who are not entirely certain of their choice in November. I shall say, I will indeed vote, and will indeed vote for either the Democratic or the Republican ticket. I do not believe in voting for third parties that have no chance. I think that informed voters have an obligation to gauge the two viable candidates and pick the best one, or at least, pick the lesser of two evils when the citizen believes that neither candidate is good. That's the patriotic duty.

So, I've been back and forth between inclinations to vote for either Trump/Pence, or Biden/Harris.

I see pros and cons in both tickets; my take is rather one of lesser of two evils as I'm not comfortable with either ticket.

There is more, but in summary, here are some of my considerations about these two tickets.

GOP ticket:

Pros: If Trump's Warp Speed initiative is successful, I'll be grateful for his vision in strongly supporting private business to expedite vaccine production, pledging 9.5 billion dollars to help them and not taking a "no" for an answer when he was told it couldn't be done in 12 months. I will assume that an effective and safe vaccine will induce a large boom for the economy, and given the severe economic damage we've had from the pandemic, I would trust Trump more than Biden in getting the economy back on track, faster. I also like the fact that Trump stands up to China. I consider China to be currently America's #1 geopolitical adversary. I also like Trump's attempt to control the Southern border, given that I abhor illegal immigration. Trump's tax plan has saved me $20,000 in annual income tax.

Cons: I believe that Trump's style of leadership is too erratic and inconsistent, and racially divisive. I suspect him of caring more for the promotion of his own ego and fortune than for the good of the American people. I dislike his alienation of our international allies and lament his over-lenient approach to Vladimir Putin. I think that Trump is getting old, showing signs of cognitive decline, and is a fat man with an unreasonable diet; if he dies, I don't want Mike Pence as president; too much of a religious extremist for my taste. I don't think Trump surrounds himself with good people. They have no viable proposition for healthcare.

Dem ticket:

Pros: The ticket is more likely to promote some healing of America's strong racial divide and erratic turmoil, with a head of the ticket who traditionally does well with African Americans, and a veep that comes from a law-and-order background and is half-black. If Trump's Warp Speed initiative fails and the vaccines don't deliver, I'd like to see a leadership change since I believe that what we're doing for our share of the pandemic is not working. The ticket is more likely to re-establish ties with our international allies. I do not believe in the accusations against the ticket that it will cede control to the far left, as it was created exactly to stop far leftist candidates like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren (who was not picked as veep). I think this ticket might do more for healthcare in America.

Cons: The ticket's immigration platform horrifies me. I do not like Biden's choice for veep, as I suspect Harris of being authoritarian and self-serving, some of the very characteristics I don't like in Trump. I am afraid that reversing a business-friendly climate and increasing taxation will stall the economic recovery (not to forget, bye-bye my $20,000 in tax savings). Some adoption of far-leftist ideas doesn't agree with me, although I hope it's just electoral posturing and if they win, they will lead a moderate administration.

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So, I don't know... what should I do??

 

Jo Jorgensen

 

Don't vote.

 

I suggest you look at the U.S. Stock Market and the number of US companies listed in the 1990's in comparison to the number listed today. There were over TWICE AS MANY LISTED IN THE 1990's than there are today. If the business climate were so great today wouldn't there be more NOT LESS listings. Today's values are grossly overstated because there are so few companies to invest in.

 

Assuming that you are serious. I think you can be sure that Biden will have a moderate administration. I think that is why Obama picked him for VP to reassure the moderate elements of the electorate. Actually I see no reason to vote for Trump unless you want the distinction of having voted for the worst US president in history.

 

To be fair, you should give examples as to why Trump is the worst president in history.

 

I'm not sure if that is of great help for this November's decision. You are talking of a situation from 30 years ago. Certainly this must have happened gradually, across both Republican and Democratic administrations, no?

 

Of course I'm serious. I've been posting in good faith since I joined. OK, I'm new here, but I've posted 505 times already and if you look at my posting history you'll see a vast majority of serious posts, no trolling (there's a tiny minority of posts in which I was a bit sarcastic or combative; but not only the vast majority of my posts are serious, but the vast majority of them are civil, as well). Also, I've collected "likes" that are more numerous than 80% of the number of my posts; I don't think a non-serious poster would have collected this rate of "likes" per post.

 

Seems like you have missed the part in my OP stating that I will indeed vote and that I consider it to be a patriotic duty.

 

If you are dead set on voting, vote for the ticket whose policies and vision for the country most closely mirrors your own.

 

Like I said, I won't vote for small parties with no chance. I believe in the patriotic duty of picking either the best or the lesser evil (in case both are bad) among the only two viable parties.

I would like to see a true multi-party system in America but we're very far from it, with two mega-parties and a number of small, fringe, and non-viable ones. For all practical purposes we have only two parties, and voting for any other party in this situation is just wasting one's vote, and I won't go for that as I believe that all informed citizens should weigh in on who will be our next president. Jo Jorgensen most definitely won't be our next president so her candidacy is utterly irrelevant to me. Thanks, but no, thanks.

 

That's not that easy when one harbors some views that are leftist, and some others that are rightist, like I do. I see pros and cons in both tickets, and neither one really closely mirrors my positions.

 

Some very conscientious points both pro and con for both picks. I believe the cons you listed for Trump/Pence greatly outnumber the pros, especially seeing that the US is having one of the worst responses to the virus in the entire world and we entered it with one of the largest deficit records in our history. I have agreed with many things Trump has done — China and pharmaceuticals being the most recent — but the lack of leadership, self serving and alienation of our allies will damage this nation for generations.

That said I also do not like many of the immigration policies of the left but they are the only ones that are serious about healthcare reform which is sucking trillions per year out of our economy and that wound needs priority over many others in my opinion after seeing friends and family struggle through it during their darkest times. Historically the economy as a whole seems to do better under Democratic leadership than it does under Republican leadership and Trump’s economic successes were built on massive amounts of debt with no real plan. I will probably take a major tax hit but nothing that will impact my standard of living and could even save me money with total healthcare costs being lower for my family and my companies.

I will disagree with you on one point, a vote for a third party isn’t necessarily a bad thing, all a third party has to do is reach 5% of the vote to become federally funded which will actually give them a shot to go after the big two that have caused so much distrust and distress in this nation. Choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil. We so desperately need a viable third party.

In the end, you seem to have many of the issues I have with this election — the one that has stopped me in my tracks with Trump (aside from his personal attributes [ie. the pandering, adultery, fraud]) is the lack of decorum and destruction of presidential norms and ethics. This is the one that will absolutely dismantle our democracy from the inside out if we allow it to fester.

You will make the right decision, whoever you can lay your head down at night and think you have made the right decision for your children and their children is all you need to consider.

 

You can at least put your views in order of importance and, you can assess the candidates' reliability.

 

This is another one of the reasons I feel like the Republican Party has left me, I have voted for a Republican President for more times than I have a Democratic one — as I believe in fiscal conservatism, am pro responsible ownership of firearms and am pro strong immigration policy — but the new “leave the country if you don’t worship Trump” and attempts to get people not to vote or disenfranchise them is a bridge too far imo. It seems almost ingrained in the ideology.

I severely hope the Republicans become conservative again and not stay what they have allowed themselves to become.

 

Biden isn't going to raise taxes until the economy is fully recovered. We don't know when that will be, but it won't be by November. Who can get the economy going is an issue. Obama and Biden dug us out of Bush's hole and handed Trump the longest expanding economy in history. Now Biden and Harris can do the same with Trump's mess.

Trump is taking quite a gamble predicting a vaccine in such little time. I think it's pure politics. Companies will do whatever the government wants for billions of dollars. We can know whether a vaccine works, but we can't know it's safe in such a short period of time. And I would assume this program would continue under a Biden administration.

We won't have a vaccine by November, so I'm not sure how you could base a vote on this.

 

They've become QAnon. Trump was just a warmup for these people.

 

You are completely wrong on racial division. It began under obama and has gotten worse. Trump does not have a racist bone in his body. The division will not get any better under Biden.

If you have employer sponsored health insurance you can kiss it goodbye under Biden. Get ready to pay for your health insurance as well as insurance for illegal aliens.

 

Actually we should just vote for Christopher Walken. Imagine his SOTU speeches!

 

This really is what it's about. The Democrats have been very focused and direct. Who knows the level of coordination, but Biden's rise began with one speech by Jim Clyburn. He's been unstoppable since. What gets me is I'm a fiscally conservative, gun owning, Vietnam-era vet, who is politically moderate and independent. These are the reasons I support Biden rather than Trump. I've never liked Trump. Cute little playboy wannabe. His TV show sucked, so I didn't watch it a second time. But when he trashed John McCain that was it. I'd never vote for Trump, and that's what this election is about. People care little if at all about issues this time.

 

Do you live in a swing state? If not, I guess it doesn't really matter.

 

I may not for President.

 

This is why we need an election system change, no one’s vote should be completely irrelevant and so many Republicans in California and Democrats in Wyoming are completely discarded. And don’t even get me started on the weighting of votes that do count based only on geographical location...

 

It's a mess. Don't get me wrong, I'll still vote, it's just that I'll vote my conscience without any real practical concern.

 

If you disagree with the stance of the major parties but still want to have your voice heard there are other options:
https://jo20.com/
https://www.gp.org/2020