2008 Presidential Election

[alissaroot]

Here's links to some of the third party candidate's official sites:

Nader/Gonzalezeace/IndependentParty:Political Issues that Matter - Ralph Nader's Views on the Issues
Constitution Party:Baldwin/Castle:Baldwin 08 - Let the TRUTH be HEARD!
Libertarian: Barr/Root:Bob Barr 2008 — Liberty for America
Cynthia McKinney & Rosa Clemente:Green Party: Green Party of the United States | Homepage
Socialist:Moore/Alexander:Moore/Alexander 2008!
About 100 others:Politics1 - Guide to American Political Parties

And the two main parties sites:
Democratic Party:Obama/Biden:Barack Obama and Joe Biden: The Change We Need
Republican Party:McCain/Palin:Welcome to McCain Palin 2008 : :

And here's the wilkipedia sites with the two main candidate's positions stated about as non-partisan as I could find:

Political positions of John McCain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Political positions of Barack Obama - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And a nonpartisan comparison of the candidates:
Comparison of United States presidential candidates, 2008 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I still plan to vote for Barack, his tax plan will benefit me, I think he has a better grasp of foreign policy (which I think should be a crucial issue after Bush's foreign policy), and I enjoy his youthful idealism, although I know it will be heavily tempered by any Congress we have. I think everyone has already made up their minds here, but I do enjoy hearing everyone else's view points, as is everyone's right. There will never be a presidential candidate that will make everyone happy. I'd like to see our political primary process change from the winner-take-all that we have now to proportional representation. Then these third parties would be taken more seriously, and more people could feel their views are being represented in the legislature. Perhaps there also would not be such a fear that any single president has too much power. It certainly would make Congress more interesting! What do you guys think about proportional representation? Is it too "european" for America? Should we stick to a head-to-head bipartisan competition every time?

The trouble with the two party process is that it leads both parties toward a moderate position on most issues. Too many people then end up casting their vote on one single issue like gun control or abortion or nuclear power without learning about any other issues of a candidate, because those are the only issues where the candidates really differ. I know most people on this board are conservative, but I am more in the middle and to me, most candidates sound exactly the same on every issue. I considered voting for McCain when he chose Palin and Obama didn't choose Hillary. But Palin turrns me off of McCain, which is sad, because I always thought I would vote for him if he ever got the nomination, because I like how he has aggressively fought corruption in the government. I think he's a good man and he has mega street cred from all his years in military and senatorial work. I also worry about his age. What do you guys think?

Please don't attack me, I'm not trying to offend anyone's beliefs or views, I genuinely want to know other people's opinions without all this partisanship. I was surprised to get all the sarcastic comments, I thought an educational forum would give me a more academic and intellectual analysis without personal attacks on either candidate, or any one person's political views. I think all the candidates running just want what they think is best for America. And considering how many people in this country consider themselves independent or moderate, I know I am not the only one. It shocks me every election year when I see the smear ads from both sides. I just ignore all those attacks and sarcastic comments, because they are just so partisan and skewed. I hope someday both sides rise above that mess and focus on getting their message out to the public, because the mean and rude attacks only accomplish one thing: turning me off of your side and more towards the other side. That's part of why so many people are viewing this thread without participating. No one wants to be attacked for their beliefs, that's part of why America is so great! Hooray for free speech!

No matter what your opinion, get out there and vote! They're predicting that this election will have a record turnout, more voters even than when women got the right to vote and when jim crow voting restrictions were done away with in the south in 1968. So get out there and make your voice heard!