I am voting for George W. Bush even though I reside in the state of Massachusetts. I know that my vote will not count either way, but I am voting for Bush because I believe that he is the candidate that best represents my point of view and the man who I would rather have in office the next four years.

However, there are various reasons that I want John Kerry to win. They are as follows:

1. If the vote were today (according to the latest polls) Kerry would beat out Bush in the electoral college but lose the popular vote. Sound familiar? I would LOVE to see the Democrats' reaction to this, and how it differs from the 2000 election. My theory: it's only OK if it benefits the Democratic party.

2. John Kerry will do such a bad job that he will sway moderate Democrats to support the next Republican candidate. (kind of what happened to Jimmy Carter)

3. Hillary Clinton will not be able to run for a long time (at least until 2012, barring Kerry skipping out on a re-election). This is HUGE. And while I think that she is way more liberal than most people can swallow, she is enormously popular among certain segments of society (namely African Americans and women).

There are huge problems with this assumption. I have no problem with the assumption that Kerry would do a bad job if given the chance. However, You are forgetting that the Congress is Republican controlled. Remember how horrible Bill Clinton did his first two years. He was so bad that we took over both houses. We got quite a few good things done which he was able to take credit for when he ran for reelection. Had we not taken the Congress when we did, I think Clinton would not have been reelected.

If Kerry won, he would take credit for anything good that happened his first term and blame the bad on the Republicans. Your premise won't work as long as we have Congress.

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"Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves." ~Ronald Reagan

Kerry would do a terrible job, but I couldn't hope that he does. In fact I'd hope he does a super job by turning the economy around and ending terrorism as we know it. I have no doubts neither would happen, but I would hope fervently that it does. Because my allegiance is to the US first. But if I had a choice I'd take Kerry with Republican control of the house versus Bush and democrat control. With the latter we will get nothing accomplished, whereas with the former we were able to get things done. In fact the congress did a great job of keeping Clinton in check. In fact Republicans did a better job of keeping him in check than Bush.

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All you need to know about the energy crisis:
ANWR Exploration Republicans: 91% Supported. Democrats: 86% Opposed.
Coal-to-liquid R's: 90% YES. D's: 78% NO.
Oil Shale Exploration R's: 90% YES. D's: 86% NO.
Outer Continental Shelf Exploration R's: 81% YES. D's: 83% NO.
Increased Refinery Capacity R's: 97% YES. D's: 96% NO

SUMMARY: 91% of House Republicans have historically voted to increase the production of America’s own oil and gas. 86% of House Democrats have historically voted against.

Saying you want your guy to lose because for the reasons given is imature and shows a lack of understanding as well.

1) The issue with the 2000 election wasn't the electoral college but rather the broad feelings of voter suppression and precinct irregularities in Flawduh and over the defacto decision being made by the Supreme Court instead of Congress as mandated by law. If there was broad Democratic support for doing away with the Electoral College where is the legislation to get that ball rolling? Most adults with more than a high school education, which includes most folks in congress, don't simply don't support repeal of the Electoral College.

2) Your assumptions about a Kerry presidency being a failure are superficial as they are silly. Do you hear the business or financial sectors panicked over the current dead even chances of a Kerry victory? No, because they know it's not going to be a problem. A Kerry presidency with a Republican majority in congress will be unable to spend money like a drunken sailor as the Bush whitehouse has done. Fiscal sanity and hard negotiation before enacting silly legislation is a good thing, not a negative. When it comes to the military and foreign policy Bush had demonstrated incompetence, while Kerry has long term experience.

3) Hillary Clinton is very popular among some groups but is an incredibly polarizing, public figure. Popular among some groups and getting the heavyweights to give their support are two different issues. My estimation of the real chances of her being a factor in presidential politics before 2012, whatever the result of this election, is somewhere between slim and none. While nothing is impossible, I prefer to consider what is likely.

oc

I do hear plenty of panic from the business community in regards to Kerry. In fact the volotility of the stock market is being blamed on oil and the possibility of a Kerry Presidency.

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All you need to know about the energy crisis:
ANWR Exploration Republicans: 91% Supported. Democrats: 86% Opposed.
Coal-to-liquid R's: 90% YES. D's: 78% NO.
Oil Shale Exploration R's: 90% YES. D's: 86% NO.
Outer Continental Shelf Exploration R's: 81% YES. D's: 83% NO.
Increased Refinery Capacity R's: 97% YES. D's: 96% NO

SUMMARY: 91% of House Republicans have historically voted to increase the production of America’s own oil and gas. 86% of House Democrats have historically voted against.

Good to see you back oddlycalm. Yes, since my last post I have put a laminated cartoon bull on the side of my Prelude. Not.

Anyway

1) You are partially right. People (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)ed and still do about numerous problems with this election. You have mentioned a couple of them. One of them was the effect of and continued relevance of the electoral college.

Also, you make the statement that the Supreme Court made a "de facto decision" - it did render an opinion which is more than just de facto. Assuming you mean decision as to the merits of the election, yes its ruling resulted in stopping recounts. However, it was Gore who filed the case, not Bush. It was inevitable that whatever the outcome at any given level, it would wind up in the United States Supreme Court as there would be federal questions and a potential constitutional controversy. (IMHO the ridiculous Fla Sup Ct. opinion virtually guaranteed that).

Your post seems to imply that the Supreme Court, in ruling on an important issue that was put before them regarding interpretation of the laws somehow usurped Congress' role. That isn't accurate. In the event of a tie in the electoral college, Congress would have had the say, as they did when they elected Jefferson (at least I think it was him). Their role was never triggered as there was no such electoral college tie.

:BSHISTORYPROF/OFF:

Or maybe that was another Hansmoleman...

The entertainment never ends here.

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"Tweeter was a Boyscout before she went to Vietnam and found out the hard way... nobody gives a d@mn."

Not partisan republican - in fact my last post contains only one "opinion" in it. That being that the Florida Supreme Court decision was ridiculous. I happen to think it was. The rest, I do believe is entirely factual. Regardless of which party you support. There were a few demos on that Supreme Court too, remember...they weren't partisan republicans were they? (How come any debate on the 2000 elections tries to ignore that fact?)

Even if you don't like Bush, what Gore attempted was no less than a legal usurption of the voting process. Its a good thing he lost, as the integrity of the system is preserved...though I have no doubt that he would have done a superior job in office. And I say that as one who was registered for a long time as a repub.

Huh?

Hans, not Pinniped. He made a big deal about claiming to be a Libertarian a month or so ago. Today he's not just a Republican, but a partisan Republican.

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"Tweeter was a Boyscout before she went to Vietnam and found out the hard way... nobody gives a d@mn."

sorry, I am so used to having truebrit say the same thing about me, and you know, my post was the last one above yours...besides that I'm paranoid. my bad.