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I voted for Clinton, and thanks for asking.
I've come to see him -- as one author suggested -- as a seducer. He suggests warmth, humanity and tolerance, and to a great degree, his policies offer some of those things. I am struck by how many of these posts perfect capture my sad feeling about voting, and about voting for him. They confirm my feeling that Clinton on the outside -- his policies, appointments, awareness -- offers promise. But Clinton on the inside doesn't seem to be there. I made it a point to read every book about Bill and Hillary Clinton that came out this year. I have this strong sense that they mean to do well, but lack much of an ethical or moral gyroscope to keep them on course. But couldn't possibly vote for Dole. Couldn't take the movie reviews.
Jon Katz {jdkatz@aol.com} Clinton. Because I think he's finally got the hang of it. Because I suffer that grand liberal delusion (hope) that, freed now from having to worry about another run, he'll let his heart of hearts bleed unabated and even let Hillary out again. In fact (gulp), he's even got a shot at being a great president. Because Dole was not to be taken seriously. That's the broad picture. I'm still steaming about the welfare bill, but I'm hoping (again), he'll go back and realign it according to his conscience, as he's promised to do.
David Hudson {dwh@berlin.snafu.de} I voted for Dole(NO GROANS YET PLEASE) I don't like either,really...I am just tired of looking at Billy Bobs two faces..One is empty,the other is ful of hot air...Oh,I knew Dole wouldn't win.It was more a snub to Clinton ,than a vote for Dole..I think the American people need more REAL choices.....Oh well,four more years-Atleast we KNOW what to expect-- MORE EMPTY RHETORIC! Robin
Robin {robin32f@pipeline.com} I voted for Bubba. For some reason the thought of having the Evil eyed Bob Dole or Mr. Speed Talker Ross Perot as president didn't sit well in the old gizzard. The way I see it, Bill Clinton has been there for four years, we've watched him for four years, we are all (almost all) still here four years later, so what the hell. The Prez can only do so much good, but better yet, he can only do so much bad. Politics are a contest now, the Donkey's versus The Elephants, which is a most unfortunate thing. Bill can't get a damn thing done if congress and their minions don't follow suit. So good luck to the big man, besides, after these four years are up, that's it.
Fly {bsouhrada@msn.com} My God! Four more years of weirdness and insanity. Four more years of lies and cover-ups and controversy and useless media crappola. I will move to a Pacific island nation where I will set up a souvenier stand. Yes, I voted. I voted for Clinton. Yes, I feel cheated and dirty. Why? In 1992, Clinton went out of his way to appeal to the youth vote (appearance on MTV, lots of get out the vote stuff). Here was someone who at least once had a joint in his hand (even if he did waste perfectly good weed), was young enough that he could once say "don't trust anyone over 30" and successfully dodged the draft. Here was someone who would pay attention to the people that are taking the country wherever it is that it is going. Or at least that's how it appeared. And it worked. The under-30 voters came out in record numbers. Most of them voted for Bill. All of us were duped. He wasn't interested in listening to what we had to say. He still doesn't admit that he smoked weed (and now, everyone who wants to get a drivers license will need to take a piss test or wait until they're 18? Click for details) He talks about how children are our future, and then does things like sign the CDA and mandate the V-Chip to help stiffle the technology that is probably going to drive that future. Such is what happens when you have legislators out there who don't know Java from coffee. But still, he got my vote. Why? Well, I couldn't vote for Dole. Nader? Feh. I don't want an airbag in my car, much less running the country. Harry Browne? Well, he's got some nice ideas, and I like the libertarian stance on most things... but eliminating things like the Department of Education seems a little rash to me. Perot? What does he stand for, anyway? There really wasn't much of a choice. And well, I am better off than I was 4 years ago. I can't say I owe any of it to Clinton... but he hasn't directly done me wrong. At least, not yet. And thus, I voted for the status-quo. At least there are the ACLU and other watchdog groups out there that are paying some attention to my liberty, since none of the politicians are. Also, whatever happened to the big voting machines with the lever and the curtain. These were still in use in the fine southern state of Virginia as recently as 1994 (when I used one to vote against Ollie North). Where is the satifying khachunk of the levers resetting to their upright (and locked) positions and the curtain opened. That is the sound of a vote counted. Now I put my little green paper in a box and that's it? I feel like I should look around for Ex-President Carter or some other independant observer watching for vote-tampering.
Tox {toxic@mailmasher.com} I voted. The old cliche says that we get the leaders we deserve, and there is some truth to that. The re-election of Bill Clinton should cause all of us, across the political spectrum, to pause and shudder. We have elected a man who, as mentioned above, "whored whatever few principles he might actually have." This man is the leader we deserve. God help us all. I didnt vote for "anyone". But I DID vote. I voted against a bunch of STUFF. I voted against Newt,PatRobinson,christian(NOT)coalition.I voted against abolishing the Dept of Ed. In my locale, I voted against an individual running for governor, who would have kept the current status quo bureacraps in the Capital City. I voted in a church cafeteria that had beautifully colored religious pictures, done by pre-schoolers hanging on the walls. Ironic. Beautiful colors, childrens art, God. In the booth, I was dark grey, looking at a ticket with a really old mans name on it. And this really old man was being supported by a bunch of one-way extremists who think their god should rule my life and my country. Only two more years before this all starts again!!!I can wait.
hank cardello {nycwvusa@aol.com} In this, my first presidential election, I voted for Nader. He wasn't even on the ballot here in Pennsylvania, but I figured out how to write him in anyway. I guess it was Nader's anti-corporate rantings that got me excited, and the fact that I like everything I've ever read about the Green party; and the fact that Bill is just a big wimp. I felt good about it.
Chris Chamberlin Well, there was only one real choice this election. Harry Browne I don't see how people could re-elect Clinton. This guy has done more to the Bill of Rights than a paper shreader could do. Dole... well, I might have voted for him if he was the only other option. Nader?? The Watermellon Party, green on the outside, but red in the center. Perot? Who knows what he really stands for. Yes people, the Libertarians are one of the best partys out their. The Constitution is their Contract with America.
Steve Grumbling {sgrumbling@vtcomp.org} This was my first year to be able to vote for presidency. But I didn't. Why? Because, although I am in a majority Republican state (Texas) I didn't know that much about Dole. Perot was a definate no, he has come across as nothing but a lunatic to me. And as for Clinton, well, his stand on same-sex marriages (although I am hetrosexual) seemed to me to be telling the entire U.S.A. that it's okay to discriminate. Where does it stop?
Alysia I walked two blocks to an Elementary School near my home. It was 7:15am and the sun was shining, and I felt very good about being able to walk and vote. Of course, a vote is such a this-or-that binary choice that it is hardly a means for representation of my personal voice, as a citizen. I would rather have my voice be polled online. A mirrored website, with secure validation for people to vote on referenda of scalable dimension; municiple, State, National, or Global. No, it'd be better if it weren't just a mirrored site, but rather a freely distributed front end to a mirroring backend database, all with strong, public-key encryption. Well, the encryption would be more for a digital signature, rather than privacy, but the tally would have to be anonymous to be fair, just that the signature would be compared against the database of qualified voters for the issue's domain. In any case, I voted for Bill Clinton, even though he wants strong encryption for U.S. Gov't Presidential and "National Security Issue" documentation, but for ordinary citizens, he wants the Government to hold the backdoor password to Our private information! In other words, he recognizes the value of encryption, in that he wants it for himself, but he opposes the right of You and Me to have the same security. I'd like to say right here that EVERYONE deserves the protection of securely private communications, not just the Government leaders, the Military, the Corporations, or the Wealthy. Everyone deserves this protection, yet it is being stymied by the Janet Reno-led Justice Dept., under the highest order from the President. Yet I voted for him anyway, because of two things: 1) Bob Dole. I didn't want another Reagan. Reagan tried to call 'ketchup' a vegetable for childrens' school lunches. He spent madly on the Defense industry, despite the knowledge that the USSR was teetering on collapse the whole time. He was elected because of a stunt to keep the Iranian held hostages in captivity until after his election in exchange for illegal weapons. Ronald Reagan denied the whole Iran-Contra affair, and then George Bush pardoned everyone involved in the sordid mess. Bob Dole? He had no vision. He kept looking back. Now he's got plenty of time to do so. 2) Ross Perot's Reform Party's abandonment of Dick Lamm. I think Ross should NOT be running for office, but rather using his smarts, resources, and inspirational vigor to further the strengthening of the Third Party, because I believe that the Two Party system is dead, and if it isn't dead, we should kill it. Now. Bipartisanship is stagnating the National dialogue! It's too easy to say either "The Conservatives are this" or "The Liberals are that". Why can't the opinions of the citizenry voice their opinion, and meet community membership dues, elect real managers on a more frequent (but shorter-lengthed) campaign cycle, and have these managers work largely from their homes, via telecommuting on the Great American invention...the tcp/ip (or improved next generation protocol) Internetwork? In any case, we need a third party. I'm rambling, and The Simpson's are coming on. E-mail me if you agree or not!
Rob Turk {inconspicuous@megalith.com} I sincerely pray that the majority of postings here are not representative of what this nation has to look forward to in the future. I'm absolutely dumbfounded by the reasons most people used for their support of Clinton. Most of you admit that he's a liar, cannot be trusted, has no moral compass, is only concerned about his ass and on and on. Someone was even impressed with the fact that Clinton didn't try to cover up the fact he is a liar. In their own twisted way they praised him for (my words) "being honest about being a liar". Today, just today, it has dawned on me how easy it will be for the anti-christ to fool this nation and it's really frightening to realize that event is closer now than I had ever thought possible. But, after reading these posts it has all become so much clearer to me.
Alpo I voted for Clinton. Nader doesn't give a rat's ass about gay rights. Browne and the Libertarians want everyone to be free to discriminate against whomever they choose. Dole believes in equal rights for everyone unless you're gay, in which case you're "special". Clinton at least says the right things, most of the time, about gay rights and would sign the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. And at least he'll appoint Supreme Court Justices who'll overturn the Defense of Marriage Act.
David Lauri american politics are a shadow face, hiding a network of goals and agendas that most of the populace remains blissfully unaware of. how many of you actually know what your "representatives" are doing? when enough of us have forgotten why america was founded in the first place, we will no longer be america. I'm amazed at everyone, because, for the most part, you stated as the main reason for voting _for_ a particular candidate was not so much a pro-So&So vote, but an anti-OtherJerk vote. I voted for Ralph Nader, and I'm proud. I voted for someone I believe in, and didn't waste my vote on a wishy-washy guy because I decided I didn't like the Xian-rightist, and vise-versa. If voting meant that much, you might even consider writing in yourself in those few lines at the top of your little ballots. To say the two-party system is ridiculous, as political parties in general promote division, and to then seek to drive the wedge even further by not acknowledging the potential power of the third-party candidates, and *then* being too weak to vote for one of them, you do yourselves a disservice. If you don't know about something, then don't vote on it either way, but if you're going to vote at all, at least _try_ to find something out about the candidates or the issues at hand, the only wasted vote is an unused vote. Someone above mentioned that they were criticised for "wasting" their vote on someone who wouldn't win, but if more people would put it all on the line & *waste* that vote on someone who was not a Republican or a Democrat, then the other parties might be able to garner some considerable grass-roots strength... then again, I'm probably just babbling or something, and I should just go have some more cheese.. * Yeah, I know a lot of people who "voted for a young, charismatic man who I really believed in." I was amazed at the naivete of so many people. Let's face it you gotta be a whore to collect enough money even to be considered for a senate or house seat, let alone president. So how can you expect leadership from some guy who's been going around suckin dick for 20 or 30 years? What's the solution. Ineffective gov't. What we all complain about is the best case scenario, given the rules they play by. Who knows what would happen if these guys ever had a united front and made a substantial effort to change things. We'd all probably be locked up or shut out.
joyride {5element@qadas.com} I voted for a leader, not a misleader. I voted for a man who had character, not associated with characters. I voted for a man who had conviction, not for one who is facing convictions. After reading these positings, I am ashamed of America. This election was not about the character of Bill Clinton, it was about the character of the American Voter. How do you teach your children to do the right thing, to be truthful, and to keep their word, and most importantly, to choose their friends wisely? How do you explain to them that you voted for Bill Clinton? When America called, Bob Dole gave his right arm, Bill Clinton gave his middle finger. All you Clinton voters gave America that same finger. Shame on all of you!! Next time you visit a cemetary, piss on every grave that belongs to a soldier, because that is what you did November 5, 1996
Tina Marie Yeah, right. Bob Dole has so much character and is so forthright that he championed a 15% tax cut even though he's been a life long opponent of supply side economics. He would say or do anything to get elected. Now THAT's character!
joyride {5element@qadas.com} I know intelligent, open minded people who long for change. Most of them voted for Clinton. They don't believe anymore than you or I do that an independent candidate has a Nader's chance in hell of being elected. I can't imagine how that could change before the collective consciousness changes, and I can't begin to imagine what it will take to begin that magnitude of change. I can only hope, for better or for worse, that it begins in my lifetime. This mediocrity is killing me.
Vagabond Jim {vagabond@minds.com} |
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