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I am one of the few americans who got to see Nader speak at my university, and the next week to see Jesse Jackson and Dinesh DeSouza duke out prop 209. Nader had no chance of winning, and in reality he would make a poor president. But he stood for almost everything I hold deep in my heart. I decided to use the fact that my vote will have no outcome on the election as a chance to vote my conscience and go for Nader. It's a truly liberating experience. As for prop 209, it's an issue with no answer. I think it was th efear of being asociated with David Duke that made me nix it. ** When I think about most people who vote, they have even less access to information about the issues. The concept of television campaign ads is downright scary.** The basis of our democracy, the common vote, is being underrated, but it is still the most powerful thing to shape a nation. I only pity those who have to compromise their morals to elect hte lesser of two evils.
Peter Kinne {felippe@leland.stanford.edu} Winona LaDuke & Ralph Nader. I voted with my heart this time. My choice is confirmed by the recent signing by Clinton of an act to relocate (read: kick out) Navajos from their current homeland. They will have to move to cities with paltry government assistance. Without having learned the skills to survive economically in a city, many of them will end up living on the streets and split from their families, as has happened during the eighties.
Christine {christin@netone.com} I didn't, mainly because I'm still a little too young. If I could have... who knows? I would mostly probably agree with some of the smaller parties, more likely Libertarian. But why vote for someone who doesn't have a chance in Hades???? I probably would vote Democratic: the whole <
kris {kerupp@bsuvc.bsu.edu} I voted, but it left a foul taste in my mouth. With youthful vigor I marked my absentee ballot and promptly sent it in. For the month after that I proudly displayed my "Clinton/Gore" poster on my dorm room door to prove my American-ness... or something. I sat there on that fateful Tuesday in November and watched the returns pour in. I watched the new President Clinton grin victoriously and thank all those who had helped "make it all possible." I was proud of him and proud of all those people who turned out to vote. I felt I had made a difference... or something. This year was different. Sure, I voted, but I wasn't as excited about it. Maybe it was the debates, maybe it was the topsy-turvy polls, maybe it was Clinton, maybe it was just me. Somewhere along the line I lost the excitement. Somewhere I lost my gung-ho-ness (as opposed to Don-Ho-ness). Where did it go? Any ideas?
Melissa Nehls {mnehls@juno.com} This was the first election since I became really politically aware and to my disappointment ther crop of candidates was really lackluster. I voted for Nader because the Green Party's views on corporate/governmental excess and environemental management are just about the only rational course. Its a pity he wouldn't run a real campaign. I felt that it did us all a disservice. There was no question of my voting for Dole, he didn't say a reasonable thing all campaign. I voted for Clinton the last time around but he blew it. Anyone who thinks he is a waffler obviously wasn't paying attention when he vigorously campaigned for NAFTA and GAT (two of the most injust trade agreements ever penned), not to mention the Salvage Timber Rider and the Welfare "Reform" Bill. Clinton has been a very loyal supporter of his corporate patrons. In my experience the vast majority of voters only want want two things: to have their labor benefit them and to not be taken advantage of. Its really too bad that the Big Two parties use these desires to villify the poor and disenfranchised while their economic policies contribute to gap between rich and poor and the gross misuse of our finite resources.
Victor Allen {vallen@adm.net} I'm 34. I've seen this countries prosperity, and I've seen recessions. In college, business, with a minor in economics. I've seen Europe, London, South of the border, and Japan. People can be contented poor, and dissatisfied with wealth. However, there seems to be nothing worse than complacency! The highest standard of living is (as allways) in those countries who encourage Capitalism! London, and European countries have enormous tax causing stagnation, and under achievement. Japan is the #2 superpower in the world, despite few natural resources, due to a free market society (ie: Capitalism). I can't believe how many times I hear Clinton comparing our country to Europe, and London...what an idiot! London SUCKS! Europe is full of a bunch of espresso drinking SLACKERS! I don't believe personal, and economic freedoms will ever create a tyrannical society. Freedom to achieve great things will benefit all of us. I voted Republican...even though it wasn't cool!
Jerome Lyons {jlyons@dbc.com} What almost all of you are missing or in many cases don't really care about is that it didn't matter who you voted for. The type of governmental system that we have developed in this country is one where the masses elect a leader. However, the leader must appease the masses. So who leads? Everyone and therefore no one. And that's just chaos. Democracy mimics a good form of government because it is a mirror of what the ruled want. If you're not happy with who won the presidency, then you might be happy with who won the congress; if not happy with congress, then with the presidency. We keep ourselves relatily safe and warm but we are no longer capable of being lead by a visionary. The positive side of this is that we are not capable of being lead by some wacko either. I like to vote, and part of me feels that it is my "civic duty". We need to think critically about the form and shape of our government and how it needs to be changed so that we can choose real leaders. WHO did I vote for? I voted for the same person that each one of you voted for: the people that made ME the most comforatble.
Matt {mbrown@snlnet.com} I agree with the democrats on social issues, but not on fiscal issues. I agree with the republicans on fiscal issues, but no on social issues. In other words, I'm fiscally conservative (the government doesn't belong in my wallet or my property), and I'm socially liberal (the government has no place in my bedroom and doesn't own my body). So... I voted for Harry Browne, libertarian candidate.
Being a gay college student, I thought I was a Democrat for the longest time, until I WOKE UP to the Democratic agenda. Naw. I didn't vote. I came pretty close, though. This is my first voting year I lived in Boston. Last year I was in Brookline, and my mom got to tell me where to go. This year I had to find the damn place myself. I received the address in the mail, but had no clue as to where the street was. So I got on my trusty browser and printed out a map of my area... truns out it's smack dab in the Mission Park projects. Not like MP is notorious or dangerous, and as projects go, it's kinda swanky. But I got horribly confused about how to navigate in this planned community, and after wandering around the block a few times, I sed fuckit. Went home, smoked some reefer, brushed off the guilt.
My friend had a cooler idea. He wrote in his friends and family for the more "menial" positions, and for Commander In Chief, he voted Unabomber. I guess if one is gonna waste their time, one might as well have something funny to say about it. Or whatever. Neither of us rilly made a difference. But voting's not about making a difference, anyway. It's just sugar.
Rev Al Deaderick {zsoul@tiac.net} we voted mostly divided between King Buzzo, Ralph Nader and whomever else stood an outside chance at control of the crust. apathetic crusties suck.
the ole blind pirAnts {thehole@gorge.net} In November, 1992, I voted for Jerry Brown in the primaries. He spoke at a coffee house near me. It was cold and there was a small gathering of people in the street when a van pulled up into the adjacent parking lot. Out of the back came his entourage of men wearing berets. To be honest, I don't remember what he said. I thought he had a vague resemblance to Peter Gabriel. My boyfriend shook his hand as he left. It was one of the coolest experiences I have had.
I was disheartened when Jerry didn't make the national election, and, though I reluctantly voted for Clinton only because he was spinning his little "National Healthcare" web of lies, I actually started to believe.
It's not that Clinton is that bad. It's just that there will never be a presidential candidate in my lifetime that comes close to representing my issues....and for those, I need my own URL.
So, I vote as close as I can to my beliefs while I am staring at the levers and rows as that red curtain draws to a close and it is only me and my conscience. I have enough things to keep me up late at night than election guilt.
In 1996, I voted for Ralph Nader. It's just nice to know that the rest of you are out there, too.
Betsy {betsyk1@earthlink.net} I voted for Clinton. Sure, it was a lesser-of-two-evils sort of a decision, but I don't feel cynical about my vote. My vote is my voice in this democracy, and it makes a difference. If I want to do more than just vote, I can get involved in the process at any level--local, state, or national. And I don't have to fear reprisals from government thugs if I speak out against the establishment. That's a right in this country, and a privelage many in the world would literally die for. Count your blessings.
danh it's been a long time since the election. i still think that i should have voted. it is, after all, the only thing that makes me relatively unique in this country, the fact that i can vote. i know hte propoganda, "in many countries, people do not have the right to vote on their own issues. they cannot vote for thier leader, and any dissenting opinion is supressed by violence." i have a kind of apathy about this though. For some reason, like many of hte writers on these pages, i just don't feel that my vote could have made a difference. the last election (i was 18, it was my first time voting) i registered when i got my new drivers license, voted in november, and left the presidential fields blank. my own private protest to the binary parties. i knew then that perot would not win. bush was just too misunderstood by the decieding generation (mine), and clinton was just to slick, like oil on water.
what difference could it have made had i voted on just the issues i cared about here in SanFrancisco? what changes does one vote make? every time i hear about a difference of just one vote i hear that there was a recount demanded by the loosing team. voting just seems so pointless now. i'm just apathetic...
Zippi the Lune Bill Clinton was the first President I voted for that won! (Previously: Ford, Anderson, Mondale, Dukakis) Note: I was a Reagan hater and was vindicated. I don't care about all the trumped up stuff in the media. Basically he supports and votes the way I would want a president to vote. There are very few issues that he and I don't agree. Because of this, I simply don't care about all of the garbage in the media or what the republicans point to regarding character. He simply agrees with me (and the majority of voters) so we all win, because frankly my opinion is truly correct.
JR I certainly did not vote for Clinton. After reading some of the excuses FOR voting for him, I have to laugh that some of these people now have a Clinton hangover and are not going to recover for another four years. Bob Dole despite his flaws would have moved the country forward with a balanced budget amendment and true tax reform. With Clinton in the White House, we have reassured ourselves of no major progress on ANYTHING (except for campaign finances - Whoopie!). You guys wanted status quo - we're all stuck in time for another four more years.
Dale Giesige {greatone@unforgettable.com} I voted for the Libertarian candidate, Harry Browne. Why? Because individual liberty is important to me. Because principles are important to me. Because the very last thing that the poor and disadvantaged classes need is more government programs. People need our help as individuals, not as political beings.
I have no regrets.
Glen Raphael {raphael@pobox.com} I'm 19 years old and was very excited to vote in my first election. As a full-fledged politico already, I spent most of my fall when I wasn't in class working for Democratic candidates. Most of my time was for the losing Congressional candidate, but I also did some work for the party and Clinton/Gore. Although it was depressing to see Republicans clean house in this amazingly conservative district (with one liberal college in the middle of it), it made the work all the more worthwhile and even at times fun (including being called a "communist" and a "faggot" at a Dole rally simply for holding Clinton/Gore signs at a Dole speech...and maybe they were pissed off I shook Dole's hand while holding a Clinton/Gore sign :)), I could at least be confident I was fighting where it matters. When it came time to vote myself for the first time, I went straight Democratic with one exception for State Treasurer (technical reasons none of you care about). I made each vote after actually having thought about each race for a while and read on it (and worked for and knew on a first name basis the Dem. candidates for Congress and State Leg.) and decided to vote in each race for the person I felt I could best vote FOR. Of course that made me disappointed to vote for Bill Clinton, who is further from my progressive values than the Republicans back home (New York). But given that Dole's canididacy was antithetical to what I believe in, Ralph Nader couldn't be bothered to run a campaign at all and was merely appealing to elitists (and didn't even pretend to be something beside a protest vote), and the other 3rd parties (Libertarian, Taxpayers, Natural Law) were full of wackos, I knew that Clinton's campaign was actually the thing most worth voting FOR. It wasn't much, but I still am glad I did it rather than just sitting on my duff and bitching about how the choices suck. I figure there's a reason the choices (at least for President; I loved the Congressional candidate, even though he had no prayer of winning) suck and we'll never come close to fixing it unless we get involved, which starts (and only starts) with voting. Otherwise, I'd just be empowering the politicians to screw me over. If they have progressive young people working on their campaign pushing them to win and win for the right reasons and if they know they have progressive young people voting for them, it's at least a start to moving them in the right direction. I realize most people don't want to be involved to the extent I do, but I won't let anyone say that voting these days is "dirty". It may not be a pleasant choice, but it is always something you should do for a reason and there always is a reason, believe it or not.
Ben Fritz {bfritz1@swarthmore.edu} I did not vote. I am living in Canada and no longer feel that my vote will make a differnce in my native USA. I used to vote when I lived in LA. I almost always voted against the candidate. Is that a poor way to elect officials? I think so. My biggest beef against the Democrat and Republican parties is that they refuse to give us a candidate that isn't far to the right or left. Why do the parties have to have platforms from the Bucannans and the Jessie Jacksons of the party. Why can't they give us a candidate that will reflect the middle ground, a kind of conservative democtrat or a liberal republican? I believe that there is such an animal, and think that is what the people want.
Martin Grobisen {grobisen@interlog.com} Half your luck. Down under voting is compulsory,other wise the bastards fine you $80.00(aus) If I had a choice in the matter I wouldn't vote it just encourages them. the chook.
cyberchook {phawkins@magna.com.au} Voted for Clinton. Peer pressure, I guess. Who better than Clinton to represent apple pie and Uncle Sam, the world's police officer. Bob Dole? Not much of a choice, is there?
salvatore filippone {italiano@electriciti.com} I wrote in Ralph Nader because Willie saved us from the clutches of the CIA(read: Bush), but Big Bill's No Fuckin'Good either. I didn't think Nader would win but he has impeccable integrity and we need someone that cares about people, not another corporate bought scum or demipublican. The Perot idea is just too scary to contemplate.
Nader in 2000!!!
John Thompson {NOJUNKsplattt@ix.netcom.com-removetheNOJUNK} I voted last fall. Funny, I didn't know half of the things I know now about Bill Clinton. I voted for Dole because I didn't want Clinton to Veto the Partial Birth Again--That was the only reason. Now that I know other things about him--I would have more reasons to do it again. I think it is sad that people don't exercise thier right to vote, because they think it wouldn't do any good anyway. I have done so much work campaigning against the things in my website that are happening to Animals in the Military. It took a lot of time and effort. I don't know that it will do any good. I have no idea if anyone that I e-mailed or faxed will take it seriously or not be too busy to be bothered with it. But, what if it does do some good? What if I am sitting in my bedroom watching the boob tube someday, and I expect that it would be no sooner than several years from now, as fast as investigate committees go--and I hear on the news that they are discontinuing all animal experiments in the Military and hypothesizing the situation mentally instead of torturing these poor creatures, with data from burn centers and disease centers instead?? I would be quite happy that I gave it the effort. Quite happy, indeed. I would praise the Lord.
Diane Hargrave {Duwaney@Sprintmail.com} I hate that Fucker Clinton. I voted for Dole but just to give him a chance to win. However the real man we need in the white house is Pat Buchannan. Now theres a man who can keep his fucking dick in his pants.
Mike Wick guess who? perot.
why? cuz i could not vote for bubba again. the greater of the 2 major evils was of course not an option, although i have since learned to like dole a bit due to his diligent self-deprecation in tv commercials.
and i knew that perot was simply trying to buy the country. but i wanted to go another party and i have issues with the libertarians.
living less than 5 miles from newt made it a very bitter subject.
i don't want to vote next time. i'm afraid my wallet will make up my mind for me.
help.
steve fitzgerald {phitz@mindspring.com} The lesser of two evils - that's last election. Clinton had so much promise; what happened? I wanted to see the first president from the boomer generation have huge success to lend some credibility to all the protests and controversy. It was my 6th presidential election but by far the most difficult to come to terms with.
Lori {lorin@benjerry.com} I didn't vote this time. back in '92 I voted. Not for Bush or Clinton, but Perot. A businessman who knows how to make a business WORK.
Me and 21 MILLION others voted for this man. A fat lot of good it did. We got stuck with one half of a two party confederation. I am an American. Regardless of who I vote for, or don't vote for, I would like to see some honesty and integrity from ANYONE who holds the highest honor this great nation can give one individual. Haven't seen that yet in 27 years.
Maybe it's not the candidates. Maybe it's the system.It is 200 years old now. I don't think that our forefathers took into account the possibility that there would be greater than 250 million people that would end up being governed by a couple thousand. I know that those couple thousand in no way allow me to live a free and prospereous life. Thier laws and rules bent on keeping me here and them there. I am not 'free' as I was told freedom was when I was a young child.
Brian I voted for no one. There was no reason to vote for anyone at all. There was no way to tell the difference between the two primary candidates. Dole was Bill, Bob was Clinton, same platform, different words on the platform; there wouldn't have been any difference if either one beat the other one. Maybe Dole would have tried to cut taxes. Wouldn't have happened. Maybe he'd a been a bit more charismatic (ever see him on Letterman or Leno?) Clinton would have retired as one of the lousiest presidents of all time. So what, who cares? I don't. I'm not apathetic. I'm just stupid.
no one I voted for Ralph Nader, on the principle that I really didn't like Dole and would vote for Clinton if he needed it, but if not I would vote for who I believed in. As it happened, he didn't. Nader was the only candidate I felt was somewhat in touch with the people of the nation, or at least somehow concerned. Right now we have reached one of those Robber Baron eras where business has both parties in their back pocket and party doesn't seem to matter much.
Bill Pentney {pentney@acsu.buffalo.edu} I voted proudly for Dole, It's sad to think so many people would vote for a man (Clinton)that wasn't loyal to his own country when it was his turn to go to combat. This same man now has the power to send our troops to combat and expects them to follow his orders.....its a sick thought if you ask me. Dole was a man with experience in a political, congressional and combative realm. If those who served their country as I have and have made that sacrifice maybe you would appreciate my opinion.
Tymeson {btymeson@qualcomm.com} I am too young to vote. Being only 16 at the time, I watched in disgust as a basically immoral man took the presidency of the United States-the most important political position in the world-and once again made a mockery of it. If I could have voted, I'm not positive who I would have voted for. Probably "Bobby". Only because (and excuse my naivity) I actually believe that he has the integrity to stay as far away from the hypocracy of modern politics/politicians as he could. And yes, I am writing from my aol account that my "daddy" pays for. With his hard-earned money. I'm sure he will be punished in a later life for not giving the money he's spending on the internet to charities, but then, so will everyone else with access to this.
Laura Gluhanich {lglu@aol.com} I registered under Motor-voter. I disliked Bill Clinton from his beginning. Voted R, doing other- wise just gave it to Clinton. When will we learn?
Mike Wilson I voted for Bob Dole becuase I knew that Bill Clinton was a dope smoking draft dodging, liar who could not be trusted to anything but promote himself. He and his power grabbing liberals will do anything and everything to amass power to the Federal Government. That is NOT what made this country great. We have been going down this path to Hell since LBJ and before. This country was settled by people running from an oppresive Old World. It was made great by homesteaders, pioneers and individuals NOT by a government that taxes us to death and then offers to make all citizens dependant on the bureaucrats.
Jeff {jeffrey.s@internetmci.com} I voted for Clinton last time. If he'd had any guts, I'd have voted for him again. As it is, I voted for Pinky and the Brain. Cartoon characters, I figured, could't be any worse..
Honey {anagrampress@usa.net} I did'nt vote last time around, but probaly this time. I felt the only one who was with it was Perot. He knows what our problem is and thats money.
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