so who should i vote for?

[dimafleck: the living legend.]

[thatpatguy]

Pedro

[Tooly]

GREEN PARTY

[NewRider]

He looks like a medevil warrior

[d_rawk]

What are your concerns, and what riding are you in, dimafleck?

[Basher]

I think voting Green Party, albeit with good intentions, is one of the most irresponsible things you could do with your vote. Just gives the Conservatives a better chance.

[Tooly]

i know, i know, im torn as hell on voting who i believe in(green or ndp), or the lesser of two evils(lib)

cue: why can we be friends? why cant we be friends?

[Basher]

Ask all those Americans who voted for Nader in 2000 what they think about that choice now...

[Tooly]

as an american, i did vote for nader lol, and for the guy who ran against GWB, what was his fucking name again..... kelly i think

got my absentee vote noterized for free instead of 20$ when the lawyer found out i was voting Against bush hahaha

im probably gonna go for the lesser of 2 evils

[d_rawk]

If the Liberals actually made a genuine commitment to electoral reform so that we didn't have to keep having this debate, I would vote for them.

[Jaimoe]

Pierre Trudeau's lover Deborah Coyne is the Liberal candidate for Toronto Danforth. I'm either voting for her or Jack Layton. I've never even seen a PC sign in my neighbourhood.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Basher, surely you're not suggesting there shouldn't be an NDP in Canada?

[bradm]

From The Notebooks of Lazarus Long:

If you are part of a society that votes, then do so. There may be no candidates and no measures you want to vote for ... but there are certain to be ones you want to vote against. By this rule you will rarely go wrong.

If this is too blind for your taste, consult some well-meaning fool (there is always one around) and ask his advice. Then vote the other way. This enables you to be a good citizen (if such is your wish) without spending the enormous amount of time on it that truly intelligent exercise of franchise requires.

Aloha,

Brad

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Nice quote, BradM!

For me, one of the key lessons from history is not to confuse fiscal conservatism with social conservatism where the two are evidently tied together, and vote them in hoping to get some crumbs off the table. That seems to be where we're poised to go wrong in the next couple of weeks; the social conservatives are, apparently, under orders to keep a low profile, while the fiscal conservatives are doing what they can to assure us that we'll all each benefit wonderfully from what they'll nick from our own cupboards.

[SmoothedShredder]

And just how socially conservative were the 80's?

You can't stop time... but you can try to pay your bills.

[StoneMtn]

Brad:

Is that quote from that wingnut who tried to start his own country in the middle of the ocean; open only to the wealthy? I believe he calls himself "Prince Lazarus Long" or "Emperor" or something?

[bradm]

Brad:

Is that quote from that wingnut who tried to start his own country in the middle of the ocean; open only to the wealthy? I believe he calls himself "Prince Lazarus Long" or "Emperor" or something?

Nope. "Lazarus Long" (who also went by many other names) is one of the characters created by American author Robert A. Heinlein.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lazarus_Long

Aloha,

Brad

[StoneMtn]

Apparently, there are two "Lazarus Longs". I was referring to this guy, who it appears named himself after the Heinlein character.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

And just how socially conservative were the 80's?

Sorry, W - trying (evidently without success) to skirt Godwin's law yet again (I was thinking of the 1920s and 1930s, when the social agenda of certain leading parties were all clearly present but overlooked out of concern for keeping big business propped up and the Communists and cultural Bolshevists at bay).

But come to think of it ("young lad" ), the 80s were a remarkably conservative time under Reagan and Bush I (if not so much here in Canada) - think of all the culture wars that went on in music, as elsewhere, and the explosive growth of evangelicalism, among other things. My sense is that it was all tied in intimately with the self-indulgence (and concommittant contempt for difference) that people now characterise that decade for.

Edited January 11, 2006 by Guest
sloppy wording and inadequate smiley qualifications

[The Constable]

Whatever you end up doing ... VOTE FOR CHANGE.

Worst case scenario is that we go through this entire exercise again and end up with the same middle of the road, complacent, 'not challenged to do anything significant' Liberal government.

While the Conservatives haven't quite come far enough to have the broad based popular appeal they need to carry the country they're a better alternative than the NDP (anyone recall the Bob Rae debacle in Ontario several years back???), unless of course you don't mind paying higher taxes and dealing with their proven ineptitude.

[d_rawk]

Bob Rae is a Liberal these days, and generally was one at heart in those days. Nobody was angrier with him than NDP supporters. And the Ontario provincial NDP party is a different party than the federal NDP.

We aren't attacking (Federal Liberal) Martin with (BC Provincial Liberal) Gordon Campbell who runs his government as though he were a dyed-in-the-wool Conservative. For good reason ... they are different parties that happen to share a name.

[bONES]

I think voting Green Party, albeit with good intentions, is one of the most irresponsible things you could do with your vote. Just gives the Conservatives a better chance.

i completely disagree, but I choose to vote for my beliefs and not to try and keep some other party out.

i'll be voting [color:green]GREEN

[headymamamyrna]

So if the guy in your riding is excellent and you want to vote for HIM but don't want that party in what do you do?

[StoneMtn]

In my opinion, bite the bullet and vote for the party you want. One local politician is hardly a voice for change, and in any event is likely to to tow the line of the party you don't want, anyway; regardless of his/her stated intentions.

(This is never an easy decision, though, and I know I'm about to be lambasted by someone for stating the above...)

[Birdy]

i would vote for the liberals if they would prioritize spending and stop wasting $$. duceppe was bang on in the french debate last night when they were talking about smuggling guns. he criticized our leaders for focusing on the consequences and not on what drives a person to do what they do. for some reason or another the libs can't seem to shake the consequence and see fixing it as 'solving' a problem. if the libs wouldn't waste so much money on useless acts and pump some of it into what really and truly matters, ie, healthcare & education, i'd be more willing to have open ears, but they won't and if they do, it's in all the wrong places. the conservatives do have a pretty keen eye for a tight budget and where the money should be properly allocated (again ie, healthcare and education) and I appreciate that. I do fear social conservatism, but in agreeance with someone else in here, i hope the opposition can do it's job. And considering how liberal Canadians truly are, I'm not too afraid.

stephen harper is as right as they come in Canada and that scares a shit load of people, me too. Just look at the devil/hitler references that fly rampant around this place-- that's exactly what the libs want you to think. i'm sure there's going to be some pretty strong anti-harper stuff that they've yet to unleash and i'm not looking forward to watching everyone eat it all up. we all bitch about the propaganda machine known as CNN or dis' the likes of Izzy Asper, but can't recognize it when it comes from the other side of the fence. that bothers me but . DEM you posted that article about the guys on trial for the memo leak and posted about how the US administration tries to shut down "with extreme prejudice" sources of alternate viewpoints. Aren't we all really doing the same? The libs ask for pardons for adscam, the conservatives ask for pardons for some extreme right wingers. Everyone should just step back and grant them the pardons. Adscam was in the 1990s and shouldn't reflect upon the liberal party. Harper and his party have never governed and so we shouldn't act like they royally fucked us over in some way, as they haven't.

If you're truly wondering how to vote, think about what matters most to you and look objectively at party platforms or talk to your local politicians. From what I can see everyone in here, myself included, are pretty biased in our opinions and can't and shouldn't, offer you advice.

whatever you do, make sure your vote is cast for what you believe in your heart and don't vote in spite. all that does is make you a 'spiteful' person and dude.. karma will get you in the end.